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The recently released single “Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album, Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also in acetate.

With a fifty-year career in music, the leader of the Salsa 220 Orchestra, Colombian trombonist Oscar “El Gato” Urueta releases the second song of the musical concept he now directs.

“El Gato” delivers his latest single “Cómo te quiero yo”, composition and arrangement by Venezuelan pianist Alberto Crespo; this time with Rodrigo Mendoza, remembered for his time with Dimensión Latina de Venezuela, on vocals. Urueta got in touch with Alberto Crespo after seeing his work in social networks.

This single, in my opinion, deserves international diffusion because of the Afro-Caribbean interpretation in this concept described by Urueta himself as high-voltage salsa. I listened to the track and I feel obliged to highlight it for bringing us a classic salsa concept, without being more of the same; so let’s go to the mambo, here is what you hear:

During the first 10 seconds, Rodrigo Mendoza leads the vocal part opening the theme as if opening a door; inviting the listener to go on a musical journey that merges various cultural influences.

At the first minute mark it is already known that the trombones of Oscar “El Gato” Urueta and Eliel Rivero are in charge of the musicalization. At minute 1:45, Alberto Crespo’s piano solo delights us without making it dense.

This piano solo, from which the salsa dancer who dances in tune can benefit, seems to embrace in perfect synchrony the sound of José Soto “Mortadelo”‘s bass.

At minute 2:30 the trombones take over the song, and melodically give way to the tumbadora, in the hands of Carlos Padrón; meeting with the sound of the same in a tasty instrumental correspondence full of cadence and Caribbean flavor.

At minute 2:36, the bass of José Soto embraces again the sound of the tumbadora.

At minute 2:40 the tumbadora turns on the mambo. At minute 2:42 the tumbadora leads the percussion, opening the way for a bell that plays with the coros of Luisito Cabrera, Rodrigo Mendoza and Edgar “Dolor” Quijada, as well as interweaving with the trombones.

The trombones persist and sustain a mambo of those that bring “more salsa than pesca’o”, as we say in Puerto Rico; until around minute 2:55 the conga, the timbal and the bell execute a forceful cut and in unison, to return the arrangement to the trombones.

At minute 4:00, the leader’s trombone seems to be in sync with the percussion and vocalist to close the track; shortly after the trombones enter into a brief correspondence with the tumbadora, just before Padrón’s campaneo concludes the track at minute 4:25.

Urueta has a healthy musical trajectory, surrounded by the greats of the salsa sound. “El Gato” was part of the Colombian orchestra La Protesta, when Joe Arroyo was the group’s vocalist. Urueta was also part of the now world renowned Grupo Niche, replacing Alexis Lozano on trombone. Urueta traveled to New York City with Grupo Niche as part of the first international tour of the group founded by the late Jairo Varela. He later settled in Miami where he was part of the orchestras that accompanied stars such as Frankie Ruiz, Hansel y Raúl and Santos Colón, to name a few.

Coincidentally, “El Gato” Urueta joined Hansel y Raul’s orchestra when the song ‘Maria Teresa y Danilo’ had become a hit throughout Latin America. Urueta shared the stage with musicians of the stature of Israel López “Cachao”.

In the 1990s, Urueta was a musician with Joe Arroyo’s Orquesta La Verdad, with whom he traveled around the world.

After participating in several concerts accompanying Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, about five years ago, Urueta took on the task of forming the Orquesta Salsa 220 with which he presented the single “Guaguancó sabroso”, which featured Puerto Rican Rico Walker as guest artist on vocals.

“Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album: Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also on acetate.

Bella Martínez

You can read: Sigo entre amigos de Luis “Perico” Ortiz

By Bella Martinez, ISM Correspondents, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Michel “El Buenon” is a singer, composer and considered the most sought-after salsa singer in the Dominican Republic

On September 7th in the province of Baharona in Batey 7, Dominican Republic, Michel Batista or better known as Michel “El Buenon” was born, he is a singer and composer.

Considered the most sought after salsa singer, he is a man with a big heart and a story worth admiring, because despite all the vicissitudes he went through during his childhood and youth, he became great, as his grandmother Dona Crisiana instilled in him.

From a very young age he attended Sunday school at the Baptist church with his mother Crisiana Abraham, with whom he attended the evangelical church shepherded by herself, where he also sang in the church choir on Sundays.

In elementary school she participated in a music festival where she won first place at only 8 years of age.

Later she competed in a regional festival in the town of Barahona in the radio station Radio Barahona, winning first place at the age of 12.

