Search Results for: Salsa Music

XXXIX National Zalsa Day March 19, 2023 Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan Puerto Rico

Celebrates 150 years of history with a posthumous tribute to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

National Zalsa Day 2023

This year the privilege of conducting the Super Orchestra of the National Zalsa Day 2023 is for Maestro Isidro Infante, March 19 at the Hiram Bithorn Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For many years the most important salsa event in Puerto Rico and internationally. Thanks to Z-93 and the entire SBS family. Mr. Alarcón, Víctor Roque, El Cacique and all the executives involved in such an important event.

We will also have Buho Loco and El Hachero, among others.

Celebra 150 años de historia con un póstumo homenaje a Tito Puente y Típica 73 e Ismael Miranda

The radio station Zeta93FM and its sister company, LaMusica.com, announce the thirty-ninth edition of the National Zalsa Day; an award-winning concert, which, on this occasion, will pay a special tribute to the 50th anniversary of one of the most recognized orchestras in the world, La Típica 73.

Known as the pioneers in performing the famous “Descargas musicales”, Adalberto Santiago, José Alberto “El Canario”, Tito Allen and Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, have already confirmed their participation and we are proud that the members of this legendary band, which left such a deep mark on the salsa genre, have decided to join us in this celebration.

XXXIX Día Nacional de la Zalsa 19 de Marzo 2023 Estadio Hiram Bithorn en San Juan Puerto Rico

On April 20, 2023, the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary timbalero Tito Puente, his son.

Tito Puente Jr., along with great guest artists such as Orestes Vilato, Nicky Marrero, Endel Dueño, Frankie Figueroa, Frankie Morales, John “Dandy” Rodríguez and José Madera celebrarán playing on stage the greatest hits of the “King of Latin Music”, among which are: “Oye como va”, “Ran Kan Kan” and “Para los Rumberos”.

“Puente’s legacy of more than 50 years, known as ‘The King of the Timbal’, ‘The composer and musician of the eternal smile’ and ‘The godfather of Latin jazz and salsa’, will be exalted in front of more than 20,000 people at DNZ2023 and we are sure that all salseros will enjoy this presentation,” said announcer Marcos Rodríguez “El Cacique”.

In April 2000, the third Sunday of March was instituted as National Zalsa Day under Law #100 of the Senate of Puerto Rico.

History

National Zalsa Day was created in 1984 by Pedro Arroyo, Programming Director of Z-93, who always wanted to celebrate an event that would recognize the talent of popular salsa music, its composers and performers, to present it to the great public who love this tropical genre.

Since its first year, the great event took hold of an audience eager to enjoy this music live.

The support was total and it immediately positioned itself as the annual concert of the people of Puerto Rico and visitors from other countries.

From its beginnings, National Zalsa Day was dedicated to a figure of this genre, as a recognition of his talent and rootedness in the public.

1984 – Dedicated in life to Sonero Mayor, Ismael Rivera

1985 – Rafael Ithier of the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

1986 – Tito Puente and Santitos Colón

1987 – Héctor Lavoe

1988 – Andy Montañez and Gilberto Santa Rosa

1989 – Celia Cruz and Sonora Ponceña

1990 – Willie Colón and Tite Curet Alonso

1991 – Bobby Valentín, Oscar D’León and composer Gloria González.

1992 – To the Best 5 trumpets of Puerto Rico: Elías Lopés, Charlie Sepúlveda, Juancito Torres, Mario Ortiz and Luis “Perico” Ortiz.

1993 – Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of National Zalsa Day, dedicated to the Salsa People

1994 – Ray Barreto and Adalberto Santiago

1995 – “Duels at sunset”.

1996 – Dedicated to the reunions: Conjunto Clásico, Tito Nieves, Luis “Perico” Ortiz and Rafael De Jesús, El Gran Combo; Andy Montañez and

Roberto Rohena; Sonora Ponceña with Luigi Texidor and Yolanda Rivera.

1997 – To the salsa people

1998 – Jerry Masucci

1999 – Cheo Feliciano

2000 – Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz

2001 – Eddie Palmieri

2002 – Ruben Blades

2003 – Johnny Pacheco and Roberto Rohena

2004 – Quique Lucca, Papo Lucca and Willie Rosario

2005 – Tommy Olivencia and Roberto Angleró

2006 – Los Hermanos Lebrón and posthumous tribute to Charlie Palmieri, Tito Rodríguez and Ray Barretto

2007 – Ismael Miranda, Ramón Rodríguez, Raphy Leavitt and Sammy Marrero

2008 – Larry Harlow and Manny Oquendo

2009 – Celebration of the release of Tite Curet Alonso’s work on Puerto Rican radio. Dedicated to Louis Garcia.

