Search Results for: Salsa Orchestra

The Caribbean joined the party with Billo Frómeta

Luis María Frómeta Pereira, better known as Billo Frómeta, was born on November 15, 1915 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. However, this Caribbean man has more of a Venezuelan feeling than other compatriots, since he was very grateful to Caracas, that is where he made his life, both professionally and personally.

Despite his love for the Venezuelan lands, he never lost his Cibao smile, specifically from Quisqueya. But his gestures, his affection and tenderness, the details with which he acted, and his musical stamp are very Venezuelan. Perhaps we say goodbye to Billo very soon and he could not see his tribute in his lifetime, that only adds more strength to his career. Read all about his life with the following lines .

The beginnings of Billo Frómeta as Luis María

Although he was born in Santo Domingo, the Frómeta family moved to San Francisco de Macorís, where Billo spent his childhood and met the friends with whom he would embark on the musical adventure of his life: Rafael Minaya and Francisco Simó Damirón. As Billo recounted in his last interview before losing him to a brain stroke in 1988:

“There couldn’t be a birthday that we knew about because the three of us from San Francisco de Macorís were there playing and brightening up the evening. I always keep that in mind when I go to a special event”.

It can never be denied that Luis María was born with an innate talent for music, which he polished during his basic education, since rhythms and sounds were a compulsory subject in the Dominican Republic. As he already said, it was something he continued to do during his adolescence, although this was already in Santo Domingo where he moved back in 1933. There he is part of the firefighters, where with the rank of captain he founded and became director of the Band of the Fire Department of the capital.

Here he also gives guitar lessons, which leads him to meet the young saxophonist and violinist Freddy Coronado, through him Billo enters the world of dance orchestras, forming a group and working on the radio. Some time later, when they are already university students, Billo meets up with his childhood friends and introduces them to Freddy. They form the Santo Domingo Jazz Band, whose activities and presentations are carried out along with their studies.

However, Damirón moved to Puerto Rico, leaving Billo in charge of the management, but his medical studies were interrupted since at first it was difficult for him to comply with both things, then in his third year he began an internship at the military hospital but his ideas collide with those of the regime of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, so he abandons his studies and decides to devote himself entirely to music.

Arrival in Venezuela and its success in Caracas

The Santo Domingo Jazz Band received the opportunity to play on December 31, 1937, at the Roof Garden, an important local in Caracas. The journey to reach those Venezuelan lands was an adventure full of many sacrifices. However, on the day of the presentation, without the teacher Billo being consulted, the name of the band was changed to Billo’s Happy Boys, which generated discontent in the Dominican Republic, especially from Trujillo’s regime.

Due to this discontent and the growing popularity of the band in Caracas, the boys were forced to stay in the capital of Venezuela. This was the point that would change Billo’s life forever, since this city is the one that sees him grow as a person and as a professional. As he himself relates:

“My forever girlfriend, the city with which I owe a debt of gratitude and affection…”

This is shown in the number of songs by the band that speak in one way or another of the city. Despite the great affection he has for Caracas and Venezuela as a whole, Billo never renounced his Dominican nationality:

“It is the least I can do for the land where I was born. Venezuela is my life. Here I have planted. So as a feeling of gratitude to the Dominican Republic, I keep that nationalist umbilical cord. It is like the case of two mothers, one brings you into the world but the other raises and educates you. You will not stop loving the first and you will show your affection in something even if all your tenderness arrives at the second…”

Two years later in 1939, Billo faces a tough stage, he falls ill with typhus and the doctors give him no hope, but the teacher shows them that his time had not yet come. He returns to the stage ready to consolidate the popularity of the band more than ever, to which he gives a new name: Billo’s Caracas Boys, which the band maintains to this day.

