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The legacy of Leopoldo Pineda, the ambassador of the trombone in La Maquinaria Fania All Stars
The Dominican trombonist was part of Las Estrellas de Fania and stood out for his virtuosity on his instrument, as commented by musicians Joe de Jesús and Willie Álvarez.
Leopoldo Pineda, “Palma Sola” was born on May 8, 1939 in a small batey called Palma Sola, in Barahona, southern province, Dominican Republic.
He passed away on June 27, 2019 in New York City. Due to his solvency on the instrument, Leopoldo was a participant in hundreds of salsa recordings for more than three decades.
At 80 years of age, Leopoldo Pineda, the Dominican trombonist who earned the respect of his colleagues in the most courageous years of salsa, has passed away.
A case of diabetes had undermined his health in recent years and the fatal outcome came on Thursday, June 27 in New York City.
In recent years, Pineda had been retired from musical activity, due to health problems and diabetes.
He began at a very young age to seek out musical instruments. In his hometown, Pineda would often visit a neighbor’s house to watch him rehearse different instruments.
There he began his first lessons, learning to play trumpet and tambora.
He studied music at school for compulsory education and there he developed certain tropical rhythms.
In Barahona, there was a music school where Leopoldo graduated and later, because of his talent, he was referred to the National Conservatory of Music in Santo Domingo.
As he grew in knowledge, musically speaking, he learned to play several instruments, among them, the Saxophone and the Trombone, the latter being his weapon of choice for the rest of his life.
In his native Barahona, he was known as “Chanchito”, but it was at the Conservatory where the nickname “Palma Sola” was born, identifying him to his classmates by the name of the town where he was born.
After participating in various groups in the Republic, Leopoldo went to New York City and there he started playing with Tito Rodriguez’s orchestra in the 60’s.
He also recorded with Los Cachimbimbitos and Los Cachimbales.
He also recorded with Ismael Rivera’s Los Cachimbos and was producer of one of Milly Quesada’s first albums.
Musician Jimmy Bosch used to include Leopoldo Pineda in the select group of trombonists from whom he learned. Willie Colón, el Malo del Bronx, had emotional words for don Leo. Indeed, the Dominican Pineda is part of the glorious history of the best salsa, the one that was born in the neighborhood and that has deeply penetrated in this part of South America.
Alfredo de la Fe posted on his Facebook account: “Leopoldo Pineda, great musician, we played together with Típica 73 and Fania All Stars.
Then he began to walk the best paths of Salsa, being part of orchestras such as Típica 73, Orquesta Harlow, Willie Colón, Fania All Stars, Sar All Stars, Jose Mangual Jr, La Conquistadora, Jose Alberto “El Canario”, Rubén Blades, Orlando Watussi, Laba Sosseh, Monguito El Único and Héctor Lavoe, among others.
Read Also: Orestes Vilató is one of the most influential figures in the world of Latin percussion.
Mayito Rivera “El Poeta de la Rumba” was the distinctive voice of Los Van Van de Cuba
Mario ‘Mayito’ Rivera is, without a doubt, one of Cuba’s most outstanding contemporary singers.
For more than 20 years he was the distinctive voice and recognizable face of Cuba’s most famous musical group, Los Van Van.
Regardless of the musical genre he performs -rumba, son, salsa, bolero or timba, modern or traditional style, with strength and dynamism or with delicacy and tenderness, Mayito Rivera’s performances, with passages adorned with tremors and coloraturas, are always stellar.
Mario Enrique Rivera Godínez was born on January 19, 1966 in Pinar del Río, a province located in the westernmost part of Cuba and famous for its handmade Havana cigars.
It was there that ‘Mayito’ began his musical training as a child. Later, he moved to Havana, where he studied percussion at the renowned National School of Art (ENA), which he later extended with advanced studies at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA).
After completing his training, which lasted a total of 15 years, Mayito Rivera joined the musical ensemble of the well-known Cuban singer Albita Rodríguez.
Later, he played bass in the Moncada Group, a formation belonging to the Nueva Trova Cubana movement, whose renovating spirit is firmly rooted in traditional Cuban rhythms.
At the age of 26, Mayito was discovered by Juan Formell, the director of Los Van Van, an orchestra that by then had already become a legend. Initially hired to play bass and sing backing vocals, he soon established himself as the group’s lead vocalist.
Over the next 20 years, Mayito Rivera, more than any other musician, put his stamp on Los Van Van.
He burst onto the scene as the representative of a new generation of musicians, and his fresh style contributed to the group’s endurin Singer of the group’s countless salsa hits that were played in the discotheques, he has been nominated twice for a Grammy and won it once.
At the same time, he was also working on other projects: in 1999 he released his first solo album, Pa’ bachatear.