2010 – Johnny Ortiz. Special recognition to Héctor Maisonave and Ángel Luis Córdova García “Paleco”.

2011 – Elvin Torres of Costa Brava, Luisito Ayala of Puerto Rican Power, Paquito Guzmán, Tito Allen and Luigi Texidor.

2012 – Posthumous tribute to Frankie Ruiz. Dedicated to Orquesta Zodiac and La Corporación Latina.

2013 – Posthumous tribute to Pedro Arroyo, former director of Z-93. Special recognition to Edwin Morales of La Mulenze, Pedro Brul, Pedro Conga of Orquesta Internacional and Cano Estremera.

2014 – El Gran Combo, Joe Rodríguez of La Terrífica, Justo Betancourt and Meñique.

2015 – Gilberto Santa Rosa receives the first National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Sammy “Rolo” González, Mickey Cora, Nacho Sanabria.

2016 – Eddie Palmieri receives the second National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Lalo Rodríguez and Tito Rojas.

2017 – Zeta 93 announced on the program of its director Néstor Galán, el Buho Loco, that the artists participating in the 34th edition of National Salsa Day are el Gran Combo, José Alberto el Canario, Andy Montañez, la India, Don Perignón y la Puertorriqueña, Grupo Niche, Víctor Manuelle, Luisito Carrión, Guillo Rivera, Camilo Azuquita, Raúl Marrero, Carlos D’ Castro, Juan Pablo Díaz, Orquesta DNZ2017 and Orquesta Canario.

2018 – Dedicated To The People Of Puerto Rico!

Domingo Quiñones, Maelo Ruiz, Chamaco Rivera, Pupy Cantor, Oscar de León, Orquesta Canela (Cali, Colombia), Tribute to Tito Nieves and Yolanda Rivera, La Orquesta del Día Nacional de La Salsa, Pete Pererignon y la Generación del Presente, El Maestro Sammy Velez with Nino Segarra, Héctor Tricoche y Simón Pérez, Víctor García y La Sonora San Juanera and Willie Otero y su Orquesta.

2019 – Los Reencuentros will be

Conjunto Clásico with Tito Nieves, Luis Perico Ortiz with Roberto Lugo, Orquesta Mulenze with Pedro Brull, Don Perignon y la Puertorriqueña with Víctor Manuelle, Frankie Vázquez, Pedro Bermúdez Big Band, Charlie Aponte, Pichie Pérez, Yolanda Rivera, Pedro Arroyo, Conjuno Chaney, Pirulo y la Tribu, Manolito Rodríguez.

2020 – Oscar D’ León, Eddie Palmieri, La India, Tito Rojas, Lalo Rodríguez, La Sonora Ponceña, Ray de la Paz, Ismael Miranda, Tony Vega, Orq. Del Día Nacional (directed by Louis García).

2022 – The gathering was Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Víctor Manuelle, Willie Rosario, Bobby Valentín, La Sonora Ponceña, Andy Montañez, Apollo Sound, La Mulenze, from Panama come to Puerto Rico the winners of the contest in which hundreds of salsa orchestras competed, Luis Lugo y La Orquesta 507, the women’s orchestra Son Divas, La Tribu de Abrante and Luis Vázquez,” said Marcos Rodríguez,

Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 9:00am

Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan

On stage:

– – José Alberto “El Canario”

– Adalberto Santiago

– Tito Allen & Johnny el Dandy Rodriguez

– Luis Figueroa

– Pirulo

– India

– Charlie Aponte

– Maelo Ruiz

– Yolanda Rivera

– Luigi Texidor

– Pichie Perez

– Isidoro Infante

– Alex D’ Castro

– Tributes to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

Prices:

Early Bird : $10.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

Presale: $15.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

GENERAL – $20.00 + ivu & c.s

V.I.P. – $75.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes numbered seat and preferred entrance)

PLATINUM – $225.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes food, open bar, official t-shirt and preferential entrance)

Information and Tickets: 787-200-7110 or [email protected]

Ticket office open from 2 hours before the start of the event.

Pacifica Radio, history, shows and controversy

This is Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Radio has been one of the largest radio networks in the United States in recent decades and its importance remains enormous today despite the time elapsed. It has given voice to figures of all kinds of political and ideological trends and artists from all genres who sought a platform in order to be heard. However, such popularity does not make this organization to be free from controversy that, like its history and shows, we would also like to explore with the greatest possible respect.

