Search Results for: Puerto Rico

Ralph Rivera’s rol in the promotion of Latin Culture

Just as we have talked about musicians and singers who have left to the Puerto Rican culture in the highest in the rest of the world, it is also time to highlight the role of other figures who have contributed immensely to the way in which the Island of Enchantment is perceived by others: the cradle of several of the best artistic exponents from Latin America. One of them is Ralph Rivera.

From the Spaha Salsa Harlem Museum, we have always sought to promote Latin culture by giving space to figures who do their part in making sure we are respected on an artistic level. Such is the case of writer, producer and financial executive Rafael J. Rivera-Viruet, better known as Ralph Rivera, to whom we will dedicate the next lines of this article.

Financial Executive Ralph Rivera — Puerto Rican financial executive and writer Ralph Rivera

Who is Ralph Rivera?

Ralph Rivera was born in a coffee farm in the municipality of Utuado, the third largest municipality in Puerto Rico, which is located behind Ponce and Arecibo and is part of the mountainous region known as La Cordillera Central.

Like many other Puerto Ricans of the time, his parents were seeking a better future for themselves and their child, so they made the decision to move to New York City, United States, thus becoming part of ”The Great Migration” in the 1940s, which consisted of a massive exodus of Puerto Ricans to Uncle Sam’s country as a result of its growing dominance over the island and the devastation caused by ”The Great Depression”, with which Puerto Rico was greatly affected.

Once in the United States, the family settled in the South Bronx, where little Ralph spent his childhood and youth being part of New York’s public school system. It was full of children who wanted to get out of poverty through education and hard work. Ralph was certainly no exception, as he wanted the same thing and would do what he could to make it happen.

Over the years, the young man acquired all the knowledge he could in the area he was most passionate about: business. Of course it was not an easy road, but Ralph managed to reach important positions in this field. When he worked for the auditing firm Price Waterhouse, he was hired by the talent agency Ashley Famous to handle the company’s financial affairs.

Ralph’s beginnings were not easy, but at the end he achieved all his goals

When he gained enough experience, he went for bigger challenges in his career. That was when he met his greatest mentor, fellow executive Marvin Josephson, with whom he created mergers and acquisitions in order to found International Creative Management (ICM) the Behemoth Talent Agency.

Moving to Los Angeles

At this point, Ralph had already fulfilled many of the dreams he had set out to achieve professionally, but he still has plenty to prove in the field. It turns out that, in the 1980s, he was given the opportunity to move to Los Angeles to work closely with Martin Starger, former president of ABC television, and Sir Lew Grade, who at the time was the head of Marble Arch Productions, a famous entertainment company in England.

‘‘Sophie’s choice” and ”On Golden Pond” are among the projects the entrepreneur took on with the company, but his aspirations just kept growing and led him to work with Marvel Comics and Stan Lee himself on the television animation production side. Some of the Marvel titles Ralph worked on include ”Iron Man”, ”Spider Man”, ”The Fantastic Four” and many others.

In the mid-1990s, he returned to his native island of Puerto Rico and settled in its capital, San Juan, to focus on producing documentaries about Hispanic American culture, including politics, cinema and, of course, music.

Ralph’s book — Cover of the book ”HOLLYWOOD Se Habla Español

Ralph as a writer

The multifaceted executive is not limited to the aforementioned facets, but is also a writer and author of the acclaimed book ”HOLLYWOOD: Se Habla Español”, which has won multiple awards since its release.

In the text, Ralph describes some of the most important achievements of Hispanics in Hollywood films over the last century, stories that should make all of us Latinos who read them proud. They are proof that all the effort we have put into being recognized worldwide has finally paid off despite the obstacles.

Jimmy Bosch. The Creole Trombone of New York.

Norteamerica / USA / Nueva York

Jimmy Bosch was born on October 18, 1959 to a Puerto Rican family in the city of Hoboken in the state of New Jersey.

At the elementary school of his hometown, at the age of eleven Jimmy Bosch was offered a trombone which would give the starting point in his career. According to him, that metallic, valveless, long instrument (which was taller than him) was not necessarily what a child dreamed of; Perhaps, at that time, children dreamed of traveling to the moon, or with an electric guitar that would make them look like The Beatles or, failing that, the Rolling Stones. It didn’t take long for that 11-year-old boy to transform this instrument into an expression of his already visible creativity.

