Search Results for: Legend

Los Van Van and their 50th Anniversary

North America / USA / New York

Los Van Van returns to Lehman Center Performing Arts to celebrate their 50th Anniversary

For this special concert the Cuban legendary orchestra will join with the most popular lead Los Van Van vocalists: Mario “Mayito” Rivera and Pedro Calvo

Date: Saturday, June 1^st

Show: 8:00PM

Cost: $50 – $100

Venue: 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West Bronx, New York 10468

Low cost onsite parking available for $5!

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents the return of Grammy-winning dance orchestra, Formell y Los Van Van, who bring direct from Cuba their blend of Afro-Cuban, disco and funk back to Lehman Center to celebrate their 50^th Anniversary on Saturday, June 1^st at 8PM.

Heralded as Cuba’s greatest dance orchestra known worldwide for their iconic live performances, Formell y Los Van Van features three of the late founder Juan Formell‘s children: Samuel Formell (Leader and Drummer/Timbalero) , Juan-Carlos Formell (Bassist) and the family’s youngest daughter, Vanessa Formell (lead vocalist).

BIO: Formell y Los Van Van, nicknamed the “Cuban Music Train,” is regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of 20^th century Cuban popular music. Founded in 1969 by Juan Formell when he was 27 years old, the band pioneered Songo, a hybrid rhythm that blended Cuba’s native folkloric son music with the go-go of the 1970s and has electrified dance floors in Havana for over forty-five years.

The band’s original members were: Juan Formell (bandleader, bass player, and songwriter), Cesar “Pupy” Pedroso (piano, songwriter), and Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana (drums and timbales). Each one were music conservatory trained from a young age and were fascinated with the soul, go-go and disco music that dominated U.S. radio.

They named their dance band “Los Van Van” (which literally means “they go-go”) after the go-go fad, and pioneered the hybrid of son and go-go music – Songo – which can now be found throughout Latin jazz, pop, and world fusion.

And if the genius of Songo wasn’t enough, they also developed the complex rhythmic style that became known as Timba that was adapted by other bands in the ‘90s. Los Van Van soon became one of the best-known Cuban groups in the world, maintaining a loyal fan base throughout Latin America, Europe and Japan propelled by hits such as: “La Sandunguera,” “Anda, Ven y Muévete,” “Te Traigo” and “Yuya Martinez.”

In 1993, Changuito left the band and was replaced by Formell’s son Samuel who also proved to be an outstanding composer as evidenced by the song: “Te Pone La Cabeza Mala”, the title track of one of their best albums. Although American politics hindered their ability to break into the U.S. market, their popularity in the U.S. grew throughout the ’90s, and the band toured the U.S. for the first time in 1997, including a memorable concert at Lehman Center.

Two years later, Los Van Van was honored with the GRAMMY® Award for Best Salsa Performance for their fifteenth album, Llegó…Van Van — Van Van is Here and in 2013, the Latin Recording Academy awarded Juan Formell with a special Grammy for a Lifetime Achievement of Artistic Excellence.

With over 40 albums to their credit, Formell y Los Van Van’s 2015 album Homenaje A Juan Formell: La Fantasia, was 80% completed at the time of Juan Formell’s death in 2014 and was finished under the direction of his son Samuel with another son, Juan-Carlos Formell.

The album’s release on Reyes Records in December, 2014 was on the 45^th anniversary of the band’s founding and it features several of the band’s hit dance tracks refreshed with contemporary arrangements as well as many new songs including the widely popular: “Somos Diferentes”, “Todo se Acabó” and “La Moda”. Sony Music released it worldwide in 2016 and it earned a 2017 Grammy nomination for the Best Tropical Latin Album.

The group’s most recent album “Los Van Van son La Patria” is scheduled to be released on Cuba’s Engrem label later this summer.

BIO: Mario “Mayito” Rivera is nicknamed “El Poeta de La Rumba” for his ability to vocally interpret all forms of Cuban music in both modern and traditional styles with a colorful range that can be powerfully dynamic or tender and soft.