Next, we will talk about the most outstanding to observe about this radio station since its beginnings from 1946 to this day, since talking about Pacifica Radio is also talking about communication in the United States and the role played played by Latino culture and music in all of this.

Logo of Pacifica Foundation

Beginnings of Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Foundation is a non-profit organization that owns five independent radio stations financed from listener contributions. It is widely known for its progressive and liberal tendencies and is located next to KPFK in Los Angeles, California.

This organization is also responsible for managing everything related to Pacifica Network, which, in turn, runs much more than a hundred affiliated stations with all kinds of shows and content, although it specializes on political and social issues to varying degrees. It is the oldest radio network in the country and the oldest non-profit network in the world, which speaks of Pacifica’s relevance compared to other media.

It was founded in 1946 by E. John Lewis and Lewis Hill after the Second World War. Both men were totally anti-war and refused to perform military service as conscientious objectors. They joined other pacifists to create Pacifica Foundation, whose first station started to air on April 15, 1949 in Berkeley, California.

Being true to the beliefs with which they started this project, the founders gave voice to all those who were against the Korean War the following year along with many other minorities who could not find means of communication to express their views contrary to the majority position of the time.

The station started operating in several cities over the years due to its enormous success and the following radio stations were created in several cities: KPFA/94.1 and KPFB/89.3 in Berkeley, California (San Francisco Bay Area), KPFK/90.7 in Los Angeles, WBAI/99.5 in New York, KPFT/90.1 in Houston and WPFW/89.3 in Washington, DC.

Lewis Hill, co-founder of KPFA and Pacifica Radio

Operation

Pacifica is governed by a board of directors that sets out the policies that determine the organization and oversees the network operations. The board is comprised of representatives from each of the stations that comprise the foundation, as well as directors elected by the Pacifica community.

The members of this board are elected and replaced every three years and have regular meetings to discuss issues related to the operation of the foundation and decision-making regarding the management of the network. It is from there that the use of resources donated by the audience is being decided.

The board members are as follows:

Lydia Brazon (Chair), representing KPFT in Houston, Texas

Sabrina Jacobs (Vice-Chair), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Alex Steinberg (Secretary), representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Donald Goldmacher (Treasurer), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Christina Huggins, representing WPFW in Washington, D.C.

T.M. Scruggs, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Janet Coleman, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Cerene Roberts, representing KPFA in Berkeley

Pacifica Foundation’s Latino shows

If there is something Pacifica Radio has stood out is for the enormous space provided to the Latino community to spread its music and culture in general. That is why there have been many shows entirely dedicated to these topics and whose hosts have been Latinos or children of Latinos.

KPFA has Luis Medina and Emiliano Echeverría, who are in charge of hosting the show ”Con Sabor”, which specializes in artists and news related to salsa, Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music, among other genres. In addition, they also interview these artists, provide the audience with the musical calendar and offer concert tickets.

Broadcasters Luis Medina, Chata Rodríguez, and Emiliano Echeverria

In the case of KPFK, the Latin community has the well-known show ”Canto Tropical” hosted by Kathy Diaz and Hector Resendez, whose work is focused on promoting the main Latin music genres such as Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban music and salsa. They also focus on interviewing and giving space to both local and foreign artists to promote their talent and be made known to the widest possible audience.

Host of ''Canto Tropical'' Kathy Díaz and host of ''Alma Del Barrio'' Eddie López — Host of ”Canto Tropical” Kathy Díaz and host of ”Alma Del Barrio” Eddie López

On WBAI, ”Salsa Con Candela” is a weekly celebration of the rich history and diversity of the salsa music genre. The show hosted by DJ Candela includes a mix of classic and contemporary songs, as well as interesting and enlightening interviews with artists and important figures in Latin music culture.

Another noteworthy Latin program is ”Salsa y más” on KPFT, which explores in detail the world of salsa and other important Latin genres. The program hosted by DJ Leonard Trujillo, as well as ”Salsa Con Candela” also offers a mix of Latin and contemporary songs along with interviews with local and international artists.

And finally, WPFW has ”Latin Flavor”, a program dedicated to the most important Latin genres such as salsa, Latin jazz and many others. The show hosted by DJ Jim Byers explores the cultural and historical roots of Latin music and provides a platform to present new artists from around the world.

Controversy

Since the beginning of this foundation, its stations have been embroiled in a series of scandals that have not gone unnoticed by telecommunications and the community at large, especially political and ideological. Among the many events suffered by Pacifica, we cannot fail to mention the requests from the government to obtain the recordings of some shows, controversial interviews such as the one with Che Guevara, reports about embezzlement of funds, financial crisis, among many other things.