Chappotín, in which he transports the past to our days with a brilliant interpretation of traditional Conjunto Chappotín songs.
But Mayito Rivera is not only a singer and percussionist. In 2005, he released Negrito Bailador, his second solo album, produced by the Timba label of the German music publisher Termidor, in which he performs only songs of his own composition.
The music, with a rumbero tinge, is fresh, lively and of timeless quality. Subsequently, Negrito bailador was marketed in the United States under the title Llegó la hora and was immediately nominated for a Grammy in the Best Salsa Album of the Year category.
Mayito Rivera is probably the most requested special guest by other Cuban orchestras; so much so, that in recent years he has sung with almost all of Cuba’s star casts.
Nor has his career suffered any interruptions since he left Los Van Van in 2011: currently, Mayito Rivera tours the whole world relentlessly, giving concerts in countries as diverse as the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, France, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Italy.
The great popularity and multiple talents of this ‘poet of rumba’ are reflected in his performances as guest singer for salsa greats such as Oscar D’Leon, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Issac Delgado, Adalberto Alvarez, Mayimbe, Son Como Son, Timba Live, Pupy y Los que Son Son, Charanga Latina, Havana D’Primera, Tumbao Habana and Elio Reve Jr, to name just a few.
In 2012, Mayito Rivera established himself as a permanent member of Los Soneros de Verdad, the most successful orchestra of the moment dedicated to son and its related rhythms, led by singer Luis Frank Arias.
Two sold-out world tours of three months each in Europe, Asia, Russia and the United States attest to the high quality and great interest in this amalgam of traditional son and the vocal artistry of Cuba’s most dynamic rumbero.
In 2014, the superstar will be touring with his own orchestra. But before that, from June to September 2013, he will give a series of concerts with Los Soneros de Verdad performing songs from his as yet unreleased album Alma de Sonero.
During this project he will return to his musical roots: son and rumba, bolero and guaguancó, both in their traditional interpretation and in their more modern variants.
The album Alma de sonero includes 11 tracks and will be released in September 2013 worldwide success.
The musicians include Alexander Abreu (Havana D’Primera) on trumpet, San Miguel Pérez on tres and Luis A. Chacón ‘Aspirina’ Bruzón on bongos and cajón.
Website: Mayito Rivera
Read Also: Carlos “Patato” Valdés one of the best percussionists in the history of Latin Jazz.
Héctor “Rudy” Regalado and his great career
This is Rudy Regalado
Héctor ”Rudy” Regalado was a Venezuelan artist born on January 29, 1943 in the 23 de Enero parish, Caracas, and died on November 4, 2010, in Las Vegas, United States, at age 61 as a result of pneumonia.
For a great part of his life, he devoted himself to being a brilliant bandleader, composer, percussionist and musician who had a very prolific career with more than 50 years of duration. At that time, he made an endless number of tours and was a very important member of the Orchestra El Chicano, which was very famous in those years.
Youth
As a teenager, a young Hector began playing drums and timbales in the city of Caracas. The years were not many when he adopted the nickname “Rudy Regalado” as his artistic name in honor of the former Cleveland Indians’ player.
When he decided to embark on a career as an artist, he moved to Puerto Rico in 1963 and began to delight the public of San Juan in various nightclubs of the city. Along with these concerts, he was professionally formed at the Pablo Casals Conservatory of Music.
In 1970, he moved permanetly to Los Angeles and united his talent with local groups before becoming part of El Chicano that same year.
Career with El Chicano
One of the most important details to mention about Rudy Regalado’s career is his participation as a member of the band El Chicano, which was always dedicated to mix rock, R&B and jazz. He remained in the group for 12 years and recorded about five record productions which included songs such as “Viva Tirado” and “Tell she’s Lovely”.
The orchestra also created the song used for the television series “Baretta”, which was broadcast from 1975 to 1978.
All Star Band
In 1983, he formed his own orchestra “All Star Band” with an outstanding group of musicians from Los Angeles with whom he toured a lot of countries such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and many more. A short time later, its members decided to change their name to “Chévere”.
Almost a decade later, Rudy Regalado impressed the whole world when millions of people witnessed his timpal solo in the World Cup closing ceremony, alongside Kenny G and Whitney Houston.
A few years later, the artist toured Japan in the company of maestro Tito Puente, with whom he demonstrated his great skills as a percussionist and his high musical level.
Other musical works
In 2008 he reunited with “El Chicano” for a reunion tour, which highlighted the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival at the Golden Gate Park Music Concurse in San Francisco. That same day, its former members played together for the last time at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, resulting in a historic evening in which feelings were close to the surface.