He was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and has degrees from both the Escuela Nacional de Arte and the Instituto Superior de Arte. After college, he joined the band of Cuban singer Albita Rodríguez and played bass in Grupo Moncada.

From 1992 to 2011, Mayito was the characteristic voice and face of the extremely successful Cuban band, Los Van Van. He sang many of the band’s salsa hits, for which he was rewarded with a Latin GRAMMY® and two nominations.

Bio: Pedro “Pedrito” Calvo is a popular Cuban-born vocalist known for his charismatic and unique singing style which often includes clever word play and expressive rhythmic vocal sounds. Pedrito started his professional career singing with his father’s orchestra and years after with several Cuban orchestras including:

La Riviera, La Orquesta de Julio Valdés, and La Ritmo Oriental with hits such as: “Mi Socio Manolo” and “Aquí el que Manda es Mulé”. He was the most famous for his time (1974-2001) with Los Van Van, where he was part of the infamous lead singing trio of Los Van Van along with Mayito Rivera and Roberto Hernández.

Event Details:
www.LEHMANCENTER.org

Felipe Pirela | The Bolero of America

North America / USA / New York

Felipe Pirela:

En mi barrio el empedrao
Parroquia Santa Lucia
Había una barbería
Que era muy populachera
Te lavaban en ponchera
La silla se reclinaba
Y Luis el perro pelaba
Al son de una periquera

This is the sound of the tasty gaita performed by the group Sabor Gaitero and Los Gaiteros de Pillopo. It refers to a barbershop in a picturesque neighbourhood of Maracaibo in the Venezuelan state of Zulia. It was in this popular neighbourhood of Maracaibo, El Empedrao, that Felipe Antonio Pirela Morón was born in 1941. It was probably in this popular barbershop that he got his first haircut, and it was certainly in some corner of the neighbourhood that he took his first steps as a singer, perhaps interpreting gaitas or some other popular genre. The young Felipe was far from imagining that he would become “El Bolerista de América” (The Bolero of America).

The son of a bricklayer, Felipe Pirela Monsalve, and a housewife – an artist at heart – Lucia Morón de Pirela, the boy began his musical career as a child, supported by his mother, in small radio singing competitions. Incredibly, at the age of 13, together with some boys from the neighbourhood and his two brothers, he founded the group Los Happy Boys, which performed in various venues in Maracaibo, without even imagining that he would later become the main star of Billo’s Caracas Boys, a group that, upon arriving in Venezuela, debuted under the same name, Billo’s Happy Boys, directed by the Dominican maestro Billo Frometa.

At the beginning of his singing career, Felipe specialized as a bolerista, performing songs by prominent singers such as the Chilean Lucho Gatica, the Cuban bolerista Olga Gillot and Venezuela’s favorite tenor Alfredo Sadel.

Radio Caracas Television had the honor of making Felipe’s image public for the first time in 1957, through an amateur program in which Felipe placed third. Unfortunately, there were no video recording systems in those days, so there is no record of this historic achievement. Later, the now defunct and legendary Venezuelan regional television station from Maracaibo, Ondas del Lago, served as a springboard for Felipe, who was one of its founding artists.

These performances allowed him to sign a contract with the station in 1958, after which he moved to Caracas, where he performed on Radio Caracas and in various nightclubs.

Shortly thereafter, he returned to Maracaibo to join the orchestra Los Peniques, with whom he recorded his first album in 1960 and began his professional career.

Like most of the artists, baseball players and boxers from Maracaibo, Felipe was a man of humble origins, pobre del pobre, with limited economic resources, who for a time missed opportunities to be noticed despite his immense talent.