In 2020, it was learned that some Pacifica listeners, volunteers and donors have created an organization called Pacifica Safety Net with which they seek to expose mishandling and attitudes of Pacifica’s board members, whom they accuse of compromising the main mission of the station network. The members of this group have filed a lawsuit against this board for prevarication and mismanagement, assuring that the board’s lack of leadership resulted in the loss of many revenues in the station network and, therefore, caused a serious problem of solvency in the organization.

A great example of this mismanagement is the reduction from 120,000 to 40,000 members the network has today, as was the case in just a few years. There are also many complaints about the type of programmes broadcast by the network in recent years due to their high content of hate, conspiracy theories, racism and a lot of things that did not represent the values upon which Pacifica Foundation was based.

In that sense, the members of the aforementioned committee make an urgent call to all members of the radio network to recover these spaces to go back to the main mission of the foundation, which unfortunately has been taken by other interests completely unrelated to those of the donors, workers and listeners.

In 2019, the network was able to get a $3 million loan that would allow it to pay part of the debt accumulated up to that date, but the possibility of the foundation achieving long-term financial stability is not even close to being a fact. Due to mismanagement, the foundation is not able to pay this amount back, so it is forced to cut costs. This reduction in income is causing the board of directors to seek to sell the building where WBAI operates, which had been given by the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) in exchange for a rental agreement that is quite detrimental to the foundation from the point of view of current and former workers.

The Empire State Building, where WBAI FM is located now

Wit regard to this issue, Mexican broadcaster Jesse ”Chuy” Varela, who worked for several years at KPFA, told us a little about the irregularities presented both there and at other stations where he worked. The radio professional points out that there have always been serious communication problems between administrations and workers. ”The board always thinks they can do something better with the money raised and spend a lot of resources without notifying the audience about what they are doing. When you ask for money from the listeners, they have to trust that when they give it to you, you are going to put it to good use” declared Varela.

”I knew of many cases where executives who had meetings in different cities, stayed in expensive hotels and ate in exclusive restaurants. I consider this is an abuse and a lack of respect for those who donate their money. I have seen this in all the stations where I worked unfortunately. In this sense, trade unions play a fundamental role to avoid these kinds of problems” the broadcaster continued.

Announcer Jesse ''Chuy'' Varela at KCSM Jazz 91 — Announcer Jesse ”Chuy” Varela at KCSM Jazz 91

As for other announcers and former Pacifica Radio employees or managers, they did not want to make comments in this respect. We presume that this could be because of possible reprisals due to the power accumulated by the largest radio network in the United States.

It should be noted that everything written here is based on testimonies of others that have not yet been confirmed, so we neither confirm nor deny any of the facts as presented here.

Tribute to Eddie López for his career

How were his beginnings?

On January 10, 2023, the death of Eddie Lopez has been made known, who has been one of the greatest pillars of the radio station KXLU since 1976 when he started his career as a DJ. His arrival came during the third anniversary of the famous program ”Alma Del Barrio”, being a fundamental piece in the huge success the show had during several decades and making it remain part of the programming of the already mentioned radio station.

Host of the radio show ''Alma Del Barrio'' Eddie López — Host of the radio show ”Alma Del Barrio” Eddie López

A little bit of his life

Eddie Lopez was originally from Los Angeles and spent much of his childhood in his father’s photography studio, which may have been one of his greatest inspirations to dedicate his life to the arts in adulthood. After graduating from Cathedra High School, he was admitted to Pepperdine University, but switched to Loyola Marymount University, from where he finally graduated in 1978.

Although much of his professional career was spent at KVEA Channel 52 Telemundo, he spent 46 years working at ”Alma Del Barrio” and streaming the best Afro-Cuban music through the waves of KXLU from 2pm to 6pm. During all these years, Eddie always said that he wanted ”Alma Del Barrio” to be as professional as possible and encouraged all his colleagues to always be better every day to give their best to the audience. He also said that this show was not only a work team with common interests, but a family in which everyone supported each other to achieve their goals.

All those involved in his life who came to know him say that he was a man completely dedicated to his family who deeply loved his wife Vanessa and his daughter Nina, who were always his greatest motivation to get ahead day by day. He was loved by all his family and friends, who are very sorry for this sad loss in the Latino cultural world of Los Angeles and the United States in general.

Reactions to his passing

In the social networks of ”Alma Del Barrio”, the sorrow of the team over the physical disappearance of the host can be clearly seen. On the Facebook account of the show, there are several messages referring to all that Eddie achieved during his professional life and all that he contributed to the show ”Alma Del Barrio” and to the radio station KXLU. These comments are accompanied by photographs in which Lopez can be seen carrying out his work with the enthusiasm that characterized him in those periods when he practiced the profession he so loved, which was communication.