From that moment the career of Billo and the band goes through ups and downs, from having a radio program where he can even produce and edit his own records, to spending days in jail for marriage demands. Speaking of love, Billo got married 3 times, being Morella Peraza his last wife and the greatest love of his life:

“… the one that Morella inspires me and I don’t know what is the miracle by which I see her prettier every day… I think it is the miracle of love, of that feeling that creates the need for one with the other, that transforms what is impossible into possible, that gives life to life… Sometimes it scares me… I am getting old and when one is old one no longer inspires appetites or desires, but Morella loves me and that is the triumph of love over the years. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Billo Frómeta dark days

By 1957 Billo’s career was on the ground, in addition to jail he also faced vetoes due to having contacts with important figures of Marcos Perez Jimenez’s regime, which caused him to be banned “for life” from performing in Venezuela. However, this did not prevent him from continuing to work as an arranger and producer, not only in Caracas but also in other countries such as Mexico and the United States.

In 1958 he met and befriended Renato Capriles, who was a businessman at the time, but wanted to replicate the success of dance bands like Billo’s. The unusual thing about this friendship is that it began precisely with Renato asking Billo to help him in the composition and production of various works for his band “Los Melodicos”. The friendship was maintained over the years but always with a touch of enmity.

A phrase that sums up these fateful years is: “What hurts me the most in life is ingratitude, and I have cried for it.”

Last years of Billo and his mark in the musical history of Venezuela

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Billo focused on his career and his band, brought Billo’s Caracas Boys together again, thanks to the lifting of the veto, and from that moment embarked on the search for those little-known talents who by passing through the band would be taken to stardom, as is the case of Felipe Pirela, José Luís “El Puma” Rodríguez, Guillermo “Memo” Morales, among others.

In addition to presenting new and unpublished works, they also continue to present the old ones. Also, Billo embarks on the business adventure of founding his own record label called Fonograma, although this does not last long and after several problems he decides to close the record company, and sell the catalog to his son-in-law.

For the 80s, the band continued with a success that rose like foam, not only in Venezuela but in the rest of the continent, they even performed alongside great artists like Celia Cruz. For 1988 a tribute to the master in life was planned, which he himself was going to direct, and had him very moved and excited. How well the words of Lil Rodríguez portray him, to whom he granted his last interview:

“The Master would arrive with the minutes, loaded with thoughts and concerns which he had no qualms about spilling on his way home, as if he thought out loud and with affection. Here I have, finally, more or less the order of the concert. Almost everything is ready and only the last rehearsal is missing. It would not be the first time that Billo would conduct a Symphony, but he was excited as in a debut.”

But this tribute never happened and in his place a slow procession was held to say goodbye to the master. Billo Frómeta, out of emotion, nerves and his perfectionist mania, suffered a brain accident that led him to fall into a coma, just one day before his concert and tribute. He died on May 5, 1988, that day Caracas lost an adoptive son, that it made its own and it saw his development as a musician.

Many people said goodbye to the master at the Caracas Municipal Council, while others accompanied the coffin to the Eastern Cemetery. This way, a great chapter in the history of dance music in Venezuela and the Caribbean was closed, but leaving an incredible legacy that continues to this day, since who has not danced with the Billo’s Caracas Boys?

The recently released single “Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album, Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also in acetate.

With a fifty-year career in music, the leader of the Salsa 220 Orchestra, Colombian trombonist Oscar “El Gato” Urueta releases the second song of the musical concept he now directs.

“El Gato” delivers his latest single “Cómo te quiero yo”, composition and arrangement by Venezuelan pianist Alberto Crespo; this time with Rodrigo Mendoza, remembered for his time with Dimensión Latina de Venezuela, on vocals. Urueta got in touch with Alberto Crespo after seeing his work in social networks.

This single, in my opinion, deserves international diffusion because of the Afro-Caribbean interpretation in this concept described by Urueta himself as high-voltage salsa. I listened to the track and I feel obliged to highlight it for bringing us a classic salsa concept, without being more of the same; so let’s go to the mambo, here is what you hear:

During the first 10 seconds, Rodrigo Mendoza leads the vocal part opening the theme as if opening a door; inviting the listener to go on a musical journey that merges various cultural influences.