Fortune smiled on him when Maestro Billo Frometa heard him sing, at a time when the arranger, director and musician from Quisqueyano was preparing to restructure his band, Billo’s Caracas Boys, and at the same time hired another singer from Maracaibo, the remarkable José “Cheo” García. This hiring gave an enormous boost to the already famous Billo’s Caracas Boys; the band acquired great international prestige, performing throughout America and Europe, popularizing the immortal mosaics that for many years enlivened the parties and were the favorites of the Venezuelan public.

Not for nothing, Billo’s Caracas Boys Orchestra has been called the most popular in Venezuela, the Caracas and Venezuelan clubs, Latin American countries and even the European continent (Tenerife, Spain) showed full houses during the band’s performances. In these performances, the acclaim for Felipe Pirela was total. Huge demonstrations of support, full houses and legions of fans followed the “crooner” on his tours.

When Venezuela’s favorite tenor, Alfredo Sadel, left the popular genre and his country to devote himself to opera, Pirela almost immediately replaced him in the favorite place of Venezuelans.

In 1961, “El Bolerista de América” recorded with a string orchestra conducted by Billo, the long playing Canciones de Ayer, including old songs and songs of that time, a recording that marked his resignation and departure to Mexico, where he also had memorable successes.

In 1964 he married Mariela Montiel, a marriage that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Lennys, and in which La Retirada was quickly marked by the fact that Amor se Escribe con Llanto (Love is Written with Crying) and that it probably does not last a lifetime.

Canada and Mexico witnessed his successes in ’67 and his return to Venezuela. Successful performances in Miami that same year motivated him to reside in the United States, where he tried to structure his own record company, a project that came to nothing and he was deeply disillusioned and returned to Venezuela, later residing in Puerto Rico, where he was taking La Última Copa when he was tragically assassinated in 1972.

For some, his career was marked by Sombras Nada Más, but for the vast majority, “El Bolerista de America” remains in the memory as one of the most unique stars of Latin American music of all time.

For Mario Cabrera Bello

Paquito D’Rivera supports the salsa museum

There have been many legends of whom we have spoken in this section of International Salsa Magazine and today it is the turn of the bandleader, composer, clarinetist, and saxophonist born in Havana, Cuba, Paquito D’Rivera.

Today, we want to dedicate the following lines to one of the main references in Cuban music and everything he has contributed to the Latin music scene, which is growing every day in the United States.

Paquito smiling — Paquito D’Rivera smiling for the camera

Paquito’s beginnings in music

Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras, who is artistically known as Paquito D’Rivera, was born in the city of Havana, Cuba and is the son of orchestra director and saxophonist Tito D’Rivera, from whom he inherited his great artistic vein and love for music.

At just five years old, Paquito began studying music formally and, two years later, he was already performing on stage in front of large audiences, which prepared him for what he would do as an adult. That same year, Selmer (a musical instrument company) hired him, which was a very important step in the boy’s path to becoming an artist.

A few years later, he performed at the National Theater of La Habana, which was a very important moment for the young man, who shortly after began studying at the Havana Conservatory, where he specialized in areas of music such as clarinet, composition and harmony.

His first media appearance was during his debut in the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, an event that was nationally televised so that the whole country could appreciate the talent of the young choir boys.

A year later, when he was only 18 years old, Paquito and Chucho Valdés founded the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, while working for the Orquesta Nacional and the Banda del Ejército Cubano.

Paquito playing — Paquito D’Rivera playing the saxophone

Some time later, he founded the Orquesta de Música Moderna with some of his colleagues at the time, and then created the group Irakere, which integrated jazz, traditional Cuban music, classical music and rock in ways never seen before. Together with Irakere, he toured Europe and the United States and earned several Grammy Award nominations.

Leaving Cuba

Like so many Cubans, Paquito became tired of the situation experienced by the island and knew he had to make a final decision on the subject. He took advantage of a stop in Spain and sought asylum at the American embassy in the European country. Once in the United States, his process of adaptation to his new country of residence was not easy, but there were artists who gave him a lot of support such as Mario Bauza, Dizzy Gallespie, David Amram, among others.