One of those who mourned the loss of the broadcaster was the host of the program ADB, Alan Geik, who had been his personal friend for decades thanks to the passion for the media they both shared. It all started when Eddie hired Alan to host a evening show called ”Latin Dimensions” at a station that works in a small classroom.

Geik did not have any plans to become a broadcaster at the time, but Lopez convinced him by telling him it could be a great adventure and a learning experience for himself. When he accepted, he never thought that the programme presented by him would multiply the number of audience several times over thanks to the popularity he was gradually acquiring. Not to mention that the station where the program was aired moved to better facilities and became a radio power.

The host ends his note of mourning by expressing that he is proud to have been such a good friend of Eddie and all that they achieved together thanks to the professional team they formed during such a long time.

Eddie López working at the radio station

Current news in the San Francisco Bay Area

What is happening now?

Tito Garcia-The Doctor of Salsa, the renowned colorful bandleader and timbalero of Tito Garcia y Orquesta Internacional passed away on Saturday, April 23rd after a long battle with cancer. Tito has performed Salsa and Charanga in the 1970’s with the seminal SF based bands Ritmo 74 and later Charanga Rene Del Mar. He later spearheaded the band “Orquesta Salsa Dulce” in the late 1980’s which morphed into the first edition of his band La International featuring a young Julio Bravo on coro in the early 1990’s. La Internacional were remembered for their explosive performances by dancers and aficionados.

Tito was a staple at the late, famed salsa palace Cafe Cocomo with his monthly “Mambo Saturdays” during the early 2000’s. I often was the DJ during those hot nights. His band featured fine musicians and vocalists such as former Batachanga vocalist Ricky Rangel, congueros Eddie Borrero and Sandy Perez of Los Muñequitos De Matanzas and keyboardist Coto Pincheira who relocated to New York.

Tito García had been fitghing against, cancer, which took his life at the end

Tito resurfaced after his bout with Cancer in 2020 to relaunch La Internacional but the comeback was short lived due to his health issues. He later hosted some outdoor rumba sessions near his new home of Vallejo but those dates were limited due to COVID restrictions. He relapsed during his recent trip to Costa Rica and died due to complications with his recovery. He will be sorely missed.

Don’t forget coming up on Friday, May 6th at 8 pm with be the tremendous Cuban music double bill of “El Tren De Cuba”…Los Van Van and Alexander Abreu y Havana d’Primera at the UC Theatre, 2036 University Avenue in Berkeley. Two of the powerhouses of Cuban Popular music are appearing together for the first time in the US and on only certain dates of the tour…SF Bay Area residents are blessed to have this double bill play here! DJ Antonio will spin in-between sets. I will be your MC for the evening. Run to get your tickets because they’re going fast! For more information, go to jaffeevents.com

Salsa superstar Oscar D’Leon and his orchestra will visit the SF Bay on Saturday, May 21 at Roccapulco, 3140 Mission St. in San Francisco. Oscar is still one of the dynamos to watch perform live…a tremendous show! Guayacan Orquesta from Colombia will also play on Friday, May 13 at the Mission Street hot spot. Also coming to Roccapulco Sat. June 11th…the Homenaje A La Musica Cubana featuring Mayito Rivera, Alain Perez, Yeny Valdes, Lily Hernandez “La Amaona” and Julio Cesar “JC Five” plus DJ Walt Digz (SF) and DJ Jimmy Rumba (LA) and on Thursday, July 7th…the explosive sounds of Pupy Y Los Que Son Son direct from Cuba.

Oscar D’ León will be in the San Frrancisco Bay Area on 21 May

SF JAZZ and the San Francisco Jazz Festival are featuring an impressive array of Salsa, Cuban and Latin Jazz starting Wednesday June 8 with Pacific Mambo Orchestra. Followed by Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Grammy nominee Aymee Nuviola 6/9; Chucho Valdes with Dianne Reeves and Joe Lovano 6/12; Changui Majadero 6/13, Danilo Perez Global Messengers 6/14; Issac Delgado’s Con Tumbao Project w/Miguel Zenon, Oscar Hernandez, Pedrito Martinez, Alain Perez, Tony Succar and more 6/18. SF JAZZ and Stanford University co-presents Eddie Palmieri and Arturo Sandoval at Stanford’s Frost Amphiteater on July 23. Info: www.sfjazz.org.