He then migrated from the south to the city of Santo Domingo, where he began singing in bars, nightclubs and hotels like the Sheratton, Napolitano, El Embajador.

In addition to the resorts Talanquera, Casa de Campo Sosua, Puerto Plata, among others.

At the beginning he was part of the Tabú Combo, a group from Puerto Príncipe based in New York City, recording hits such as “Inflaciones General”, “La Llave”, “Relimen” and composing the song “Apipi”, known in French and in Spanish as “El Jardinero”, which he recorded with his friend Wilfrido Vargas.

He would later be part of Johnny Ventura’s orchestra for 5 years, from 1982 to 1987.

He recorded the song “Tuyo Más Que Tuyo” by Bienvenido Fabián, then he joined again the Tabú Combo Superstar orchestra with Adolfo Chanci, its director.

In 1995 he went solo and recorded his first salsa CD titled “Amigo De Qué”, which was played all over Latin America, occupying for 12 weeks the first place of the radio station La Mega in the city of New York.

Later he released his second album “Brujería”, and seven others: “De Ahí Nadie Como Él” (2001), “100% Sabroso” (2002), “Llego Michel El Buenon” (2005), “Víveme” (2005) and “Extrañándote” (2005), which contained ballads interpreted in the rhythm of salsa in the style of “El Buenon”, this production has unpublished songs of Michel himself such as “Que Te Vaya Bonito” and “Yo Que Me Lo Creo”.

Throughout his career he has been winner of the Casandra Awards 2005-2006-2007 and nominated in 2008 and 2011.

Among his languages interpreting songs are English, Portuguese, Italian, Papiamiento, Creole, Spanish and French as he did in the song “Se Finit” by Charles Asnabul and the song Wonderful World in tribute to Mr. Luis Armstrong.

In his repertoire of the most outstanding songs in 2008 are “La Primavera”, “Cuando Los Sapos Bailan Flamenco”, “La Playa”, “Víveme”, “Tú Ni Te Lo Imaginas”, “Hoy Daría Yo La Vida”, “Me Has Echado Al Olvido”, “A La Primer Persona” and “Wonderful World”, all with hits and diffusion in all the radios and discotheques of his country.

Among his most outstanding albums in the last ten years are “Extrañándote”, “Todo Terreno”, “Estilo Y Conciencia”, “Arriba Siempre De Pura Sangre”, “Reserva Especial Impecable”, “El Insuperable De La Salsa” and “Claro, Fino, Nítido, Control Total”.

Throughout his career he has traveled to all of Europe, the United States, the Lesser Antilles, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Mexico, Curacao, La Reunion, Tahiti, Africa, Japan, Dubai and Colombia, the latter was where he recorded the video clip of his song “Maldito El Tiempo” written by Alexander Pires.

Michel “El Buenon”

You can read: Génesis de la Salsa, su esencia, características, ritmo, historia y expansión

Synthesis on the song “El Cazanguero” written by Rubén Baldes for the album The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

“It is the lament of the cazanguero in Coiba at dawn, hurry up Chino Juan, they are already calling the line, the guard says not this time, don’t fall so far behind”.

“Whether it is sunny or raining hard, you have to take care of the sowing; don’t let the hunanga come to spoil your effort”.

In 1974, El Malo del Bronx, after 8 years of touring with El Jíbaro de Ponce, decided to take some time off, he did not attend the presentation of Fania All Star in Africa and dedicated himself to solving personal problems and producing.

He was working on his next album with Yomo and Hector, he remembered that there was a Panamanian boy he had met in 1969 at a carnival in Panama, whom he had invited to come on stage to sing with Hector in several of the presentations in clubs in the Big Apple.

This guy was already part of Barretto’s band and had given songs to luminaries of the genre that became hits, such as Guaguancó Triste to Richie and Bobby, Las Esquinas to Niño Bonito and Amor Pa’ que to Conjunto Candela.

These songs put him on Willie’s radar who asked him for a song to complete his next album. Ruben, who was that Panamanian boy, happy for El Malo’s request, writes his first song while living in New York.

Ruben arrives at the studio where that song was being recorded and Hector approaches him and tells him that he would not record it because he didn’t understand it, he didn’t feel it and that’s why it wouldn’t sound right.

Ruben is disappointed by what Hector said, but Willie really liked the song and asks Ruben to record it himself.

Ruben reminds Willie that he is part of the band El de Las manos Duras and that it would be a problem, Willie replies that he would fix it, which he did, obtaining don Masucci’s permission.

