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Search Results for: Puerto Rico

45 years of salsa career of ‘el más que canta’ was in style

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, at about 5:00 p.m. Puerto Rican time, the curtain of the Coca Cola Music Hall rose to give way to a radiant Domingo Quiñones.

El más que canta’ arrived ready to share his voice and his usual nostalgic smile with the audience.

The 45th anniversary party began, the melodic style of the saxophone in charge of Jorge Baez. A minute after the orchestra played the first notes, Domingo let out a loud war cry that sounded like: “Puerto Rico”. Immediately, the first two songs were played: Chica romántica & Poeta y guerrero.

Domingo Quiñones  ‘el más que canta’
Domingo Quiñones  ‘el más que canta’

After a brief greeting in which Domingo thanked his fans for their support, the most emblematic songs of his career were heard, such as: Tú cómo estás, Soy, Enséñame, El progreso, Busco un amor, Falco de valor, Salsumba, Cuando se necesitan más, Fuera de control, Río abajo, Deseo salvaje y Devórame otra vez, A que no te atreves, Se necesita un milagro, Pasarás al libro del recuerdo, Lo reconozco y No voy a dejarte ir.

Keeping the rhythmic base going, Charlie Padilla was in charge of the tumbadoras, in perfect sync with Javier Oquendo on the bongos and Pablo Padín on the timbales. It was clear that Domingo was backed by a luxurious orchestra, under the musical direction of pianist, music producer, arranger, composer, singer and dancer: Carlos García.  Ricardo Lugo accompanied with his impeccable bass playing. Ramón Sánchez complemented the perfection of the stage behind the keyboard.

The wind section was formed by Ángel Hernández and Jesús Alonso on trumpets, and Eliut Cintrón and Víctor Vázquez on trombones. In the choirs, the vocal forcefulness and precision of Jorge Yadiel, Nahyra Pérez and David Carrero was heard.

Domingo Quiñones
Domingo Quiñones

About an hour into the celebration, Domingo decided to do a conga solo, what a surprise we were in for! The conga solo was very well done.

An hour and a half into the concert, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Luisito Carrión and Carlos García sang with Domingo Quiñones the song En el mismo barco, composed by Domingo in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domingo Quiñones Tributo a Lalo Rodriguez
Domingo Quiñones Tributo a Lalo Rodriguez

The arrangement of the song allowed the wind instrumentalists to have their way with the big spoon before giving way to a very heavy rumba in the percussive corner.

A moment of great emotion was the one that gave way to the song Río abajo, with the accompaniment of Luis ‘Perico’ Ortiz in his impeccable trumpet solos, in addition to accompanying Domingo in the chorus.

Por todo lo alto  fueron 45 años de trayectoria salsera de ‘el más que canta’
Por todo lo alto  fueron 45 años de trayectoria salsera de ‘el más que canta’

This intervention made clear the affection that Domingo and Perico have for each other.  It must be because when Domingo decided to pursue his dream as a soloist, he was part of ‘Perico’s’ orchestra.

For this celebration, our Domingo Quiñones gave way to a repertoire that summarized very well those 45 years of career.  More than singing, Domingo interpreted with that emotionality of his best times.  The audience vibrated with his performance. His histrionic ability, his interpretative quality and the charisma with which he captures the audience’s attention, kept them captive for hours.

Domingo Quiñones  y sus Amigos
Domingo Quiñones  y sus Amigos

Photo credits: Félix Guayciba

Bella Martínez

Read Also: “Mambo Night in Miami Beach” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, our own Tito Rodriguez

Bella Martínez Writer, researcher of Afro-Caribbean music and author of Un conguero para la historia, Las memorias de Jimmie Morales.

787-424-8868

Vicentico Valdés “The elastic voice” of Bolero in Cuba and the Caribbean

“The earrings that the moon lacks I have kept to make you a necklace”.