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival will begin Saturday, May 7th from 1 to 2:30 pm with a free concert featuring local treasure Jesus Diaz y Su Habana Afro-Cuban Ensemble featuring a lineup of heavyweights from Cuba and the SF Bay including Ariacne Trujillo Duran, Leider Chappotin, Raul Pineda, Roberto Junior Vizcaino, Karl Perazzo, Jeff Cressman, Melecio Magdaluyo and Julio De La Cruz. The Yerba Buena Gardens is located on Mission Street between 3rd and 4th Streets in San Francisco. Visit ybgfestival.org for more information. There will also be an after party featuring Jesus Diaz and the Habana Afro-Cuban Ensemble and DJ Carlitos Way at the Elbo Room, 311 Broadway in Oakland.

The San Francisco Carnaval and much more

The annual Carnaval San Francisco is back on the streets of San Francisco on Sat, May 28 and Sun. May 29th with the theme Colores De Amor. The two day festival will take place on Harrison between 17th and 22nd Streets from 11 am to 6 pm. The grand parade will take place on Sunday, May 29th starting at 9:30 am on 24th and Byrant Streets. Scheduled to perform will be Jesus Diaz y Su QBA, Momotombo, Sambada, Javier Navarette & His Socially Distant Friends, Dos Four, Puro Bandido, Namorados da Lua, Annette Aguilar & West Coast Stringbeans, Susanna y Orquesta Adelante, Magna Fresq, Los Allegres Callejeros, Aqua Pura, Mariachi Juvenil, Azul Latino and more. Headliners TBA. Food, Beer, Crafts, DJ areas and Cannabis gardens on the grounds. Free! For more information: carnavalsanfrancisco.org.

There is a new Salsa scene happening on Thursdays starting May 12th at Charley’s LG, 15 N Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos presented by your friends at International Salsa Magazine. Opening night at this state of the art club will feature the swinging sounds of the multi-talented vocalist/conguero Edgardo Cambon and Candela. I, Luis Medina from KPFA/WSR and International Salsa Magazine will be your DJ. World Salsa Radio DJ El De La Clave will also be in the house. Dance lessons by Migi & Angel starts at 8:00 pm. Music starts at 9 pm. The upcoming schedule is the following: Julio Bravo and Salsabor 5/19, Manny Martinez and La Rebeldia 5/26 and the Charanga sounds of Orquesta La Moderna Tradición 6/2. Thursday nights just got hotter in the South Bay…be there!!

Edgardo Cambón at The Seahorse Restaurant, Sausalito

The Ramp at 855 Terry Francois Blvd in San Francisco continues to present Salsa orchestras on Saturday afternoons starting at 5 pm. The night is closed on June 7th for a private event, The Ramp’s first Salsa festival featuring 2 bands: Gary Flores y su orquesta Salsa Caliente and Eric Rangel and Orquesta America 5/14, The Latin Rhythm Boys 5/21 and Louie Romero and Mazacote on May 28th. DJ Mendy spins in-between sets and after the live music from 9 to 11 pm. The Ramp has a great patio overlooking the SF Bay and serves food and drinks.

The Seahorse located at 305 Harbor Drive in Sausalito features live music plus KPOO-KPFA DJ Jose Ruiz on Saturday and Sundays. Sat, April 30th features La Clave Del Blanco, Rene Escovedo Salsa Band with Ric Feliciano Sun 5/1; Edgardo Cambon & Candela Sun, 5/8; Orquesta Timbalero Sat, 5/14; Louie Romero & Mazacote Sun, 5/15; Susanna y Adelante Sat, 5/21; Orquesta La Original w/Alexis Guillen 5/22; Pepe Y Su Orquesta Sat. 5/28; and Orquesta Taino Sun. 5/29. Enjoy the fine Italian cuisine, beer, wine and ambiance both indoors and the outdoor patio at this scenic spot just crossing the bridge to Marin County.

The Cigar Bar, 850 Montgomery St. in San Francisco is a favorite spot to dine, have drinks, enjoy a cigar in the courtyard and dance to hot Salsa music. The calendar for May includes Manteca 5/6, Orquesta Timbalero 5/7, Somos El Son 5/13, Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble 5/14, N’Rumba 5/20, Edgardo y Candela 5/21, Orquesta Taino 5/27 and La Clave Del Blanco 5/28.