This marked the end of Ruben with Barreto and the beginning of what would become the duo that would dominate Salsa for the next 6 years.

This song we are talking about is El Cazanguero,

It is the lament of the cazanguero in Coiba de madrugá’. Hurry up Chino Juan, they’re already calling the line, the guard says not this time, don’t fall so far behind”.

“Whether it is sunny or raining hard, you have to take care of the sowing, so that the cazanga does not come to spoil your effort”.

Part of Coiba’s history as a penal colony, for 74 years, is described in El Cazanguero, a song by Rubén Blades that began to be heard in 1975.

The song describes who the cazangueros were, some of the punishments to which inmates who broke the rules were subjected, and the sadness of being far from their families, with the uncertainty and fear of an enemy attack, in an open penal system like Coiba.

Although the main value of the island is in its natural wealth, it is also important its history and the history of the prisoners it housed, the anecdotes of those who paid long sentences for going against the laws and the rights of others.

How many cans of gravel are there from here to Catival?” Blades ask in his song. The rubble, which is everywhere in Coiba, was used to fill the holes in the roads, to fill land or in construction”.

The Cazangueros were the inmates who chased away the cazanga, a climbing bird of the parrot family, green in color, with a blue head and neck, black beak and legs, which killed, like a plague, any planting it found in its path.

“The cazanga would come down from the mountains by the thousands, in the early morning, and the hunters had to scare them away by ringing empty oil cans and shouting. Sometimes they had to make dolls in human shapes to win the battle against the birds”.

As mentioned above, El Cazanguero was the first song Ruben wrote in the United States. To write it, he was inspired by his trip to the penal island of Coiba where he wrote his law degree thesis. It seems that this song was placed as filler on the 1975 album “The good, the bad, and the ugly” featuring Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe and guitarist Yomo Toro on the cover. However, it was “El Cazanguero” that sold the acetate record.

“El Cazanguero” was cut 6 of the album “The good, the bad & the ugly” which was recorded in 1974, at Good Vibrations studios. It was the last album in which Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe collaborated.

It contained 3 instrumental tracks, three sung by Colón in his first appearance as a solo singer on record (“Toma”, “Cua cua ra, cua cua” and “Guaracha”, 2 with Lavoe’s solo voice (“Popurri III” and “Que bien te ves”) and “El Cazanguero” written and sung by Blades.

Hablemos de EL CAZANGUERO

You can read: Louie Ramírez «El Quincy Jones de la Salsa» y su talento progresivo un Genio escondido de La Fania All Stars

AQUILES BÁEZ

Swing And Tradition Of A Distinguished Venezuelan Artist

Chapter I: Aquiles’ Farewell

“With all the pain in my soul, I must publicly communicate that my friend, my brother, my accomplice Aquiles Báez passed away this morning at 5 in the morning in the city of Aachen, Germany. Aquiles was in the middle of a concert tour here in Europe. He flies high gordito.” Ramón Arturo Aular (Báez’s friend, musician, and professor at the Aachen Conservatory of Music) informed the community through his Twitter account the Monday, September 12^th.

The virtuoso musician, noble guitarist, arranger, and excellent composer died of a sudden heart attack at the residence of his friend Ramón Aular. His last concert was held in the city of Cologne located in western Germany as part of his 2022 European tour, the first he did after the cessation of activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The noble 58-year-old artist had already performed in Spain and was preparing to present his music in some German cities such as Berlin, Tubingen, and Hamburg, before finishing his tour in France and Portugal.

“I think it is important to project the work that one has been developing in other latitudes. This is very interesting because I realize that the music I make is universal, it is not limited only to playing for the Venezuelan diaspora, which of course also provides an audience”. Báez expressed this to an international media.

During his artistic career, he recorded 17 albums and collaborated on more than 150 recordings with other artists. Báez was a professor at the Berklee College of Music (Boston, Massachusetts) and was recognized for his mastery of the guitar with “elements of mixed Caribbean and Afro-Venezuelan cultures with classical music and Jazz.” Fragment extracted from his biography.

In life, he shared stages with artists such as Paquito D´ Rivera, John Patitucci, Romero Lubambo, C4 Trío, Ilan Chester, Simón Díaz, Huáscar Barradas, Worlds of Guitars, Aquiles Machado, Serenata Guayanesa, Iván Pérez Rossi, Fareed Haque, Dawn Upshaw, Richard Bona, Luisito Quintero, Solo Razaf, Marco Pereira, Oscar Stagnaro, and Ensamble Gurrufío.