Vicente Valdés was born in the neighborhood of Cayo Hueso, Havana, on January 10, 1921. He was the younger brother of Alfredito Valdés (1908-1988), a versatile singer who performed with numerous sones groups, ensembles and orchestras in Cuba until, around 1940, he settled outside Cuba, mainly in New York and Mexico, where he continued his artistic career.

Vicente Valdés Una Vez
Vicente Valdés Una Vez

Two of Vicente’s other brothers, Marcelino and Oscar, stood out as percussionists, and the latter also as a singer in the Irakere group.

Also known as “La voz elástica” Vicentico is one of the most celebrated interpreters of the bolero with a great interpretative strength and dramatization in his performance for the benefit of couples in love who enjoy his songs to this day.

Valdés was part of “El Septeto Nacional”, the orchestra of Cheo Belén Puig, “La Cosmopolita”, the orchestras of Noro Morales, Arturo Núñez and Tito Puente,

In 1937, recommended by Alfredo, Vicentico sang for a short time with the Segundo Septeto Nacional, a group that had been founded to share the multiple artistic commitments that the renowned Septeto Nacional of Ignacio Piñeiro received at that time. He was also a member of the sones sextet Jabón Candado.

Vicentico Valdés La voz elástica del Bolero en Cuba
Vicentico Valdés La voz elástica del Bolero en Cuba

Later, he replaced Alfredo as a singer in the orchestra of Cheo Belén Puig, one of the most famous Cuban groups of the charanga format. Later, he joined the jazz band Cosmopolita, led by Vicente Viana and later by pianist and composer Humberto Suárez.

Together with Marcelino Guerra Rapindey and Cristóbal Dobal, among others, he was part of the sextet Los Leones.

In the mid-1940s, due to the difficult economic situation in Cuba after World War II, Vicentico, like many other Cuban artists of the time, went to Mexico to explore new horizons for his work in music.

In the Mexican capital he performed with Humberto Cané’s conjunto Tropical, and the orchestras of Arturo Núñez, Rafael de Paz and Chucho Rodríguez, with whom he later recorded with Benny Moré. In those years he received his first ovations on the stage of the Follies.

In Mexico, between 1946 and 1947, he made recordings for the Peerless label, backed by the orchestras of the Mexican Rafael de Paz and the Cuban Absalón Pérez.

The repertoire chosen for these records consisted almost entirely of guarachas, afros and sones montunos, which had been popularized in Cuba by Orlando Guerra Cascarita with the Orquesta Casino de la Playa.

Vicente Valdés
Vicente Valdés

Vicentico was hired as a singer of the musical group of the Puerto Rican pianist Noro Morales in New York at the end of 1947. In that city he had a successful season at the Hispanic Theater which, according to the chronicles of the time, “consecrated him in the taste of the Latin community”. He also performed at the Million Dollars, Park Plaza and Puerto Rico theaters.

In 1948 he joined Tito Puente’s orchestra as a singer, along with his brother Alfredo. With Puente he recorded his first boleros (among them “Quiéreme y verás”, by José Antonio Méndez) for the Seeco label. Until then he had been used mainly as an interpreter of upbeat numbers. With Tito Puente he made numerous recordings throughout his career.

In 1953, the Seeco record company promoted a group of recordings with the Sonora Matancera, which had great repercussion in Cuba, where he was hardly known, and in other Caribbean countries.

Among the pieces recorded in Havana in November of that year were two boleros (“Una aventura”, by Elisa Chiquitica Méndez and “Decídete mi amor”, by José Antonio Méndez), a genre in which he achieved the greatest triumphs of his career.

From then on, in New York, with great studio orchestras conducted by René Hernández, Joe Cain, and later Charlie and Eddie Palmieri, he made new recordings that were quickly distributed throughout Latin America.