At the first minute mark it is already known that the trombones of Oscar “El Gato” Urueta and Eliel Rivero are in charge of the musicalization. At minute 1:45, Alberto Crespo’s piano solo delights us without making it dense.

This piano solo, from which the salsa dancer who dances in tune can benefit, seems to embrace in perfect synchrony the sound of José Soto “Mortadelo”‘s bass.

At minute 2:30 the trombones take over the song, and melodically give way to the tumbadora, in the hands of Carlos Padrón; meeting with the sound of the same in a tasty instrumental correspondence full of cadence and Caribbean flavor.

At minute 2:36, the bass of José Soto embraces again the sound of the tumbadora.

At minute 2:40 the tumbadora turns on the mambo. At minute 2:42 the tumbadora leads the percussion, opening the way for a bell that plays with the coros of Luisito Cabrera, Rodrigo Mendoza and Edgar “Dolor” Quijada, as well as interweaving with the trombones.

The trombones persist and sustain a mambo of those that bring “more salsa than pesca’o”, as we say in Puerto Rico; until around minute 2:55 the conga, the timbal and the bell execute a forceful cut and in unison, to return the arrangement to the trombones.

At minute 4:00, the leader’s trombone seems to be in sync with the percussion and vocalist to close the track; shortly after the trombones enter into a brief correspondence with the tumbadora, just before Padrón’s campaneo concludes the track at minute 4:25.

Urueta has a healthy musical trajectory, surrounded by the greats of the salsa sound. “El Gato” was part of the Colombian orchestra La Protesta, when Joe Arroyo was the group’s vocalist. Urueta was also part of the now world renowned Grupo Niche, replacing Alexis Lozano on trombone. Urueta traveled to New York City with Grupo Niche as part of the first international tour of the group founded by the late Jairo Varela. He later settled in Miami where he was part of the orchestras that accompanied stars such as Frankie Ruiz, Hansel y Raúl and Santos Colón, to name a few.

Coincidentally, “El Gato” Urueta joined Hansel y Raul’s orchestra when the song ‘Maria Teresa y Danilo’ had become a hit throughout Latin America. Urueta shared the stage with musicians of the stature of Israel López “Cachao”.

In the 1990s, Urueta was a musician with Joe Arroyo’s Orquesta La Verdad, with whom he traveled around the world.

After participating in several concerts accompanying Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, about five years ago, Urueta took on the task of forming the Orquesta Salsa 220 with which he presented the single “Guaguancó sabroso”, which featured Puerto Rican Rico Walker as guest artist on vocals.

“Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album: Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also on acetate.

Bella Martínez

You can read: Sigo entre amigos de Luis “Perico” Ortiz

By Bella Martinez, ISM Correspondents, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The interesting story of French percussionist Dominique Patrick Noel

How his career started

All right, so we are here with French percussionist, composer and musician Dominique Patrick Noel. How are you doing, Mr. Noel? A pleasure to have you here.

Well, thank you. First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to interview me and to greet all those who is going to read it. Thank goodness, I am in good health and it is all good.

Dominique Patrick Noel tells us about his story and beginnings

You are a self-taught musician who started playing by age seven. Did you learn everything by yourself or did you receive some kind of training?

Since I come from a family of musicians such as my father and my two grandfathers, I can say that music has always been a part of my life. I started playing the drums by listening to a lot of jazz and fell in love with this genre. That’s how I started to develop the movements and patterns of jazz and the drums.

In school, I started playing and learned solfège, percussion, drumming, among other things. When I turned 15 years old, I started playing music at a pro level because I have always had the pleasure of learning by watching musicians, who had much more experience. Thank goodness, I had my mind fresh to grasp and remember what I had seen, which helped me a lot to continue developing in percussion, different instruments, rhythms, among other things.