It did not take him too long before he earned the love and respect of many members of the jazz music community. His place in the Latin music scene was consolidated thanks to his first two solo albums called ”Paquito Blowin” and ”Mariel”. His popularity was also benefited from a Time magazine article that talked about his great work and his appearance on the famous ”Sunday Morning” show.

He also collaborated with artists such as Artur Sandoval, Michel Camilo, Bebo Valdés, Claudio Roditi, among others. He also participated in the founding of the United Nations Orchestra, Paquito D’Rivera Big Band, Paquito D’Rivera Quinquet and many other groups.

More recently, in 2027, he was in Europe with the Orquesta de Valencia at the Palau de La Música promoting ”The Elephant and The Clown” of his own.

Paquito and Johnny — President of the Spaha Harlem Salsa Museum Johnny Cruz and Paquito D’Rivera

Paquito and the Spaha Harlem Salsa Museum

In December 2023, Paquito visited the Spaha Harlem Salsa Museum to see the huge collection of personal items belonging to world-renowned Latin artists and, once there, he expressed his surprise at the large number of items that both stars and their families have donated to the famous museum.

In a post by Johnny Cruz, the museum’s president, on his Facebook account, Paquito said he was very impressed by all the items housed in the institution while supporting the work done by the museum’s staff and expressing his admiration for the effort devoted to the collection.

Orquesta la Identidad is one of the most nationally and internationally recognized groups in the salsa genre

Winner Identidad Orchestra on several occasions of the Cali fair disc with songs such as MUJERES in 1987, QUIÉREME in 1991 and COMO YO TE AME, the most played song at a historical level in the different Latin FM stereo stations in 2003.

Among other works of recognition such as: LAS COSAS SON COMO SON, TU DESDÉN, GOLPE DE GRACIA, SI ELLA VOLVIERA, DESENGAÑOS, among others.

This group was founded by the Colombian composer and musician Carlos Enrique Navia in 1981 in the capital of salsa in the city of Cali – Colombia, which came to fame in 1987.

Following the release of his first album entitled LA IDENTIDAD, under the Codiscos label, musical production that includes the works, LAS COSAS SON COMO SON, Y ME QUIERES, PARA QUERERTE, CADA CUAL, POR SU LADO, LA FUMA, GENTE CORRIENTE, BRABAJE and MUJERES.

Work that was awarded as the official album of the Cali Fair and gave him the opportunity to make his first international tour of the United States, visiting the states of Florida, New York, California, Texas, Illinois, among others.

This group had a very important boom in Colombia and the whole world for being elected revelation orchestra of the year and gave him the participation in the most important events and fairs throughout the Colombian territory.

Thanks to the success and recognition, the orchestra recorded its second album called LA MÚSICA in 1989, album that expanded its audience in other countries such as: Mexico, Venezuela and Ecuador with the works TU DESDÉN, AMOR ETERNO, TE QUIERO TANTO, LA MÚSICA, SON SABORIONDO, SENTIMIENTOS POR TI and BOMBA NAVIDEÑA, work that occupied the first places in the FM radio stations, preselected as Cali’s fair disc and elected the second most important song of the fair.

Orquesta la Identidad is one of the most nationally and internationally recognized groups in the salsa genre

Identidad Orchestra in 1990 the orchestra recorded its third album entitled UN TOQUE DE MISTERIO, album produced by the renowned Venezuelan musician Cesar Monges “Albondiga” who has participated in countless productions of artists and orchestras of international recognition in the salsa genre.

After a long tour in the United States, the orchestra arrives in Colombia to record their fourth album entitled SALSA CON ENERGÍA, a product produced in the studios of Grupo Niche.

This production included songs such as: LA RETIRADA, ESE SOY YO, BOROJO, AGITACIÓN, SI ELLA VOLVIERA, LLEGASTE A MI VIDA, DESENGAÑOS and COMO YO TE AMÉ, one of the hits of preference of our listeners, occupying the first places and beating the record of the most played song in all salsa genre stations in Colombia, United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, Italy and many more countries.