Their repertoire during this stage (early 1960s) included boleros and songs by authors of different tendencies and styles; the Cubans René Touzet, Javier Vázquez, José Antonio Méndez, Piloto y Vera, Pepé Delgado, Juan Pablo Miranda, Marta Valdés and the Rigual brothers; the Puerto Ricans Silvia Rexach, Myrta Silva and Rafael Hernández; the Dominicans Rafael Solano and Manuel Troncoso; and the Mexicans Manuel Prado, Luis Demetrio and Armando Manzanero.

Vicente Valdés y La Oquesta de Bobby Valentin
Vicente Valdés y La Oquesta de Bobby Valentin

La Sonora Matancera among others no less important. He also excelled in other genres such as Mambo, Guaguancó, Son and Guaracha.

He was an exceptional singer with a particular style that set the standard and also spread the best Latin American bolero composers, particularly those of the Cuban Feeling, of which he was a valuable promoter at an international level. His career as a soloist was impeccable.

He died in a New York hospital on the morning of June 26, 1995, according to a heart attack.

Source: En Caribe

Sonora Matancera

Read also: La Sonora Matancera musical congregation of long trajectory and its sound quality, is one of the most popular in the Caribbean island “Cuba”

Tata Güines known as Manos de Oro, Cuban rumbero and percussionist

Known as Manos de Oro, he modernized the tumbadoras and played with the most important musicians of the island of Cuba.

He was born in Güines, Havana on June 30, 1930, in the bosom of a family of musicians, son of Joseíto “El tresero” and Niñita, who from a very young age used to play a boot-cleaning box in the corner of the Chapel of Santa Bárbara, in the legendary neighborhood of Leguina, where so many congas and bembés have been made and will continue to be enjoyed.

Artistic trajectory

Saying Federico Arístides Soto Alejo may not say anything to some music neophytes, but when you say Tata Güines, things change radically and everyone thinks: That is the tumbadora made soul and flavor.

Tata Güines conocido como Manos de Oro, modernizó las tumbadoras y tocó con los más relevantes músicos de la isla de Cuba
Tata Güines conocido como Manos de Oro, modernizó las tumbadoras y tocó con los más relevantes músicos de la isla de Cuba

He became attached to percussion instruments, especially the tumbadora, which, as a Cuban, groaned under the effect of his prodigious hands. Under the influence of Chano Pozo, whose touches bewitched him and gave him the key to create his own style.

He was formed as a musician among the drums and the religious festivities of his neighborhood. He adopted his nickname as a child -el Tata-, and as a surname the name of the town where he grew up. Music was in his blood: his father and uncles made music with their hides.

He played double bass in the group Ases del Ritmo. He was part of the Partagás group, led by his uncle Dionisio Martínez, and later founded the Estrellas Nacientes orchestra and performed with the Swing Casino orchestra in Güines.

In 1946 he performed in his hometown with the Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez.

Tata Güines, rumbero y percusionista cubano
Tata Güines, rumbero y percusionista cubano

}In 1948 he moved to Havana, where he was a member of the orchestras La Nueva América, led by Pao Domini; La Habana Sport led by José Antonio Díaz, Unión, led by Orestes López, La Sensación led by Belisario López, and in 1952 he joined Fajardo y sus Estrellas, with which he traveled to New York in 1956.

He joined Los Jóvenes del Cayo, with which he appeared on the radio station La Voz del Aire; later he performed with the ensembles Camacho and Gloria Matancera.

He accompanied the trio Taicuba as a bongo player, and worked with Guillermo Portabales, Celina y Reutilio, and Ramón Veloz. He participated, along with Chano Pozo, in the comparsa Los Dandys de Belén; also, Los Mosqueteros del Rey, Los Mambises and Las Boyeras.

He recorded with Arturo O’Farrill (Chico) and with Cachao y su Ritmo Caliente, Frank Emilio, Guillermo Barreto, Gustavo Tamayo and others. He was part of the Quinteto Instrumental de Música Moderna (later Los Amigos), led by pianist Frank Emilio; Guillermo Barreto, timbal, Gustavo Tamayo, güiro, Israel López (Cachao) and Orlando Hernández (Papito), double bass.