When I started playing Latin music, my first instrument was the bongo. I had a mentor named Alfredo Mujica Jr.,m who knew my dad and learned by playing with him. When it was my turn, he was giving the task of helping me understand the patterns and other things. He told me that the best instrument I could choose to start with was the bongo because it would help me understand a little more about how salsa works and that helped me a lot. He showed me the basic pattern and how to imitate the sounds I heard until they were similar.

After that, I also learned to play the conga, the Dominican tambora, the güira, the batá, the cajon and the timbales.

His career started at the age of 15 and his first instrument was the bongo

When you played the bongo for the first time, did you know you wanted to dedicate yourself to the Latin genres permanently?

When I was nine years old, I moved to Martinique and lived there for about four years. There I was fortunate to learn its folklore, its rhythms, its typical instruments and its dances. I also learned to perform all those genres with the drums and tried to absorb all I saw. Concurrently, the zouk era was beginning and I fell in love with the genre since I heard it for the first time.

Sometime later, my dad and I went to the United States to be with my dad, who was living in Washington at the time. It was there where I started to accompany him in several of his activities and shows with his orchestras. Then, I began listening more to salsa, cumbia and merengue, something I liked very much. Then, I told him that I would like to learn what he knew and play with him, to which he replied that it looked good, but that it was a profession that I had to take very seriously. Therefore, he advised me to listen to everything, even if it wasn’t Latin music because all genres nurture the musician in one way or another.

With whom he has worked?

You have worked with Tito Puente Jr, Tito Rojas, Izis La Enfermera de La Salsa, Frankie Vasquez, Lalo Rodriguez, among others. What have you learned from them?

I have had the opportunity to play with maestro Tito Rojas and his musical director, Celso Clemente, gave me some advice. When rehearsing, I approached him to thank him for allowing me to play the bongo with them and ask him for advice for my career, to which he replied that he liked my work very much and that I was very good for someone who was not born in this Latin music environment.

He also advised me that I had to move forward, never play down my goals, accept constructive criticism and always stay humble. I will never forget his words.

Dominique Patrick Noel next to Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan

We know that you are a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which is well known for giving the Grammy Awards. What do you base to vote for a nominated candidate for an award?

There are several processes for artists to be nominated. For us the voters, it is a long process because we have the task of listening to much music and analyzing many details such as recording quality, lyrics, musicality and much more. There are many important elements to consider when choosing the person. I want to get to the point of saying that someone really deserves my vote for this or that category.

Voting takes time. It’s not something that you do in an hour or two, it takes a long time. The day of the awards ceremony, we already know who will the winners. At that point, we can say that all of them have managed to win via an arduous selection process.

Tell us about your song Mi Secreto with D’ William.

The skeleton of the song was my idea and I got together D’ William, to whom I offered to join the song. He wanted to collaborate with me in a merengue song for some time and I sent him the skeleton, which he liked and told me that something could be done with it. When he asked me if I already had the lyrics, I said no, but I wanted to base the song on an experience of mine, so I told him what it was about and the lyrics were written about that fact. Later, we made some additional arrangements and that’s how Mi Secreto was born.

Dominique Patrick Noel next to Bobby Cruz

Tribute to Larry Harlow about a year after his departure

Tribute to my friend Larry

It is now a year since the unfortunate departure of one of the greatest icons of Latin music, who is none other than the one and only producer, composer and pianist Larry Harlow. Let’s remember that he passed away on August 20, 2021 in a health center located in the Bronx at the age of 82. His death was caused by heart failure due to a kidney condition from which he had been suffering from for some time.

“El Judio Maravilloso” passed away on August 20, 2021

A little of his history

The also known as “El Judio Maravilloso” has a great success story behind him in the field of music, which began with the occupations of his parents. Recall that his mother was an opera singer and his father was a musician in the orchestras of Barrio Latino, which could explain his interest in the industry when he was very little. From a very young age, little Harry already handled certain instruments in a skilled way, showing what he could dedicate himself to in the future.

