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Latin music, more specifically salsa, has had several initiatives over time that have managed to keep it alive and relevant in the popular taste and one of them is undoubtedly La Paris All-Stars Orchestra, which is a musical group based on old school salsa, but with current technological advances. 

The orchestra was created by the producer and sound engineer of Puerto Rican descent Eric Maldonado, with whom we have been able to talk about the group and his own career, so our dear readers can not miss this reading, as it will be very interesting.   

How Eric enters the world of music 

Eric begins his story by saying that he was the youngest of the family and both his father and brothers were always playing instruments, so his first contact with music occurred when he was practically a baby. He says that there were always relatives at home every weekend who came together to play jibaro music, salsa, merengue, cha cha cha or whatever they could think of that day.   

These family roots have encouraged to have a deeper interest in music, to the extent that he began to see it as a serious profession and not just a hobby.   

Eric and sound engineering 

By the time he turned 20 in the 1990s, Eric started playing bass in a band for a while, until he tried his hand as a soundman in the local band in New Jersey and realized that this was what he was truly passionate about. It did not take long for him to realize that being a musician was not his thing, but being behind the console and running the machinery behind the stage was. That is when he started purchasing the equipment he knew he would need and learning more about this part of sound engineering. 

Eric defines himself as someone who does not really like to stand out too much or feel really observed by those attending a show, so he prefers to help all he can on the organizational part and at the level of engineering in the events that he is involved. He affirms that his thing is choosing the talent and creating all the music that the musicians or singers are going to use, while he stays behind the stage taking take that everything forges ahead.    

He described feeling satisfied working in this way and has no problem with the artists taking most of the credit in front of the audience.    

The Paris All-Stars Orchestra   

It is important to note that, before founding the orchestra, Eric already had a recording studio called Paris Recording Studios. What inspired him to create a band was an event he did at a club in Florida shortly after moving to that city. The producer already knew some musicians thanks to his work and proposed them to form an orchestra that would take its name from the studio and be called La Paris All-Stars. ”That night, there were so many people who came to see us play that the place was packed and many of them were unable to get in. That’s when I knew this was going to be a success and the creation of the group was a good idea” said Eric about this first test concert.    

Upon seeing how successful this first concert with the group was, Eric decided to record a complete album which he named ”Los Escogidos” since it would only include the best singers that he would choose for this record production.   

He also wanted to clarify that he is the owner of both the studio and the orchestra and both go hand in hand in everything he does.    

The Paris All-Stars Orchestra: old-school salsa with today’s tools   

When we asked Eric if he agreed with those digital media that defined La Paris All-Stars Orchestra as an initiative linking old school with today’s tools, he answered absolutely.   

Noticing that reggaeton and bachata no longer dominate the international market like they once did, Eric took advantage of the fact that there are many new artists wanting to experiment with salsa to make them his clients and work with them from any country such as Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, among others.   

Although he added that he does not limit himself to any genre and works with a bit of everything, he assures that the music he loves the most is and always will be salsa. He regrets that broadcasters do not give a lot of exposure to salsa as before, but also highlights the support the exponents of the genre have received from media and digital stations that have been given a space to new salseros in different parts of the world.    

Eric’s references for the Paris All-Stars Orchestra   

When listening to any of the orchestra’s songs, there is no denying that its work is inspired by several of the biggest referents of salsa and one of them is Ismael Miranda, who was one of the members of the album ”Los Escogidos”, sharing the credits with Kevin Ceballos, Anthony Colón, Frankie Ruíz Jr., among others.   

Eric called the previous artists, who already had an important name in the industry, in order to attract new singers to join his projects and, in this way, make them known to the public. The producer assures that he likes to help new talents and considers them a fundamental part in the promotion and the new rise of salsa today.   

”I am very happy several of these new singers who worked with me have already been blazing their own trail and some of them are even doing big concerts, which makes me very pleased”, he said.   

Latest works of La Paris All-Stars Orchestra   

The first single from La Paris All-Stars in the year 2024 was ”Son Mentiras”, which, according to Eric, was to be part of ”Los Escogidos” at the beginning, but after recording so many good songs and finding so many talented vocalists, he decided to rethink his initial plan and only released it as a single. The final version of ”Los Elegidos” is scheduled to be released in June this year on all digital platforms after finishing a track still missing from the record production.  

We also could not put aside the group’s new release ”Yo soy La Rumba”, which is part of ”Los Escogidos Volumen 4” and features one of the more promising salsa singer currently, Kevin Gabriel, a young talent who was born in Puerto Rico and has managed to participate in several renowned ensembles and orchestras thanks to his great voice.   

One day, Eric heard Kevin Gabriel singing by sheer chance and became fascinated with the young man, but he knew that the label with which he had signed was not exploiting his full potential, so he proposed him to join his project and he accepted. Together with him, Eric released ”Yo Soy La Rumba” and soon there will be an entire solo album of the young singer. This boy is a clear example of what Eric seeks to promote with his work and has no doubt that there will be many more like him, whom the sound engineer will be more than happy to support. 

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