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Omar Negron

USA / Florida / Tampa

Omar Negron, The Virtuoso of Trumpet and Percussion

Omar Negron was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 3, 1972. Music came into his life as a family legacy.

From the age of 3 he began to play percussion “las pleneras y el bongo”, guided by his maternal grandfather, his paternal grandfather who was also a musician and cuatro player and his grandmother who sang Puerto Rican trova.

At the age of 7, he entered the Carolina School of Music where he learned to read music to interpret it in percussion, which he had already mastered.

The first witnesses of his talent were his classmates at the Angel Ramos de Country Club elementary school in San Juan P.R, where he was part of the central show in several of the school activities, in some of them even imitating the singer Oscar de León. .

At the age of twelve, while attending his regular studies, he was alternately accepted at the Ernesto Ramos Antonini Free School of Music in San Juan.

There he began to study Trumpet since there was no room for percussion.

However, the percussion teacher allowed him to be part of his class, so he (Omar Negron) studied Trumpet and Percussion simultaneously.

Proven his talent, Omar Negron had the opportunity to be part of the School’s dance band, where he began playing Bongo and years later he would play Trumpet.

He was part of some talent competitions where he ranked first as a singer.

Upon graduating from the Escuela Libre de Música, Omar Negrón received the Rafael Hernández medal for his versatility playing different instruments, including his voice.

His musical career

At just 16 years old, Omar Negron makes his first professional recording as a singer, thanks to an opportunity he received from Mickey Cora and his Cabala Orchestra, where he was able to record and perform the songs: “Wanting to Live With You” and “We Will Always Be Friends” .

In 1990, Omar Negron was recruited by the Conjunto Chaney after the departure of the singer José Cheo Andújar.

A year later he made his first recording with the Ensemble, in the production entitled “Somos Amigos” where he performed the song “En Trance”.

Omar made three more productions with the Chaney Ensemble under the Hit Makers record label, but unfortunately none were released.

In 1994, Chaney made a recording with the Musical Production label, entitled “La Escuela de la Salsa”, where Omar recorded the songs: “I’m back”, “Impulsos”, “I fell in love”, “You are the vice”, ” Gaining Sensuality”, among others. This production earned them several awards including a Gold Record and an ACE Award.

It was a season of success and presentations in Europe, the United States, Central America and South America.

In 2004 he was invited by maestro Willie Rosario to be part of his orchestra after the departure of singer Rico Walker.

Opportunity that he enjoyed for three years and allowed him to gain experience as a son player and interpreter of many of his hits.

However no new recordings were made during that season.

In 2013 he launched himself as a soloist with the song: “No Son Juguetes”, composition and arrangement by Frank Poupart, a song that was widely accepted among the fans of romantic salsa in Puerto Rico, the United States, the Canary Islands, Venezuela, Panama, Colombia. among others.

Then he recorded the song by Ricardo Montaner and Jorge Luis Chasin “Bésame” which made him the winner of two Fox Music Awards in the city of Houston, Texas.

The same theme was placed number one on the Italian and Swiss tropical music radio charts.

A year later, he recorded “Waiting for you” written by Jesse Villareal and arranged by the great experienced arranger Tommy Villarini.

This single allowed him to open doors in countries like Belgium, Turkey, and Germany in addition to the United States, Central and South America, especially in Panama where his music is well accepted.

In 2016, with much more accumulated experience and with the help of a new work team, Omar Negron launches his new single entitled “Por Si Mañana”, composed by Jorge Luis Piloto and arranged by Ramón Sánchez.

This song is the Salsa version of the ballad recorded by the well-known Colombian group Mojito Lite.

José Madera

North America/ United State / New York

José Madera, Percussion & Arranger of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente

One would think that a job with the world famous Tito Puente

Band keep busy a percussionist.

But the musician, arranger and composer José Madera had yet found the time to record and write music for some of the most influential bands in the world.