In 1955 he travels to Caracas, Venezuela, to participate in the carnivals of that city. He traveled to New York with the Fajardo y sus Estrellas orchestra, with which he performed at the Palladium, where he coincided with Machito y sus Afro-Cubans and Benny Moré, whom he accompanied on the tumbadora; he also performed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where he worked for the first time as a soloist.

Tata Güines nació en Güines, La Habana
Tata Güines nació en Güines, La Habana

He prepared a show and shared the stage with Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, Maynard Ferguson and Los Chavales de España, with whom he recorded the piece “No te puedo querer”.

In 1960 he returned to Cuba. Four years later he founded Los Tatagüinitos. He offered a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manuel Duchesne Cuzán, with which he performed his work Perico no llores más. He accompanied the guitarist and composer Sergio Vitier in his work Ad Libitum, danced by Alicia Alonso and Antonio Gades.

International tours

He toured California, Chicago, Miami, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Martinique, Monte Carlo, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary, where he participated in the Jazz Festival; Soviet Union, Finland, Spain.

Musical Validity

Tata Güines was a master of masters of Cuban percussion. His death represents a notable loss for Cuban culture. Nobody like him in Cuba to make percussion an art.

In front of Tata Güines, the leather of the drum seemed the most delicate and expensive silk. He would place his agile hand on the tanned skin stretched by the fire, and with his fingernails he would achieve the saddest of laments as well as the most contagious smile.

Few knew him as Federico Arístides Soto Alejo, but everyone knew that he had modernized the tumbadoras, that he was a master at placing the “loose” beats in a song, as if “carelessly”, but that the piece could not survive if it lacked that imprint of someone who let himself be carried away by the rhythm of the claves, by his very fine ear and by the demands of a body accustomed, since he was almost a child, to music.

He died on February 4, 2008 in Güines, Havana.

Federico Arístides Soto Alejo Tata Güines
Federico Arístides Soto Alejo Tata Güines

Awards and recognitions

National Music Award 2006

Félix Varela Order 2004

Alejo Carpentier Medal 2002

Tataguines Soto Martinez

Read also: Carlos “Patato” Valdés one of the best percussionists in the history of Latin Jazz

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey” and Bailar medio apreta’o con una negra bien sabrosa

Alberto Amancio Beltrán (Palo Blanco, La Romana, May 5, 1923 – Miami, February 2, 1997) was a Dominican singer, known in the Latin American musical world as “El Negrito del Batey”.

Early years

Beltrán was born in the town of Palo Blanco, in the province of La Romana. As a child, he barely had a basic education because his family’s economic situation forced him to sell candy on the streets. At the age of fourteen he was attracted to music and debuted as an amateur singer on the radio. This first artistic incursion led him to take singing lessons.

Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey”
Alberto Beltrán “A mí me llaman el negrito del Batey”

From 1946 to 1951 he belonged to several groups in his country, such as “Brisas de Oriente”. Later, he formed his own group called “Dominican Boys”.

International projection

In 1951 he emigrated to Puerto Rico. There, he recorded with “Los Diablos del Caribe”, a group led by Mario Hernández, the song “El 19”.

 He then traveled to Cuba, first to Santiago and then to Havana on July 15, 1954, to work with the Puerto Rican composer and singer Myrta Silva on Radio Mambí.

On August 16 of that same year, he was requested by the Sonora Matancera and recorded the composition Ignoro tu existencia by Rafael Pablo de la Motta and Aunque me cueste la vida by the Dominican Luis Kalaff. Both songs, in bolero rhythm, were recorded on the same 78 rpm disc.

On November 16, he recorded the merengue El negrito del batey composed by Medardo Guzmán, which catapulted him internationally as it became a sales hit.