Before passed away, Aquiles Báez was preparing the publication of two studio albums and the creation of five more. He was also in charge of making the music for the Venezuelan play Mi último delirio, which premiered on September 2^nd with the lead role of his friend Héctor Manrique and with great reception from the public and specialized critics.

Chapter II: Getting to know the musicians’ Master to the rhythm of the compass

His older brother, Julio, was the one who instilled in him a love for music by giving him his first instrument, the Cuatro.

Aquiles Báez was always an irreverent musician who made the type of music that he felt. “It is important to make music from what one feels it is, from that forceful energy that is the act of creating…Lately, I have been respected. It was hard to get that position. They have not always respected me, perhaps because of my way of being, irreverent. The people who manage cultural spaces have always taken me as an anarchist… I consider myself someone accessible, the teacher thing hasn’t gotten to me, seeing everyone below me, that seems pathetic to me…” Aquiles expressed this to a Venezuelan media.

“Throughout his career, Aquiles has received various awards and recognitions. These include Pepsi music awards and the William Leavitt award given by the Berklee College of Music; In addition, he has stood out with more than a dozen awards as a composer of music for film, theater, and dance. Extracted from his biography.

In 1996, at the age of 32, Aquiles decided to move to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After two semesters he dropped out, considering that he was “learning the same thing but in another language.” And that was not only his thinking, but also what he demonstrated during his stay as a student at the academic campus, so shortly after he entered the Berklee College of Music again, but this time as a professor.

On this academic campus, he gave “clinics, workshops, and seminars at different universities and musical institutions such as Indiana University, Temple University, Queen College, Krems Summer camp, Curitiba Music Office, The Jazz School in San Francisco, among others, in Europe and the United States”, according to his biography.

Shortly after, he participated as a guest musician on the albums of Panamanian artist Danilo Pérez: Central Avenue (1998) and Motherland (2000), both albums nominated for Grammys.

Aquiles Báez was a founder and member of the board of directors of Guataca productions. In this space, they continue to support emerging Venezuelan artists. Báez’s methodology for finding new talent was to research, listen to them live and contact them. “Why not support those guys who come after you? Why not make life more pleasant for them? Or a lighter path than one had. This road is not easy at all, it has been very hard, and it continues to be hard. And one continues and believes that he has acquired a certain reputation…” Báez expressed this in an interview conducted by a Venezuelan media outlet.

Chapter III: Anecdotes of a famous life

Last night sharing with the beloved Maestro Carlos Cruz Diez (Panama. October 29, 2016)

Countless artists expressed their affection and grief for Aquiles’ departure, expressing testimonies of a life full of joy, love, and passion for musical colors.

“One of the artists who has inspired me the most and a great human being. He made it possible for us to make our first album, the tour of the United States and opened the doors of his home for us. We made a lot of beautiful friends with Aquiles. D.E.P, Maestro, compaíto Aquiles Báez”. Jorge Glem (Cuatrista and member of the group C4 Trio).

“The wonderful Aquiles Báez was a musician capable of playing all Venezuelan music of all genres“. Alfredo Naranjo (Vibraphonist)

“Dismayed by the sudden death of my dear friend Aquiles Báez, one of the great musicians of our country, guitar teacher, and eternal officiant of humor and simplicity”. Leonardo Padron (Writer)

“Today we are less. I have just been informed that our admired and beloved musician and my dear friend, Aquiles Baez, has passed away. This news is heartbreaking and unfair. Aquiles is one of the most creative and generous people I have ever met”. Héctor Manrique (Director and theater actor)

“Thank you for being an inspiration in music and a big brother in life. Without your unconditional support, I would not have even reached the corner”. Álvaro Paiva Bimbo (Guitarist and 2022 Oscar nominee for the soundtrack of the Disney movie “Encanto”)

“How can we forget this great friend and fellow adventurer”. Claudio Nazoa (Comedian)

“I was left with the desire to carry out the project we had to record an album together. What profound sadness!” Miguel Delgado Estévez (Musician, arranger, and producer)

Finally, the Venezuelan percussionist Omar Ledezma Jr. expressed his sorrow for the death of Báez.

LENTEJAS. That’s what the gordo called me. 7 years of my life I played and toured the world with Aquiles Báez. We met at one of his concerts at the Bellas Artes thanks to my dear Carlos Reyes, another great guitarist from our country, at the time I worked at the MACCSI. Years later, arriving in Boston, he called me to be in his group and I couldn’t believe it. The gordo was my musical hero thanks to his Platabanda and the number of times I saw him accompanying great singers. He was the one who told me to grab El Cajón and start putting in the merengue and the gaitas. I knew his bad jokes by heart: “Vamos a tocar la canción de DC: Di si encontraste…”, with him, I learned to be a person first, then a musician, I learned not to make ugly faces if I made a mistake, with him, I had to press on reading, to be punctual, to put my batteries.