Prior to joining Tito Puente over 35 years ago, Madera play for four years with the famous Machito Orchestra, and recorded with many artists of R & B (including James Brown, Diana Ross, David Sanborn and Aztec Two – Step).

As an arranger for Fania Records Plant, played in several comerciales successes, and through the years has composed music for the Fania All- Stars, Larry Harlow , Johnny Pacheco , Willie Colón, and Celia Cruz .

Although he has recorded some 75 albums in 20 years, as well as numerous radio jingles and film soundtracks, Madera still had time for his other career for 15 years he had worked as a teacher and conductor in a high school for the performing arts with private funds, in the city of New York.

Jose has written many arrangements for countless commercial Latin artists and has recorded or worked with many of them as well. Some of them include: Larry Harlow, Johnny Pacheco, Chico O’Farill: The Lincoln Center Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra, Celia Cruz, Tito Rodriguez, Fania All-Stars, Willie Colon, Joe Farrell, Machito, Graciela, Mario Bauza, Willie Rosario, Earl Klughand Eddie Palmieri, just to name a few.

Jose has also worked and recorded with many pop, R&B and jazz artists.

Some of them include Diana Ross, James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, George Benson and Lionel Hampton among others.

Jose has performed on over 250 recordings. He has worked on several television show soundtracks including “The Simpsons” and several motion picture soundtracks including ”The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love” where he was the musical arranger and conductor for the Tito Puente segment of the film.

Jose also taught the art of playing Latin percussion instruments at BOYS HARBOR in New York City for 28 years.

Jose has done and continues to do musical clinics around the country at various schools.

¨He was the musical director of the Latin Giants of Jazz from 2001 to 2009¨.

José Madera continues his musical direction with the Mambo Legends Orchestra, a band comprised of former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra, which is dedicated to performing new creative Latin and Latin jazz concepts, as well as some of the music of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente.

José Madera has personally re-created and re-arranged much of the music that the ban ds performed during the heyday of the Mambo at the Palladium Ballroom in New York City, which is considered by many critics to be the “Greatest and Mostinnovative Era” in the history of Latin music.

Madera’s saxophonist father Jose “Pin ” Madera, was one of the original members of the Afro -Cuban Orchestra Machito .

Young Joseph was influenced by drummer Machito (The best Latin Big Band drummer I’ve ever heard).

Later I was influenced by José Mangual and the same Tito Puente. The LP Timbale bell (circa 1966) was the first instrument Wood LP , today plays a variety of congas , bongos , guiro and bells LP.

Compared with the instruments that were used years ago , the sounds I get from the LP instruments are very authentic.

As an arranger, it is very gratifying to know that whatever you write will be accompanied by instruments LP, which only improve the quality of interpretation.

In 2008, Madera was entrusted to the Department of Research and Development LP designing the Signature Series José Madera Congas .

José Madera is proud that these drums, bearing his name, present a sound and a visual such outstanding features.

When it comes to compositions, Luis “Tata” Guerra is widely known internationally

On June 9, 1934, in Guanabacoa, Cuba, Luis “Tata” Guerra was born. Excellent Percussion Master with a Guinness World Record for having accompanied more orchestras live and in recordings.

A virtuoso musician, Luis Tata Guerra, member of a humble and hard-working family, is the last of 4 brothers, born of a musical tradition, his father played guitar, and his older brother Emerio Guerra is a guitarist in Havana.

He studied music and saxophone at the Salesian School of Guanabacoa. He learned to play the tumbadora, and the rhythms of Rumba and Guaguancó in his neighborhood in the 50s.

He joined the Almendra Orchestra in 1954, performing in the best nightclubs of the island. He rehearsed with Conjunto Casino and Conjunto Arsenio Rodríguez.

In 1956 he arrived in Colombia with the Cuban Swing Orchestra, he stayed for 4 years working with the groups Sonera del Caribe and the Pepe Reyes Orchestra (Cuban singer). From there he went to Venezuela where he has lived since 1960.