From there came the nickname with which he became popular. That same day he also recorded the boleros Todo me gusta de Ti by Cuto Esteves, Enamorado de la inspiración by José Balcalcer and, for the second time, El 19 by Radhamés Reyes Alfau.

Beltrán nació en la localidad de Palo Blanco en Cuba
Beltrán nació en la localidad de Palo Blanco en Cuba

On January 18, 1955 he recorded his last pieces with the Orquesta Sonora Matancera. Then, he spent some time in Venezuela where he left phonographic records with the orchestras “Sonora Caracas”, Los Megatones de Lucho and the Orquesta de Jesús “Chucho” Sanoja.

Alberto Beltrán
Alberto Beltrán

 

Hired by the Dominican musician settled in Venezuela, Billo Frómeta, he participated in two albums recorded in Cuban studios: “Evocación” (1956) in which he performed as a soloist and “La Lisa-Maracaibo”, in which he shared credits with the Cuban singer Carlos Díaz.

What does El negrito del batey mean?

In the Dominican Republic the batey smells of black and the black often smells of batey. Both evoke in their generality misery and human abandonment, fruit of injustice and discrimination. This is so, although it pains us to say it

 

The Negrito of the Batey

They call me the little black man of the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because work was made by God as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey!

Get your ass out of here!

There!

They call me the little black guy from the batey

Because work for me is an enemy

To work I leave everything to the ox

Because God made work as a punishment

I like the merengue apambicha’o

With a black woman who is a retrechera and a good girl

I like to dance de medio la’o

I like to dance half tight with a tasty black girl

Hey, there!

And you tell me if it’s not true

Merengue much better

And you say if it’s not true

Merengue much better

Because that of working

It’s a pain for me

Because that of working

To me it causes me pain, it sounds!

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets dengue fever

The meek ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

I’ll dance with a good black woman

I’ll dance to a good merengue

But I never get tired

To dance a good merengue, it sounds!

There, candela!

Finbroso, hey!

The gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

A lot of work the gentle ox works hard

But he never gets the dengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue

But I never get tired

Of dancing a good merengue, it sounds!

There!

Dominicanize!

Alberto Amancio Beltrán
Alberto Amancio Beltrán

Sonora  Matancera

Read also: International Salsa Magazine presents Alexander Abreu and his Habana de Primera

In front of adversity we grow with Johnny Cruz .

North America/ All USA

Johnny Cruz : This month I wanted to dedicate myself to good news, highlighting the work of those who, despite adversity, continue to strive to bring the best to the public. We keep working!

Gilberto Santa Rosa surprises us with his new album Colegas. His most recent phonogram. In this, Santa Rosa invested the last six years and presents 16 collaborations with Cuban artists -Isaac Delgado and Juan Jose Hernandez-Puerto Ricans -Tito Nieves, Tito Rojas, Luisito Carrion, Pirulo, Nino Segarra, Choco Orta among others-, as well as with a Dominican – Jose Alberto “El Canario” -.

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Colegas
Gilberto Santa Rosa – Colegas

The album is preceded by “40… y contando en vivo desde Puerto Rico”, an album recorded in 2018 live at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, to celebrate its 40 years of musical career. The majestic arrangements were the work of Dino Nugent (Apaga La Luz), Marty Sheller (Caminalo, Ban Ban Quere), Ramón Sánchez (Que Se Sepa), Javier Fernández (Tremendo Coco, Masacote), Louis García (Por La Calle Del Medio, Ocana Sordi, El Guateque De Chombo), Ricky González (Vamos a Bailar El Son, Eque Tumba), Manolito Rodríguez (Medley Boleros), José Madera (Bailadores), Rene González (Estoy como Nunca), Isidro Infante (Mario Ague, El Mejor Sonero, Sonerito), James Hernández (La Fonda De Bienvenido).

In good time Santa Rosa presents this production. He positions him on the GRAMMY platform and refreshes him in his role as sonero and incidentally, he extends a helping hand to some who had not recorded Salsa Brava again.