ORQUESTA LA IDENTIDAD is an orchestra that has been characterized by its perseverance.

Identidad Orchestra in 1992 they recorded their fifth album titled PROFESIÓN SALSA and ended their relationship with the record label Codiscos to start their independence as a brand under the direction of composer, singer and founder Carlos Enrique Navia to produce their works as an independent record label.

Orquesta la Identidad is one of the most nationally

This album included songs such as: GOLPE DE GRACIA, PECADORA, COCTEL DE AMOR, SI YO PUDIERA, SEÑORA CALI, MUJER AMADA, TE PILLÉ, NO IMPORTA, among others. This product was widely distributed in countries such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, United States, among others.

As a record label Identidad Producciones, ORQUESTA LA IDENTIDAD has recorded albums such as A TIEMPO, a production that has captivated the salsa public with songs like: CUANDO EL AMOR SE ACABA, MI NIÑA, LA ESQUINA DEL MOVIMIENTO, LE CANTO AL PACÍFICO, TE QUIERO Y TE AMO, TU DESDÉN, LA FUMA and singles such as: POR SIEMPRE ELLA, FRACASO, DICIEMBRE EN CALI, SON PA EL BAILADOR, COLOMBIA REAL, A MI PADRE, BENDICIÓN DE MADRE, MI GUAGUANCÓ, HOMENAJE A LA SONORA MATANCERA, GUAYAQUIL among others.

Works that are played on Latin radio stations and massively on digital platforms. Orquesta LA IDENTIDAD is a group that has participated in important Latin music events such as: SEBASTIÁN DE BELALCÁZAR awards on two occasions and nominated for best salsa genre orchestra, event organized by FALCON MANAGEMENT BOOKING & ENTERTAINMENT, INDEPENDENCE FESTIVAL OF GUAYAQUIL – ECUADOR, INDEPENDENCE FESTIVALS OF COLOMBIA IN THE UNITED STATES, WORLD SALSA FESTIVAL, BILLBOARD LATIN MUSIC, FESTIVAL OF ORCHESTRAS IN COLOMBIA AND FAIRS THROUGHOUT THE COLOMBIAN TERRITORY.

ORQUESTA LA IDENTIDAD is currently preparing the celebration of 40 years of artistic career, an album that will include the greatest hits such as MUJERES, QUIÉREME, GOLPE DE GRACIA, MUJER AMADA, LAS COSAS SON COMO COMO SON, TU DESDÉN, UN TOQUE DE MISTERIO, COMO YO TE AMÉ and DESENGAÑOS, which will have collaborations with national and international artists of recognition in the salsa genre and is preparing to make its next international tour of the United States year 2024.

CONTACT Carlos Enrique Navia General Manager Contact: 310 822 8068 – 317 642 1031 Email: [email protected]

ORQUESTA LA IDENTIDAD

Also Read: Colombia’s legendary Grupo Niche and its founder Jairo Varela

Gato Barbieri was an excellent and virtuoso Argentine saxophonist par excellence

The Argentine musician takes us on a journey through his illustrious career.

Gato Barbieri

Editor’s note: Famed saxophonist Leandro “Gato” Barbieri passed away on Saturday, April 2, 2016, in New York City. He was 83 years old.

In 2015, the Latin Grammy Award for Musical Excellence was presented to Argentine composer Gato Barbieri, one of the most deserving musicians to be honored for his extensive career, throughout which he created a bridge between Latin music and an international audience.

In love with jazz since his formative years in the city of Rosario, Barbieri trained playing with great figures of American jazz during the 1960s.

But his heart never left his Latin American sensibility. When he came to fame as a soloist and leader of his own group, he sold millions of records, forging a personal language that draws inspiration from tango, Brazilian cadences, the sounds of the Andes and South American folklore.