Maestro Guerra has an extensive career as a musician for his activity in different groups such as: Los Melódicos, Víctor Piñero y sus Casiques, Aldemaro Romero, Chucho Sanoja, El Pavo Frank, and accompanying on percussion in Caracas Tito Rodríguez, Miguelito Valdez, Rolando Laserie, Daniel Santos, Olga Guillot, Rubén Blades, Paco de Lucia, including the Timbal King Tito Puente and many Others.

Recognition for Luis "Tata" Guerra — Recognition for Luis “Tata” Guerra

His compositions have been played in the media in Santo Domingo, Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela.

The composition “Son Matamoros” dedicated to this famous Cuban trio, was included in the movie “Salsa” with the participation of Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Grupo Niche and other values. He was a member of the VTV Orchestra (channel 8) for 23 years (1965-1991).

Member and Director of the trio Hermanos Rodriguez, in 1994 they traveled to the Canary Islands invited by President Hermoso, and are well known there for the hit “Son Canario” (composition by Guerra himself).

Again in 1999, they returned to the Canary Islands for more than 2 months, in addition to performing at the fabulous The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

He presented his program “RAICES CARIBEÑAS” on ANTV.

When it comes to compositions, Luis "Tata" Guerra is widely known internationally. — When it comes to compositions, Luis “Tata” Guerra is widely known internationally.

His fondness for acetate collection was recognized throughout Venezuela. A work with his conjunto became very popular and the voice of “Kiko” Mendive reminded us of the grilles and discómanos of Cali in the 80’s. “Barara Bururu”.

We also remember the time he shared with his compatriot Rafael “Felo” Bacallao Hernandez, who had retired from the Aragon orchestra.

With great regret we recorded on February 24, 2015, the unfortunate news of the death of Tata Guerra, four months shy of his 81st birthday, he had been suffering from an accelerated affection in his respiratory system, remaining hospitalized at the Florida Clinic in the city of Caracas, where in the early morning of that day he left us.

“When I listen to reggetón/ my heart stops/ because my thing is rumba and son”.

Maria Luisa Guerra

Source:

Por: Carlos Molano Gómez

Bogotá – Colombia
Derechos Reservados de Autor -primera publicación – 2016
Actualizado 2021.

Alex Sánchez “Salsa has always had a special place. It is a genre that will never go out of style ”.

Latin America / Venezuela / Miranda

Mulato en Rumba his greatest bet Alexis José Sánchez:

He is a versatile artist, who like many other musicians begins his training from home, with his brothers he learned to play the cuatro and the guitar, this motivated him to continue his formal studies at the School of Music “José Lorenzo Llamozas”, where he also studied trumpet alongside maestro José “Cheo” Rodríguez; He jointly studies Afro-Latin percussion with maestro Orlando Poleo, Barloventeña percussion with Alfredo “Pandilla” Bolívar and Arturo Piñango, African percussion with José Shalons and Yonder Rodríguez.

At the “Nicomedes Marrero” Cultural Training Center in Tacarigua, he took piano lessons with professor Manuel Sepúlveda, Afro-Venezuelan percussion with maestro Alexander Livinalli and Choral Direction in the free art workshop of “Río Chico”.

Photo- Alex Sánchez — Photo by Alex Sánchez

Although he was born in the city of Caracas, all his life he has lived in the Barlovento region, an area with a great cultural and musical richness, there he also performs the role of teacher, being a facilitator of the Afro-Barloventeña, Afro-Venezuelan and Afro-Venezuelan percussion chairs. Afro-Latin, in School District No. 4.

From a very young age he has been linked with the traditions of his town; Tacarigua. This young man is an active part of the cultural development of the area and together with his wife Yermy Martínez and his mother-in-law Zenaida Gamboa, founders of the group “Danzas Tacarigua”, they are in charge of training the youth of relief, in order to keep the demonstrations alive. traditional barloventeñas for many generations.