Tracks: La Familia; Caminalo; Que Se Sepa; Mazacote; Apaga La Luz; Sonerito; Por La Calle Del Medio; Nos Vamos A Bailar El Son; Medley Boleros; Ocana Sordi; Bailadores; El Mejor Sonero; Tremendo Coco; Estoy Como Nunca; Mario Ague; Eque Tumbao; La Fonda De Bienvenido; Ban Ban Quere; Guateque De Chombo.

Members: Angie Machado, Jan Duclerc, Jesús Alonso, turbidity Vilchez – trumpet; Charlie Sierra – maracas; Dino Nugent – violín; Johnny Torres, Pedro Perez – bass; Manolito Rodriguez – timbal; Rafy Torres, Toñito Vásquez, Víctor Vázquez, Reynaldo Jorge – trombones – trombone; Richie Bastar – bongo; Sammy García, Jimmie Morales – congas; Sammy Vélez, Josué Urbina; Pedro Méndez, Frankie Pérez, Janice Maysonet – saxophone; Luis Marín, Isidro Infante, Javi Fernández, Ricky González – piano; Orestes Vilató – timpani; Pablo “El Indio” Rosario – percussion; Meñique, Paquito Guzmán, Víctor Manuelle, Luisito Carrion, Justo Betancourt – backing vocals. Guests: Víctor Manuelle, Choco Orta, Juan José Hernández, Isaac Delgado, Yan Collazo, Luisito Carrion, Pirulo, Tito Nieves, Tito Rojas “El Gallo”, Ismael Rivera Jr., José Alberto “El Canario”, Carlitos Ramírez, Michelle Brava, Herman Olivera, Maelo Ruiz.

I take this opportunity to greet my good friend Johnny Rodríguez Jr., better known as Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, is an American bongo player. He was Tito Puente’s longtime bongo player, and also played with Tito Rodríguez, Ray Barretto, and Alfredo de la Fe. He belonged to various popular bands of the salsa era such as Tico All-Stars, Fania All-Stars, and Typica 73. He is a proud son of El Barrio (Spanish Harlem), New York, and stickball (street baseball) was more interested than music.

Marco Bermúdez - En mi voz
Marco Bermúdez – En mi voz

However, influenced by his father, Johnny, 17, earned the position of playing bongos in the Tito Puente Orchestra. Johnny spent more than 30 years with the orchestra, also working with Tito Rodríguez from 1965 to 1968 and with Ray Barretto from 1970 until the end of 1972. Johnny went on to form Tipica 73, of which he remained a member until 1979. He then returned to the band. Tito’s band, playing alongside him until the time of Tito’s death in May 2000.

Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. continues to be a Latin jazz and salsa percussionist. Today he works as a percussionist in different Latin music ensembles, He is unstoppable and is very active with the Latin Jazz Giants (alongside his colleagues and Exclusive LP Artists Jose Madera and George Delgado) and that includes the stars from the original Tito Puente Orchestra. The band plays the famous music from the Palladium days of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, and Machito, and also recorded The Giants Play the Music of the Palladium.

In 2008, Johhny entrusted LP’s Research and Development Department with the design of the John “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. bongoes from the Legends series. John is proud that these drums, which bear his name, present such a sound and visual characteristics outstanding. Keep going, Johnny!

A few days ago, En Mi Voz, the solo debut of the Ecuadorian singer Marco Bermúdez, was officially launched on the market. This is a very good selection of ten songs, under the master hand of Oscar Hernández, the prestigious and renowned musician who is making his debut as a record producer with Ovation Records.

Pedro Bermudez - Arrasando
Pedro Bermudez – Arrasando

Marco has not saved anything for this premiere. He has met with his colleagues from the “Hispánica del Barrio” and the result could not be better: Jerry Madera, Máximo Rodríguez, Maneco Ruiz, Héctor Colón, Doug Beavers, Reynaldo Jorge, Jeremy Bosch, George Delgado, Luisito Quintero and Jorge González give solvency and flavor to En Mi Voz. The album opens with “Amanecer Contigo”, composed with four hands between Hernández and Bermúdez, where the trumpet solos by Maneco Ruiz and flute by Jeremy Bosch stand out.