At the age of 13, the talented Jimmy was rehearsing with local bands and making his first foray onto the public stage a year or two later. His determination, the Latin blood that ran through his veins and the taste for the genre that had captivated him on so many occasions, led him to play with the most recognized band in the city: Manny Oquendo & Conjunto Libre. His dexterity and ingenuity in playing “moñas” (a section of trombone solos that enrich the melody) helped him to work with them since 1978, which is why it was alongside the Mythical Free Ensemble that Jimmy experienced the freedom to express himself musically with the trombone

On March 11, 1996, Jimmy Bosch debuted with his band at the internationally known S.O.B.’s nightclub. The result was immediate: Publications in the most prestigious newspapers in the Big Apple such as the “New York Times”, praising his excellence and a house full of loyal fans began to crown the dream of this tropical music worker. In this way he becomes a remarkably respected musician and an icon of Latin culture in New York.

His compositions reflect the creativity and depth of who Jimmy Bosch is. He takes his audience on a journey from Bronx-style “funk” to “hot” guajiras, melodious cha-cha-chás, and clearly poetic lyrics awash with feeling. Thus, Jimmy pays tribute to the other teachers who share their presentations generating remembrance and posterity in each one of them.

In 1998, under the Ryko Latino label, his first solo album, “Soneando trombone”, was released. Jimmy included a “Big Band” with renowned Latin virtuoso artists, such as trumpeter Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, bassist Andy González, and singers like Jimmy Sabater and Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez. They played a mix of Latin styles, including “hard sauce,” of which Bosch is one of its greatest exponents. Bosch not only played a virtuoso trombone, but was also the musical director on that recording.

With his recording debut as a solo artist, Bosch scored a definite success on the international scene. In Europe critics welcomed his musical creations. And in the United States, newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times were full of praise for their brilliant performances.

At the beginning of 1999, the popular musician returns to the charts with a new production: “Salsa dura“. In this production, including musicians like Steve Turre and Chucho Valdés, it was as diverse, strong, and tough as his first production. The recording also included songs like I’m Still Changing. For the release of “Salsa dura” the Creole trombonist traveled to Europe and performed on countless stages of the Old Continent.

Persevering in his creativity, in 2004 Bosch received new applause in Puerto Rico, presenting his musical proposal at jazz festivals. His bows have accompanied such important figures in the salsa industry around the planet as the aforementioned Free Ensemble of Manny Oquendo and Andy González, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, India, the Lebron Brothers, La Combinación Perfecta, Cachao, Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Celia Cruz among others. He was the musical director of the outstanding Puerto Rican performer Marc Anthony.

The late creator of the Mambo, Israel “Cachao” López, composed for him the song “Lluvia, viento y caña”. The legendary trombone solo can be heard on the Grammy-winning recording, “Master Sessions Vol. 1” produced by Emilio Estefan and Andy García.

This talented musician stamps his signature with his particular way of playing the trombone, becoming his personal stamp in the music industry. Today, Jimmy Bosch is famous for his explosive solos, full of melody, vibration and funk.

Known by many as “El Trombón Criollo” for the strength of his improvisations, Jimmy radiates his energy to any musical challenge. Jimmy brings us El airplane de la salsa, his latest production, surrounded by high-voltage musicians and soneros.

Latin America – December 2018

Israel Tanenbaum from The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble in ISM

The Island of Enchantment never ceases to amaze us and we continue to marvel at the fact that this small territory has been able to give the world so much talent, especially in music. Today, it is up to talk about Puerto Rican producer, arranger, composer and pianist Israel Tanenbaum and the enormous contribution that this great artist has made to Latin music over the last few decades.

Israel Tanenbaum is also a bandleader who has produced more than 50 albums and participated in over a hundred recordings throughout his career, so his experience in this field is more than proven. We were fortunate to talk to him in just over half an hour and we will proceed to cover the most important issues in the following lines.

Producer Israel Tanenbaum — This is Puerto Rican producer, arranger, composer and pianist Israel Tanenbaum

Israel and his passion for the piano

Although Israel is widely known for his piano skills, this was not the first instrument he started playing, but the organ. As a child, he was given a toy organ and that was how he made up his mind and train his ear for music.

In addition to that, he told us an anecdote about how one day he went to a music store with his parents and they left him alone for a while, time that little Israel used to play a huge object that caught his attention: an organ much bigger than the one he used to play at home. It was by watching the organist that he decided to position himself in front of the instrument and started imitating what the musician was doing with his little hands.

He waited until the organist moved away from the instrument to sell it to a customer and Israel took the opportunity to get into the seat and start playing the instrument’s keys and foot pedal. After playing the five or six songs he knew, he noticed that he had a silent multitude watching what he was doing and once he finished playing, people started clapping their hands furiously at such a waste of talent in a child this small.

That was when his parents decided to buy him an organ and a piano. A few years later, namely when he was 12 years old, Israel was already playing on the streets in a more professional way.