René Escovedo will perform at the Seahorse Restaurant, Sausalito, on May 1

DJ Walt Digz has a hot Wednesday night Cuban scene “El Timbon” happening at the Slate Bar, 2925-16th Street in San Francisco. Digz also hosts his own livestream called “El Timbon” featuring the latest Timba, Cuban Salsa and Cubaton videos every Tuesday night from 7 to 9 pm on Twitch. He also keeps busy by hosting the monthly Fresquecito Saturday nights at La Furia Chalaca in Oakland and the outdoor El Timbon En El Callejon Sundays from 3 to 8 pm at Vida Cantina, 56 Belden Place in San Francisco. Digz also continues his original Friday La Tropi-Cal monthly at Il’ Pirata in SF with Añejo Productions now going on their 21st year!

Berkeley’s Ecology Center will present the Berkeley Farmer’s Market Salsa Festival on Saturday, May 21 from 10 am-5 pm. This free event will feature Christian Pepin and Orquesta Bembe, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Peruvian keyboardist Erick Peralta and Band, Berkeley High School Youth Ensemble and the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble. Dance performance and Dance lessons by Rebecca Galindo. Food, crafts and more. For more information, visit www.ecologycenter.org.

Don’t forget to check out my radio programs: Con Sabor now in it’s 25th Anniversary Year on KPFA 94.1 FM every Saturday night from 9 to 11 PM PST and Sabiduria Con Tumbao every Wednesday night 5 to 7 pm PST on WorldSalsaRadio.com.

That’s it for this month! Ciao 4 now!

Luis Medina as a master of ceremonies, broadcaster, DJ and much more

Incredible conversation with Luis Medina

Good afternoon, everyone. We are here with broadcaster, DJ and event producer Luis Medina. Mr. Medina, how are you today?

I am well and ready to talk to you right now.

Mr. Medina, you have a very long career as a radio presenter. You got started in this business in 1974. What led you to spend so much time in your career on the radio?

In 1971 I was studying architecture at San Francisco State University, but in 1974 I changed my major to broadcasting and communications in the Department of Radio and Television. When I was a kid, I was always fascinated by broadcasters on TV with their microphones. My parents gave me a toy microphone, and I always imagined I was broadcasting. At the time I was accepted in the broadcasting program, I already loved salsa because my cousin Stella played popular music for me since I was about 8 years old. I loved all kinds of music. At home, we always had the radio on, and my parents always listened to tropical music, which was very common at that time.

In 1974 my cousin Eduardo invited me to go to a radio station called KBRG to visit some friends who had a program called Venezuela Suya. In another studio in the station, there was a radio producer named Arturito Santiago, who was the master of ceremonies for the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico when they did dances in San Francisco hotels. When I saw him doing his job, I was intrigued. Two months later, my cousin called to tell me that he’d gotten involved in a community radio station called KPOO San Francisco and asked me if I wanted to help him with the show. I brought a stack of LPs, and we did the show from midnight until 6 am. I went a few times to help, but I could not maintain that pace because I was still in college.

A few months later, he called me to tell me that he had a show from 3pm to 6pm on Sundays. He told me he was talking to other people I knew in order to do the show together. I got a segment of 45 minutes to an hour to do whatever I wanted, so I decided to start programming salsa. I helped produce several programs until I had my own show. In 1979, while I had a four-hour show on Saturdays on KPOO, KBRG’s program director, Al Carlos Hernandez, called me. KBRG was a powerful FM station at that time. That gave me the opportunity to do a commercial show.

DJ Luis Medina — Broadcaster Luis Medina with two maracas

I am part Venezuelan and part Mexican, but I grew up in the United States. I spoke Spanish perfectly until I was five years old, but when I started school, I just wanted to speak English in school and at home. When I turned 18, I decided to get my culture back and relearn to speak Spanish again. However, I’m wasn’t completely fluent in Spanish because I have to translate mentally from English. I explained the situation to Al Carlos, and he told me that he did not care. That’s how I became the first radio announcer to do salsa programming in English on a Spanish-speaking station. The program was called Sabor Caliente and it lasted about a year and a half, until they let me go due to philosophical differences. After that, I did specials in KPFA, until Víctor Castro, who produced the program Ahora, invited me to alternate weeks with him. I produced salsa shows on KPFA from 1983 to 1995.

What Medina has to say about all his combined activities

How do you balance your radio activities and event production and your job as a DJ?

When I was a student at San Francisco State University, I became co-director of the university’s productions to present musical acts. From 1974 to 1976 I presented acts from various genres such as rock, R&B, and jazz, among others. I also presented some salsa and Latin jazz shows, including Pete and Sheila Escovedo, who were part of Roger Glenn’s band, Benny Velarde and others. I became friends with Pete and Sheila before Sheila became Sheila E and I also worked with Pete’s brother, Coke Escovedo in the 70s.