His great interest in Cuban music and culture led him to travel to Cuba, where he began his musical studies related to Afro-Cuban music. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Cuban Revolution prevented him from fulfilling his task and he had to leave the island prematurely due to the political crisis that started to develop.

Since then, the Harlow Orchestra became one of the first groups to be formed with the label of Fania Records. At the same time, Harlow was producing an tremendous amount of albums, both his and other musical stars’, catapulting him to becoming one of the most respected producers of that time. Reportedly, there were approximately 270 records in total, which gave us a lot of hits that continue to be heard to this day.

One of his greatest achievements was to have brought the world famous Cuban singer Celia Cruz to New York, thus becoming the first artist of Latin origin to perform at the Carnegie Hall, a famous concert hall located in Manhattan that had only had room for Anglo-Saxon artists until that time. It was “El Judio Maravilloso” who managed to bring Latin America to the Carnegie Hall for the first time from the hand of “La Guarachera de Cuba”, something unthinkable in those years.

Larry Harlow and Johnny Cruz in the 80’s

He also had an important role in the film “Our Latin Thing”, along with several transcendental figures of the Fania All Stars.

Relationship with the Spanish Harlem Salsa Gallery Museum

It is of common knwoledge that Larry and this server had a close relationship, since we knew each other for many years and lived many incredible experiences related to this wonderful genre called salsa. That is why the famous pianist sent me some of his most precious costumes to be exhibited in our gallery so that all his fans could be as close as possible to their idol. After his departure, seeing all those things donated by him leaves a deep emptiness in those who see them, but at the same time this reaffirms our commitment to offer our public the best salsa exhibittions they have ever seen.

Larry has left an indelible mark in the hearts of all of us who got to know him during his lifetime, but our duty is to move on with our heads held high.

Harlow and Cruz in 2018

By Johnny Cruz, ISM Correspondents, New York, New York City

Earl Miranda and Ric Feliciano talk about the Latin Rhythm Boys and its history

Here we have Miranda and Feliciano

Good afternoon, we have here Earl Miranda, musical director of the Latin Rhythm Boys, and Ric Feliciano, writer and arranger for the group. Nice to meet you guys. It’s a pleasure to have you here.

Hi, Karina. It’s great to see you. We’re doing great.

Earl Miranda, Henry Miranda, and Yomo Toro

Okay, wonderful. This project began with your father, Mr. Miranda, who was at the head of the group. What did you and your brother Henry learn the most from your father? How did you develop a love for music?

This all started when we were just kids. We had a lot of family celebrations like Christmas and my father’s band always came and play until three or four o’clock in the morning. My mother made food. Music was always very important to all of us from the beginning. When my father died in 1969, my brother started playing for some bands and I started working as a DJ until it got to the point where we got together and decided to start this whole project together.

Around 2003 or 2004, we contacted our cousin Ric Feliciano to ask him to join us. We started to develop a new salsa style. Ric came with the salsa flavor, while we had the jíbaro flavor, so we brought those two things together to start making music.

Mr. Feliciano, do you have anything to add?

Yes, I am a Boricua from New York, that is to say, a Nuyorican as people say here. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, I grew up listening to the music of Hector Lavoe, Mon Miranda, Willie Colón, among others. I am a trombonist and also like trombanga, which is the music of Mon Rivera and Willie Colón which involves placing trombones at the front of the group so that the sounds are very heavy. That is the style of the Latin Rhythm Boys, which seeks to look to the future, but honoring the stars of yesterday. Since we have three or four trombones and a very particular singing style, many people say we sound like La Fania, including Hector Lavoe’s timbalero, who tells us that our style reminds him a lot of the 70’s and 80’s.