Israel’s self-taught formation in music

Israel’s initial training as a musician was entirely self-taught for the first few years. In fact, he says that when he started studying the craft for real when he had already been earning a living as a musician for more than 10 years.

With regard to sound engineering, Israel says he had to become professional in this area ”in self-defense”, as he had problems with several sound engineers who did not have a good musical ear, so they ended up damaging some of his recordings unintentionally. This led him to learn to work on the engineering himself so that this kind of thing would not happen again.

On the other hand, the arrangements and production process had to do with some experiences he had had. One of them happened when, at the age of 16, a friend’s father, an important person in the industry, on one occasion, introduced him to Machito, who very kindly invited Israel to go on stage and sit next to him to learn from what he saw that night. This experience marked the pianist so much that he said to himself: ”this is what I definitely want to do for the rest of my life”.

Israel playing the piano — Israel Tanenbaum playing the piano during a performance

Colombia’s role in Israel’s career

Colombia has been key to Israel’s career for several reasons and one of them is that his most productive time of life was spent in the coffee-growing country. The artist had already traveled to that country to accompany artists such as Pete ”El Conde”, Marvin Santiago and Arabella, but the situation was different when he had to tour with the group Batacumbele. This tour was scheduled to last about 10 days, but it was prolonged for 10 years.

In those days, it turns out that he met by chance with Alexis Lozano, director of Orquesta Guayacán, who proposed him to stay in Colombia a longer time to produce the orchestra’s second album and he accepted. After this, he continued to receive proposals of this style and, almost without realizing it, he already had 10 years living in Colombia and more than 80 albums produced. In addition to Orquesta Guayacán, he worked with Grupo Niche, Cheo Acosta, Alfredito de La Fé and many more.

”My real professional growth took place in Colombia, but my love for production began in Puerto Rico from the hand of percussionist Roberto Roena, whose orchestra was led by me for about two years. When we were recrding the album ‘El Regreso’, I spent many hours with Roberto in the studio and, seeing how dedicated, detail-oriented and precise he was with every chord and note, I was inspired to do the same at some point. That’s how I accepted all the opportunities to produce that arose in Colombia some time later. I owe all of that to Roberto” Israel said about his time as a producer in the South American country.

In addition to his work side, Israel also says that Colombia means a lot to him on a personal level, since this country makes him feel at home and he has many friends there. Not to mention that his own wife is Colombian and one of his children was born there, so he is more than attached to that land for life.

Israel during an interview — Israel Tanenbaum during an interview on the radio

Life in Puerto Rico and Hawaii

In addition to Colombia, Israel also lived in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. He assures that from each of the places he has been, he has extracted something from their folklore and roots to add to his musical work. He says it is the best way to understand that country and the taste of its people.

”If you want to understand the people of a country, you have to go back to their folklore and assimilate it. I lived in Venezuela for about six months and, being there, I became familiar with the quitiplás (a typical percussion instrument of Venezuela), the sangueo, the llanera music and many other elements of the musical culture of that country” Israel said on this issue.

”I lived in Hawaii for almost three years, during which time I founded my first salsa orchestra. I served in the army with Quique Peña, a nephew of maestro Lito Peña, an eminence in Puerto Rico. The young man, whose classical training was extremely intense, taught me to transcribe what each instrument plays in detail. This was an invaluable lesson that served me well for what came later in my career. I also had the opportunity to study with maestro Eddie Palmieri, Papo Luca, José Milé, Jorge Milé, José Febles, among others. I transcribed music for all of them” Israel added on the issue.

Israel Tanenbaum & The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble

”Impressions”, Latinbaum’s most recent album, was the result of an extensive musical stry that tells a wide experience with genres, styles and musicians of all kinds. Israel started this recording nine years ago, but he was always very busy with the rest of the recordings he was producing, so he always ended up abandoning this project.

Once he had the album ready, but one day Israel had a catastrophic loss of equipment and recordings that led him to practically start the album from scratch, from which he could only save a single song. In the end, he opted to tear up and throw away the arrangements he had in order to start all over again. It took about eight more months to have the album ready again, and today, the musician is grateful that things went down like this, since this material represents the artist he is today for being more current.

It is then when he sought out the artists and musicians who would accompany him in this new production, which would be his first solo album after having produced more than 100 other people’s albums.

From now on, he wants to release a Latin Jazz production with his own orchestra every year and all of them under his new label, Latinbaum Records.

Latin America / June 2024

DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS
ARGENTINA	ARUBA	BELIZE
BOLIVIA	BRAZIL	CHILE
COLOMBIA	COSTA RICA	CUBA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	ECUADOR	GUATEMALA
MEXICO	PANAMA	PERU
PUERTO RICO	VENEZUELA