During the course of his successful career, Regalado collaborated with different and important figures of the musical environment such as: Quincy Jones, Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, Cachao, The Zawinul Syndicate, Paquito D’ Rivera, Willie Colón, Oscar D’ León, Alphonse Mouzon, Caravana Cubana, among others.
Rudy Regalado dedicated his life to music and to represent the name of Venezuela in every stage that enjoyed his talent, standing out in the music scene for his vibrant performances with the timbales, also for his prolific compositions and the dedication to his work.
If you want to know more about this Venezuelan icon, you can wrtite to his daughter Norka Tibisay Regalado and get more info about him.
Read also: Interesting conversation with vocal coach and YouTuber Ceci Dover
Khary Rios and Mayra Rivera from La Poderosa 360
La Poderosa 360
La Poderosa 360 is a radio and digital television station that is broadcast from Puerto Rico, specifically from the city of Arecibo, which is tuned in 24 hours a day through its official website. It offers Latin music, variety, preaching shows and much more.
In this edition, we were fortunate to interview its marketing director, Khary Ríos, and R&R Media Group’s president, Mayra Rivera, who were kind enough to tell us a little about the station, its function, its emergence, its programming, among other important aspects.
Beginnings
Once the introductions are completed, Khary Ríos went on to explain that La Poderosa 360 emerged amid the pandemic. Their objective was to open an FM station with local coverage, but then they decided to take advantage of their overseas businesses and advertising to launch the product in online format. Much to their surprise, it turned out to be very successful and popular among a vast audience.
Later, Mayra added that they had a wrestling company, but everything went down with the health emergency caused by COVID-19, so they had to find a way to reinvent themselves. That is when Khary had the idea to create something that could be enjoyed by the public from the comfort of the home.
As for her work experience applied to the station, Rivera told us that she has a master’s degree in marketing, is a spokeswoman for a university and was the rector of an educational institution. All this made her get used to interviews and, now, she applies learning learning on her segment called ”Nosotras Sí Podemos”, which seeks to empower women and give them required tools to have a better quality of life.
For his part, Khary is currently finishing her studies in marketing and advertising, and he is also applying his knowledge to the company.
La Poderosa 360’s main mission and programming
When asked to talk about the main mission and programming, Ríos said he was very happy with the results obtained. In fact, they are already trying to conquer new markets such as fans of regional Mexican music and other genres in vogue.
They started the project by focusing on salsa, but they included reggaeton due to its great popularity in Puerto Rico. Of course, they care much that the lyrics do not contain bad words or those that are too offensive to certain audiences. Occasionally, they broadcast boleros, but the strength of La Poderosa 360 is tropical music, which will always have priority over other styles.
Sustainability
On the subject of sustainability, Khary Ríos told us that sponsors come on their own. ”At the beginning, it was complicated and we had to do a job of positioning the brand, but over time the sponsors have arrived, invested little by little and stayed indefinitely” said the marketing director.
Mayra added that, despite the change they made from the wrestling channel to the station, there were many loyal customers who continued to believe in them and maintain their support no matter what changes they had made. It was the investment of those customers and the one made by Khary and Mayra that got the project afloat.
They are very happy because many of the people who supported them understood the modifications. In fact, the host of one of the show ”Domingo de Alabanzas” comes from the wrestling scene and they are exploring the possibility of giving space to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in La Poderosa 360, which makes it clear that those involved have adapted to the situation as well as possible.
For the time being, they are very comfortable in this musical atmosphere and do not think they will change it in the future. This new formula has worked well for them.
Countries with the best ratings
According to the data they have collected, the best ratings are in Puerto Rico, Florida (USA), Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Spain and Mexico. Colombia, Venezuela and Peru always ask for salsa, while Mexico asks for a lot of reggaeton. Puerto Rico is divided with salsa and reggaeton depending on the day.
In the state of Florida, you hear a lot of timba and Cuban music in general due to the large Cuban diaspora who lives there.
The only requirement demanded by La Poderosa 360 to play a song is that it has a ”clean” version, since curses and vulgarity are not accepted in the programming. In that sense, Mayra pointed out that there are song submissions that had to be returned due to the excessive amount of bad words, but if it is a reasonable amount, Khary can work with that material to censor the few bad words that are present.
Collaborations with other broadcasters and platforms
Both Khary and Mayra emphasized that they had a hard time taking the station to where it is, so they are very careful when choosing with whom to collaborate, as there are many people doing programming that they determine is vulgar and they do not want to get mixed up in that type of content.
They have done collaborations with several networks and have knocked on many doors, but they point out that the professional relationship that continued to this day has been with Edwin ”El Calvito” Reyes, who believed in the project from the beginning. Khary describes him as a serious man and a gentleman in every sense of the word.
Read also: The beautiful story of dancer, actor and singer Pancho Martinez Pey