Over the past few years, Barbieri, who turns 83 on November 28, has suffered several health complications. From his home in New York, the musician spoke with remarkable sincerity about this new stage of his life, now far from his youth, but full of acceptance and hope.

You recently performed at the Blue Note club in New York and sold out. How does it feel to be a jazz legend at the age of 80-something?

When I play here at the Blue Note, people come from Russia, from Europe, from everywhere, because people identify with what Gato has done.

Now, I’m a little sick and it’s hard for me to walk. I don’t like that. I have to do exercises and things like that. I’m going to be 83 years old and it’s necessary to do these things that put me in a horrendous mood [laughs].

Life is like that, it has nice things and ugly things, and you have to keep walking, walking, walking…It’s like a tango. If you pay attention, tango talks about beautiful things: people, siblings, loves, the sweet details of existence. To this day, there are some tango songs that I find incredible.

What memories do you cherish from the beginning of your career?

When I started playing with the Casablanca orchestra, when I was 17. We played bebop music, which for me was something incredible. We used to perform at carnivals in the provinces of Argentina.

He is the most influential Argentine saxophonist in the global jazz scene.

I also have fond memories of playing in Europe with trumpeter Don Cherry, because I learned so much. He never said anything; he didn’t talk to us or explain anything about the music we were going to play. When we played together, we improvised, and he never stopped changing his compositions. It was a great thing.

And then, in 1972, came the music for Last Tango in Paris, which brought you international fame. What was it like to write the soundtrack for such a controversial film?

It was a magical thing, because Bernardo [Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci] is an incredible guy, an incredibly talented director. I was in good spirits, but it wasn’t an easy job because there were 50 moments in the film that needed music.

I remember we took a piano up to Pepito Pignatelli’s [owner of a legendary jazz club in Rome] house, which was on the fifth floor. Doing something like that 50 years ago was not easy, but when we recorded it, it was a beautiful thing. Sometimes the difficult things are the most beautiful.

And that unforgettable main theme, which is repeated throughout the film, how did it come about?

Bernardo called me and asked me to present him with several melodies, and that they should be as beautiful as possible. We had just gone to Italy to play some concerts, and we met Bernardo. I played him three or four tunes, and he immediately chose one and said: “This is the theme from The Last Tango in Paris”.

What do you think has been the secret of your success?

From 1970 onwards, I recorded about 45 records. That’s a lot. I was a guy who was always doing something, for me that lifestyle was a great satisfaction. As for the sax, I never knew much about chords. I make up my own chords, put one thing on top of them… and that’s it.

It’s hard to explain why I made the artistic choices I did. I wanted to do a little bit of everything, play an Argentine chacarera, or record with an Italian singer like Antonello Venditti [the hit ballad “Modena”, in 1979]. I always chose to play music from many different countries, and people identify with that.

Undoubtedly, you have lived a privileged life….

Yes, in a certain way, yes. Michelle [his first wife, who died in 1995] helped me a lot. She’s always in my heart, because she was incredible. She knew about film, art, so many things. In that sense, I learned a lot from her. And now I am living with Laura, my wife, who is a great person.

She has given me my only son, who is now 17 years old. He is tall and very intelligent, although a bit lazy, as I was myself at his age. It must be hereditary [laughs].

EL PAMPERO (1971)

After El Gato left his native Argentina, but before becoming a Latin jazz star, Gato Barbieri spent the second half of the 1960s collaborating with great, avant-garde musicians: trumpeter Don Cherry, vibraphonist Gary Burton and bassist Charlie Haden, among others. Capping a career for Barbieri as the leader of his own group, El pampero is an album recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Four tracks with extensive improvisations, steeped in South American nostalgia.

Gato Barbieri: Latin ‘jazz’ with a touch of pop and South American folklore.

By: Ernesto Lechner

Also Read: Irakere was a Cuban group that developed an important work in Cuban popular music and Latin Jazz under the direction of Chucho Valdés