Then I met Roberto Hernandez, who had an organization that helped produced the first major street fairs in the San Francisco Mission district together with a coalition of community agencies. I got involved with the fairs, which presented the famous singer Joe Bataan among others. It was the era of Latin rock, but salsa was also booming. I was part of the renaissance of salsa music that occurred on the radio, but I also had the opportunity to play an influential role in the community in the Mission. In 1977, the Mission Cultural Center opened in a furniture store ran by artists that were organizing it. I became part of the music committee and we presented performances and salsa groups that were growing in fame at that time. I was involved on the activities of the center until the 1980s, when some of us created a production group called CMP (Cultural Music Productions). During the 80s we did a series of dances, in which I worked as master of ceremonies. I already had experience as master of ceremonies because when I was at KBRG, they gave me the opportunity to introduce some great shows with Celia Cruz, La Sonora Matancera, Oscar D’ León, Cal Tjader and La Orquesta Broadway. I was also master of ceremonies for Brazilian carnivals for about five years. With CMP I was involved in dances with Willie Colón, Bobby Valentín, Oscar D’ León, and boxing champion Roberto Durán (who at the time wanted to be a salsa singer).

Eventually I left CMP, and I was contacted by Roberto Hernandez, who offered me the position of entertainment director of his new organization, MECA. I accepted and started to help him program the schedule for events such as the San Francisco Carnival, and the 24 Street Fair. I worked with Roberto until 1994 and we presented Santana, Los Lobos, Eddie Palmieri, Luis Henrique, Willie Colón, Yomo Toro, Mighty Sparrow, The Neville Brothers, Shaggy, and many more. When Roberto Hernandez left the organization, I stayed for four more years and worked with Manny Oquendo and Libre, John Santos, Pete Escovedo and Pancho Quinto. In 1998, the president of the organization Patricia Aguayo and I had some problems, so we stopped working together.

A radio DJ and a party DJ are two completely different things. It took me a little while to adjust to being a live DJ. In the early 1990’s, the producers at the Alta Vista club hired me from time to time. Then, they moved to a ship called Alta Vista del Mar in Pier 3, and occasionally hired me as their DJ.

Event producir Luis Medina — Event producer Luis Medina posing for or the camera

In 1994 I met a very ambitious young Venezuelan by the name of Adrian Goddard and started working with him at his club, 330 Ritch. It was a winning combination of Adrian’s talent as an event producer and my talent as a DJ and MC. I worked there for about nine very successful months, but then I had an opportunity with KPFA and I was forced to leave the club because the schedule conflicted. My priority was to produce my own salsa show (ironically, this program didn’t last long, but in 1997 they offered me the same slot, which would become the program Con Sabor, which I still produced today, 25 years later, at KPFA, on Saturdays from 9-11pm.)

A little later, Kimballs Carnaval hired me as a Latin House DJ, as this rhythm was very popular at that time. I wanted to please them, but it wasn’t a good fit. Eventually I was hired as a salsa DJ by the club Kimballs West. This opened other opportunities and I became the DJ in residence at the most prominent salsa clubs in San Francisco at the time, the legendary Jelly’s Cafe, where I DJ’d until it closed in 2010 and the popular Café Cócomo, which closed in 2014. I now DJ and MC primarily for special events and private parties.

Something very important in my story is that in 1997 I worked with Bill Martinez and Arturo Riera and they both gave me the opportunity to be master of ceremonies for a very important series of concerts featuring Cuban musicians who were allowed into the States for the first time. I was the first master of ceremonies for a Los Van Van concert in San Francisco and I also represented my show and KPFA for their concert at Stern Grove in 2019. That was one of many times that I worked with that group. I also was the MC for Orquesta Aragon, Cubanismo, NG La Banda and other Cuban acts.

During the pandemic, I was offered a show with an online radio station called World Salsa Radio. I started the show Sabiduría con Tumbao on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 pm. What makes this show different from Con Sabor is that Sabiduría Con Tumbao is a conceptual program that focuses on certain musicians, musical themes and movements within salsa and Afro-Latin music. On the other hand, Con Sabor offers a broader perspective of salsa, Latin Jazz and música cubana from the classics to the latest.

Since the pandemic started, I produce all my radio shows at home. I managed to master the technology and built my own home studio. I am not afraid of technology or modern things. I go with the flow because I’ve learned that I should be at the forefront of technology and music. If I do not know something, I am going to research it right away. I keep an open mind and ears and I appreciate and listen to all kinds of music, something that was key when I was music director at KPFA from 2001 through 2014. In terms of my own programs, I really love salsa from the 70s, but I’m not stuck in any time period.

Eduardo and Luis — Our editor Eduardo Guilarte and Luis Medina