Anyway… with the gordo I learned to be a professional musician, because with his virtues and defects, for me, he was the best.

I love you my gordo, wherever you are. Thanks. #aquilesbaez”.

You can continue reading the article about Omar Ledezma Jr. From The Venezuelan Melody To The Caribbean Rhythm.

Here is a small excerpt from this interview of 2021:

Years later, and with experience acquired in presentations, and groups, Omar Jr. met his first mentor, Aquiles Baez, a famous Venezuelan artist, guitar virtuoso. Together with Aquiles, he made his first international tour of the United States. “With Aquiles, I had the pleasure of playing Venezuelan music. We play with many artists in the United States… Thanks to him I developed percussion (Non-autochthonous element) in Venezuelan music”. Ledezma Jr. commented.

“Fall in NY. How beautiful are the colors of Autumn in NYC. Enjoying that watercolor of nature”. Aquiles Baez (November 8, 2018)

Melissa Aldana Will Headline The Wellington Jazz Festival

The Most Acclaimed Latin Saxophonist On The International Jazz Scene

Melissa Aldana started playing the alto saxophone at the age of 6

Melissa Aldana is a Chilean saxophonist and composer nominated for the Grammy Awards (2020) for her skills with this wind instrument, she has six studio albums, and her fame has spread to all Jazz circuits around the world.

Aldana with his quartet will headline the Wellington Jazz Festival 2022 to present to the fans the debut album with the company Blue Note Records titled 12 Stars, and you cannot miss the opportunity to experience this exceptional live performance with flowing harmonic notes seasoned with feeling in the Wellington Opera House (111 – 113 Manners Street, Wellington, New Zealand) on Sunday, October 23^rd from 7PM to 8:30PM, and the ticket price is $69.

The Wellington Jazz Festival is an entry point into the Jazz music calendar for fans and the curious. This event will offer more than 100 magical concerts in bars, restaurants, and live music venues in the capital. This year the splendid festival will take place in mid-spring in Aotearoa (New Zealand’s Maori name), featuring some of the best international Grammy Award-winning and nominated artists, as well as renowned talent from this Oceanian country and the world.

On the other hand, Melissa Aldana was the first South American woman and instrumentalist to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Contest (Washington -USA) in 2013. This artist born in Santiago de Chile in 1988 is a graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music with a full music scholarship in 2009, moreover, she also comes from a musical family where her father and paternal grandfather played this instrument.

The discography of this tenor saxophonist goes back 12 years when, at only 22 years old, she came out on the music market with her debut album Free Fall (2010). It is followed by Second Cycle in 2012, Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio (2014), and Back Home in 2016. Her fifth studio album was Visions (2019), an album that earned her first Grammy nomination for Best Solo by Improvised Jazz in recognition of her impressive tenor solo on her composition Elsewhere.

12 Stars was composed in Harlem (New York - USA) in 2020 — 12 Stars was composed in Harlem (New York – USA) in 2020

Most recently her record production is 12 Stars, an anecdotal album that she wrote during the Covid-19 pandemic and the product of the struggles she went through due to the breakup of a long relationship. “This is a very important album for me. I felt like I had a lot to say because of all the experiences I had during 2020. After the personal process that I went through, I feel more connected to myself and my imperfections… Embrace everything I hear, everything I touch, including mistakes, is more significant than perfection”. Aldana exposed in her biography

12 Stars was recorded under the Blue Note label and released on the music market on March 4^th. “I feel super privileged, but I had a feeling that this had to happen at some point. I’ve been very consistent with my band and my projects for a long time. I am very motivated for what comes next”. Aldana expressed to an international digital medium.

Melissa will end her presentations in Europe this year with a tour during November that will take her to the capital of Spain on Friday, November 11^th (Teatro Fernán Gómez) and on Saturday 12^th, she will be in Badajoz (Teatro López De Ayala). While on Monday, November 14^th, she will perform at the Zig Zag Jazz Club (Berlin-Germany), and on Wednesday, November 16^th, she will have the same but this time at the Porgy & Bess in Vienna, Austria.

The Padova Jazz Club (Padua- Italy) will be handed over to Melissa Aldana on Friday, November 18^th, and a day later she will do so at the Teatro Lauro Rossi in Macerata, Italy.