Sánchez, assures us that he has a great responsibility, to preserve the legacy that the Africans left in their path through our land, that despite the obstacles he gets along the way to carry out his work, he is overcoming them one by one with perseverance and dedication. that love he feels for music, his family, his traditions and his other passion for teaching.

Salsa and Venezuelan Folklore, two different worlds, each rich and varied in rhythms and styles, however, it takes them by the hand, something that is not strange in a country where the mixture abounds, that we Venezuelans are the product of an ethnic and cultural mix.

How were your beginnings in music?

“I started in music at home with my brothers. I learned with them to play cuatro and guitar. That was the fundamental basis of what has been my musical career up to now and it also inspired me to continue with formal studies in music ”.

Your musical training has been very broad. Why did you decide precisely to specialize with the trumpet?

“I decided on the trumpet, since it has been the traditional instrument in my family, first my great-grandfather Gregorio Machado, then my great-uncle“ Perucho ”Machado and my brother Wilman”.

A man from Caracas who decides to emigrate to Barlovento Why not Barquisimeto or another region?

“My whole family is from Barlovento, since I was born I have lived here in Tacarigua, Brión municipality. After studying music I realize the musical wealth that exists in this region. That is why I decide to bet on the musical production of my homeland and also be part of that artistic movement that represents Barlovento and that has given so much to our country ”.

Composing and arranging music, the work that leads its creators and orchestras to position themselves in the first places. Which of your works as a composer and arranger have been positioned in that place?

“That is the dream of every arranger, to achieve that an orchestra reaches the first places of popularity and in sales. I haven’t had that luck yet, but it’s my dream as a songwriter. I have arranged for many orchestras that have been quite popular and are playing in various countries ”.

Alex Sánchez — Mulato in Rumba your biggest bet

There are many orchestras for which you have done this work, could you name them?

“I have arranged for orchestras and singers such as: Bailatino, Cheo Linares and his Orchestra, Víctor Cardona and the Salsa Machine, Cheo Navarro and his Tribute, Francisco Pacheco and his People, Hildemaro Jr., Orquesta Sarayé (Colombia), Orquesta La Suprema (Panama), Orlando Watussi and my musical project “Mulato en Rumba”, among other national artists “.

Percussion is another of its virtues, of the different rhythms. Which of them is more difficult to teach or learn?

“Percussion is a world that allows you to express yourself and make contributions based on its rhythmic quality. All rhythms have difficulties, but their great musical richness and the magic of the ancestral charge make it possible for us to digest them naturally ”.

“I invite the musicians and the community in general to come to Barlovento to learn about the regional culture, so that they learn to play Mina, Culo e puya, Quitiplás, Fulía and Parranda.”

In the vineyard of the Lord there is everything and for everyone. What has been the most difficult thing about this profession?

“Music gives you a lot of satisfaction, but around it there are circumstances that create disappointments – they can scam you, you have friction with colleagues, etc. – you will find obstacles, but I think that all this is overcome with perseverance and dedication to work. That is what it takes to stay in the musical world ”.

The Music Producer is the architect of a record. What do you feel at the end of each record? What do you feel at the end of each work done?

“Music production is hard work, bringing together musicians, writing and selecting songs, directing, molding and creating a pleasing product for the public, where feelings are reflected on paper, which in turn become sounds that will mark the life of anyone who is a music lover. That is the greatest satisfaction ”.

Each era has its ups and downs, do you think you can make a living from music?

“Of course, if we think of music as an industry we can find that starting from being a composer, arranger, through instrumentalist, singer, among other things, always keeping in mind the quality of the work to be able to sell it, it can be said that we are prepared to live from what we love to do ”.

How does it feel to be part of the cultural development of Barlovento?