When I listen to your music, it sounds a lot like old school salsa. Why choose that specific style?

For me, that style represents the story of which we come from. My family and his father come from Puerto Rico and moved to Hawaii. In 1963, my father made his life in the United States, California, but he actually started his band in 1957, which was called Junior Miranda and The Latin Rhythm Boys. Then, my brother called it The Latin Rhythm Boys Orchestra.

We have added certain elements to make our music more modern, but many of the arrangements are typical of old school salsa.

Earl Miranda, Henry Miranda and other members of the band

How Earl, Henry, and Ric work together

Mr. Miranda, you are the musical director of the Latin Rhythm Boys and your brother Henry is the music producer. How do you work together?

(Mr. Feliciano answers the question) Well, I’m the arranger, so what we do is Earl and I write all our lyrics together. My family comes from a long line of jíbaros, but we also love salsa. That’s why we are what we are today.

(Earl Miranda’s answer) We are a great team because I have a lot of ideas and Ric applies them in a phenomenal way. Things work out even better than when I thought of them.

We’ve been invited to awards shows and films to make soundtracks in Hollywood. We’ve done some jingles for certain Hollywood and Netflix films.

Mr. Miranda, you said in an interview that jibaro is more like heart and soul, what did you feel when you listened to jibaro music as a child? Why is jibaro music so important to you?

This taste for jibaro music started when I was a child. This reminds me of when I was with my family, my uncles, my aunts, my cousins and other members. It is in my soul. However, we knew we had to evolve into something more relevant. That’s how we created the group and decided to mix new with old. We look to the future, but honor the past.

There are many family members in the orchestra. Would you say this is a family project?

I would say that myself, Henry, Ric and Ricky Castillo are part of the same family. Certainly, there are many members of the family, but many things change over time and members get older, so they withdraw from group. There are also many members who are not family, but they become family and become very necessary for the band.

Ric Feliciano playing the trombone

This question is for Mr. Feliciano. I understand that you joined the orchestra in 2003. How did you join the Latin Rhythm Boys?

I came to California in the 90’s and was part of a few bands here, but I was looking for something that might take me back to my roots. That’s when I heard about the Latin Rhythm Boys (laughs) and decided it was a project I could work on. It brought me get back to my family roots, but we also achieved a new sound.

Music is very important to the family. You have always listened to Jíbara and Puerto Rican music. Would you say that education and training is important for musicians?

Yes and no. Musical training is important on the one hand, but on the other hand I think that music just flows. For example, I’m not very good at reading music, but it’s here in my heart. I could perceive it, even if I don’t have a lot of training around it. I think that’s part of the beauty of it all. Well, Ric is a teacher, so he can offer you another view on this subject.

(This is Mr. Ric Feliciano) Indeed, I am a teacher and I’ve been teaching music for over 30 years, but I must tell you something. Education is not enough to be a good musician because there is a connection that cannot be taught through a class. I’ve had many students who do everything right in technical terms, but they don’t have the necessary flavor. Not everybody has that. I think there needs to be a balance between feeling, flavor and education.

Ric, Earl, and Henry singing and playing

Do you have to be Latino to have that flavor?

We have some guys in the band who aren’t Latino, but they get the swing. We can work with anyone regardless of their ancestry, as we’ve had Americans and Europeans who have everything we’re looking for. We give them the sounds and they have no choice but to imitate them (laughs).

Do you consider it more important to make original music than to do covers?

Absolutely. If you have the talent and vision in your head, everything flows. I think if a person has a song in his/her head, he/she is going to want to translate into reality that idea and play it for an audience to see its reaction. If the reaction is good, you think you’ve done something right.

(This is Mr. Feliciano) What we usually do is to play our own songs at 90 per cent and covers at 10 per cent to please the audience. In fact, many people ask us for certain songs that they think they’re not ours, when, in reality, they are our hits from many years ago.

Ric, Earl, and Henry performing