Jeremy is also heard with his flute in his fine and heartfelt composition “Canto a mi Mamá” and in “Únicamente tú”, making Marco the second voice. The romantic spirit of the singer of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Mambo Legends Orchestra is confirmed in songs like “Solo Basta” and “Tu Regreso”. Oscar’s arrangements guarantee the key melody. Highly recommended this album, it has no waste!

I send my greetings and wishes for a reunion with this excellent salsa singer: Hermenegildo Olivera, or Herman Olivera. Born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Puerto Rican parents and from an early age linked to Latin music. In the 70s, in the middle of the salsa boom, Herman began his love of singing by listening to the interpretations of Chamaco Ramírez, Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano and Marvin Santiago, among others. These vocalists were primarily his source of inspiration. When he was just 15 years old, Herman began his career as a salsa interpreter with an orchestra called La Justicia.

Johnny Rodríguez
Johnny Rodríguez

Later he was part of the band La Sónica, where he met his friend and trombonist Jimmy Bosch. After this he spent time with the Caramelo orchestra to later take the most important leap in his career by being part of the Conjunto Libre in 1978, where he left his voice reflected for the first time in the Incredible LP of 1981 under the direction of percussionist Manolo Oquendo and bassist Andy González, where he stands out with the theme Decídete.

In 1990, he was invited to record on the album Salsa Sudada, from the Valdesa Records label of Víctor Raúl Sánchez “Patillas” and with the musical direction of Isidro Infante, sharing vocalization with Mario Muñoz “Papaíto”, Adalberto Santiago, Eladio Peguero “Yayo El Indio” and Pablo Villanueva Branda “Melcochita”; in this work he interprets the songs La Aguja and a tribute to the city of Cali called Valle Plateado de Salsa. Later, it launched an independent project called Herman Olivera y La Exclusiva. Chequea la Mercancía.

Herman Olivera
Herman Olivera

Produced by Fernando Pastrana where the song Me Extraña Araña is one of the most outstanding. For 1997 he participates in the CD of the band Rikoson All Stars, called Evoluciones del Son, where he stands out very well in the romantic theme Aquella Noche. In 1998 he was requested by the piano teacher Eddie Palmieri and together with the vocalist Wichy Camacho they recorded the album El Rumbero del Piano, where he stands out as a singer on the songs Malagueña alerosa and Oiga mi Guaguancó.

That same year he was invited to the recording studios by the trombonist Jimmy Bosch and they released the album titled Soneando Trombón, which contains the hit Otra Oportunidad. Who plays a duet with Frankie Vázquez. On this CD also appears the song Descargarana. That same duo, Olivera and Bosch, meet the following year (1999) and produce Salsa Dura, where Herman shines performing the full Impacto Tendremos. The album also features the participation of singers Frankie “Nene” Morales and Frankie Vázquez. Parallel to this album, the RMM label launches a live CD and DVD titled Eddie Palmieri & Friend’s, where Herman looks excellent in the number Palo pa ’Rumba.

Felix Villalobos
Felix Villalobos

The invitation to tune in to the new Fm / Internet radio station on Live365.com continues: Salsagallery. Good music, interviews with the artists and much more… now with the participation of Felix Villalobos who joins Salsagallery Radio with a segment in which we will be talking about Music.

At the Spanish Harlem Salsa Gallery Museum we are happy to say that we are gradually returning to our activities and we will be opening the gallery sporadically. We do not stop, we continue to work for our music and we will always keep you informed through our social networks. We hope to have more news shortly and that we can return to normal soon.

Publicity
Raymond Stewart
Johnny Cruz
Correspondent
New York
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International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.