“It is a great responsibility to know and feel that you are the bearer of such an important heritage for the development of the culture of an area where the legacy of the Africans who populated our lands will always prevail. Maintaining, disseminating and promoting the culture of my people through workshops, talks and exhibitions will guarantee that tradition is not lost and that these children and young people, just like I started, will be the future protagonists of the traditional Barlovento demonstrations. ”

Tell us about the Black Theater of Barlovento and Danzas Tacarigua. How do you undertake the preparation of the new generations so that the traditions last over time?

“The Black Barlovento Theater, a group that has 43 years of artistic experience, also proudly carries the cultural heritage of the Miranda State. It is and has been a great school for me for 27 years when I made my first presentation with this great family. I say that it is a great school because it is characterized by being an avant-garde group and that it has given me the green light and total confidence to develop and put into practice all the knowledge acquired musically throughout my career through the different productions of the theatrical works brought to the scene ”.

“Following this example and great experience with the Black Theater of Barlovento, we have been working with the Danzas Tacarigua group, directed and founded by my wife Yermy Martínez and my mother-in-law Zenaida Gamboa for 20 years, training children and adolescents in terms of traditional Venezuelan culture, emphasizing the Barloventeña. They are currently part of the main actors in the traditions of my Tacarigua people. It is an arduous work in favor of the diffusion of the same ”.

His wife is an active part of the Cultural development of the young people of Barlovento, here we could say that “Next to a great man goes a great woman”?

“When one is passionate and responsible with what he does, with his profession, his home, that is accompanied by a great companion, I thank my wife very much, a large part of who I am and what I have achieved is accompanied by her great support, she is passionate about what she does, and that gives me a lot of strength ”.

Salsa and Venezuelan Folklor take you by the hand, how does it unfold between these two worlds?

“Despite the fact that they are two different worlds and from different markets, I have tried to take them by the hand, since from a very young age I was linked with the tradition of my town and the Barloventeño region in general, participating in the demonstrations held throughout of the holiday calendar. The salsa world has helped me understand and handle our culture in a more respectful way through arrangements, compositions, and also when interpreting it”.

Flyer Alex Sánchez — Alex Sánchez & Mulato in Rumba

How do you see the sauce right now?

“Salsa has always had a special place. It is a genre that will never go out of style. We must thank the DJs very much, who, whether they like it or not, have been a fundamental part of the salsa being maintained over time, since the media have lost that interest in promoting and promoting new salsa talents for their music. respective development.

In Venezuela the salsa movement has suffered a lot, since orchestras and producers have had little support at the level of the music industry, since it has diverted its attention to urban genres, which according to them is the most commercial. Despite all this panorama, many musicians, singers, producers have made efforts to continue working in favor of Venezuelan salsa with what we call “record pocket” -hahaha-. All this so that his musical work does not remain only in a dream ”.

Barlovento and its sauce, what can you tell us about “Trabuco Barlovento”? “Trabuco Barlovento is an initiative of my cousin Richard Frías. He told me one day at a salsa concert held in Mamporal, seeing that the great stars were accompanied by musicians from Barlovento, -with all those musicians who are there you can make a blunderbuss that represents Barlovento- and that is how the group was born ” Trabuco Barlovento ”, with more than 10 years of artistic life and 1 recording production to be finished.

I remember that among those musicians who accompanied the artists were Rodolfo Rada (trumpet), Ángel González (saxophone), Darlin Palacios (trombone), among others who are today the fundamental pillar of this group. It has 14 members, where I work as the musical director and main arranger of this prestigious group”.

Orlando Poleo, a national and international percussion reference. What anecdotes do you have of his training with him?

“Orlando Poleo arrived in Tacarigua in 1986 as a percussion teacher at the” Nicomedes Marrero “Cultural Training Center, which was a great experience for me, since he was venturing into the world of Afro-Caribbean music”.

“I remember that once he came with his orchestra“ Casino ”and as he was quite advanced in his classes, he rewarded me by playing a song. It was the glory for me to play with the maestro. It was a great experience for the musicians of Tacarigua and other nearby towns because it helped improve playing techniques and understanding of the use of the clave. Much of that learning I apply to create arrangements. ”

He is a teacher and a student, what is more difficult for you to teach or learn?

“Both are difficult, because to teach well you must learn well.”

You are working with a new musical proposal. What do you have in store for us with the Mulato en Rumba project?

“Mulato en Rumba is my biggest bet. This movement has more than 15 years, began as “Alex Sánchez and his Orchestra” to accompany artists and participate in ¬estas and salsa events in the area. One day recording for another orchestra, we met my brother Edward Plater, my compadre Yoryi Pacheco and I fine-tuning details of what we had already recorded. We saw each other’s faces and said -Why don’t we make an orchestra that is ours? -; we always record and produce for others ”.

“It is then that we decided to set up and start this musical project with our own songs composed by Yoryi Pacheco and myself and arrangements made by me as well. The main members are: Yoryi Pacheco (singer), Edward Plater (trumpet), José Madera Niño (tumbadora), Jonal Rivero (trombone), Rodolfo Frías (bassist) and Alex Sánchez (trumpet, piano and musical direction). Soon our first record production will be ready, which has been done uphill because it is financed by “Pocket record”

–”jajajajajajaja”-.

That name sounds like ¬esta, joy and sauce. How was the name Mulato born in Rumba?

“This name was given to him by my friend and brother Cheo Linares. I told him that we had a new project and he told me

-The mulattoes are going to start partying in Barlovento- and from that moment we call ourselves “Mulato en Rumba”.

Creativity is in decline in Venezuela, you are a composer and arranger and many of the Salsa orchestras are betting on versions or tributes, they do not risk innovating, creating or inventing. What do you think about this matter?

“I think that covering is very fashionable, I think that for many people it is easier to live attached to the shadow of another than to risk producing their own.

Perhaps it is fear of failure due to the lack of support for the artist that exists in our country. There are those who do take risks and bet on other markets (other countries), where the appetite for good music is always thanks to the fact that in those countries there are people eager for new things. In our country that culture of wanting to hear something new and as the saying goes: “-No one is a prophet in his land-” has been lost.

If you bet on innovating and creating, what are the themes of your production?

“We have 10 songs, 2 versions and the other 8 songs are unpublished, we bet on ourselves, not to be in the shadow of others, here the lyrics and music are by José Madera Niño, and my person, Yoryi Pacheco also writes some of the topics. In the version of “Tú mi Delirio” I sing ”.

“The song, get ready, Dancer, the lyrics and the music are by Freddy Junior Solórzano.”

The support of the media is important to show the work done by national talent. Do you feel that there is little dissemination by the media to show the work done by the different groups?

“-Well-, in previous questions I have said that there is no support from the mass media. Hopefully that will end one day and they give importance to Venezuelan music and talent as much as they give it abroad.

La Payola, many criticize it and want it to disappear, however, there are musicians who contribute to this scourge that hurts everyone. Would you ever pay to play?

“I don’t agree with the Payola. Colleagues have told me that if they have done it that it is a rather shameful situation, since many times they have to play without any remuneration in exchange for playing on the radios several times a month. Personally, I would never pay for what he calls Payola ”.

What would be the good and not so good things about this beautiful but tough profession?

“I think there are more good things than bad things, and more when we take music as a profession. The musical world is very satisfying, since it makes you live unique experiences that fill your soul and spirit with joy ”.

Teacher, musician, arranger, music producer What do you feel you need to do?

“Learn, learn and keep learning to make good music and also be able to make” Mulato en Rumba “recognized nationally and internationally.”

His daughters have grown up in an environment full of music, tradition, folklore, they have the musical vein Sánchez, would you like them to be musicians, what legacy would you leave them?

“Hopefully they decide to be musicians, I would never force them to do something they don’t want to, because I think that everyone should do what they really like and are passionate about. The legacy that I will leave you will be all I can do in my musical life, since a large part of what I do is for my family. My daughters at their young ages have already been immersed in the artistic world, they sing, dance and participate in the cultural manifestations of our people. ”

In a word, who is Alex Sánchez?

“A fighter”.

Barlovento and Venezuela in one sentence

“My homeland, My Dear Homeland”.

Eiling Blanco Latin America Corresponded

Stelio Bosch Cabrujas a remarkable musician, but completely forgotten by the new generations

One of the greatest Venezuelan arrangers that Venezuela’s tropical music could have had passed away on May 5, 1979, 44 years without Stelio Bosch Cabrujas.

Bosch Cabrujas was the arranger and assistant director of both Billos and Los Melódicos and was the architect of the success of both orchestras in the 60’s and 70’s.

A remarkable musician, but completely forgotten by the new generations.

Stelio deserves to have his place of honor in the tropical music of the Caribbean. Stelio, a native of the State of Bolivar, from a very young age, entered the musical field as a musician and arranger.

Billo Frometa, Renato Capriles, Rogelio Martínez y Stelio Bosch Cabrujas

His musical beginnings date back to the 40’s, when he performed “Campesino” for the then Billo’s, where he was recorded by Victor Perez.

Stelio’s musical baggage at the beginning was as a tres player for La Sonora Caracas, he worked with Pedro J. Belisario’s orchestra in the 50’s. He arranged a lot for the radio programs in the musical shows that they presented under the auspices of various commercial brands.

History of Sonora Caracas

Surrounded by an aura of mystery, elusive discography, and a special attraction as a pioneer of the son groups in Caracas. For a long time it was the musical platform for many local tours and recordings of Caribbean music luminaries, when they visited us in the golden age of radio and incipient television. Backed by more than a hundred immortal recordings, ranging from some of the first acetate recordings of Celia Cruz, to Daniel Santos and his theme forbidden by the always conservative Catholic Church.

Contrary to what some critics thought at the time, it was not a bad copy of its namesake matancera, they began under the structure of a septet, and later in their golden age they abstained from using the nasal choirs, they managed a structure of three trumpets, a clear hammer of the bongo accompanied by the congas, in a group with its own personality and that served as a school for some of the most important orchestra directors of the coming decades in our country.

The first Sonora Caracas

In September 1933, our capital was musically shaken by the visit of the Trio Matamoros, famous movie and record stars, who during their twenty continuous days at the prestigious Teatro Ayacucho, stirred up a bucolic Caracas with their sones and boleros, and when they traveled to the west of our country1, they sowed the seeds of the first son groups in Venezuela.

He was in the quintet Los Modernos, who on several occasions accompanied Felipe Pirela on TV. He was the pianist.

He worked for Los Guaracheros de Manolo (when he left Billo’s) and also worked with the Orquesta Sans Sousi.

He worked for a short time in Carlos Guerra’s orchestra and from there he made the leap to Renato Capriles’ Melodicos, recommended by Freddy Coronado when he was the director of LM.

When Coronado left the direction of LM, Stelio took over the musical direction and catapulted them to the fat and unequaled sound of lm in the 60’s, which represented a sonority like few others.

When Stelio left lm, Manolo Monterrey’s orchestra joined the harmonies, and he suggested to Manolo that he return to lm, which the Antillean cyclone accepted and returned triumphantly to Renato’s organization.

At the beginning of the 70’s Stelio goes to work with the most popular band in Venezuela and there Stelio’s arrangement work gives another big hit, his contribution is immense and Billo’s goes on to live one of the greatest decades that Billo Frómeta’s group has ever had.

The contribution of Stelio Bosch Cabrujas to tropical music is worthy of study and review, to be included in university courses so that the new generations of arrangers and musicians understand the legacy of a musician who is threatened to be forgotten, it is up to us to make sure that this does not happen and it is mandatory to keep his memory alive.

Sources:

Newspaper library of the popular music of Venezuela.

Gherson Maldonado

Iliana Capriles (Oficial)