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The Palladium legacy lives on

The idea of bringing together the three great Palladium orchestras in an innovative concept was the brainchild of Mario Grillo, better known in the music world as Machito, Jr. whom I had promised to address on the subject of the Big Three at the Palladium.

Here I share one of my dreams come true.  To be able to write about what I am passionate about is a great luxury, but to have these greats of music welcome me with so much affection to fulfill it is simply magic, fantasy and illusion.

Mario Grillo was born and grew up in a home that supported and sponsored his decision to become a musician.  However, his mother -Doña Hilda Torres (EPD)- forced him to practice one hour a day “the hard way” while she told him that being a musician was as serious as being a doctor or a “shyster”.  Mario Bauzá was his solfeggio teacher, since reading music was mandatory in his professional path.

At the age of ten he was already playing with his father’s orchestra.  When he was still in high school and only 15 years old, Mario Grillo was already the regular timbalero in Machito’s orchestra. However, Machito, Jr.’s career skyrocketed when he did not yet dream of being ready to become a bandleader.

In 1975, his uncles Mario Bauzá and Graciela Grillo Pérez left their Machito’s orchestra, forcing Machito to take action and rescue his orchestra.  Machito did not seem to be affected by the fact that Mario Bauzá’s replacement had not yet reached the age of majority.  At only 19 years old, Mario Grillo became a bandleader “a la cañona” as we say in Borinquen bella.

The new orchestra was affectionately called “Machito and his Kindergarten” since the musicians were youngsters hungry for musical experience.  Although Mario Grillo did not know it, the virtuoso timbalero had been preparing for this moment since he was only five years old when he had performed a timbal solo with none other than the “King of the Timbal”.

In 1982, at the age of 25, Mario Grillo directed and produced the recording of the 1983 Grammy winning album in the category of Best Latin Recording.  With great pride Mario adds that the recording was done in Holland and that the entire process was completed in four hours.  It is worth mentioning that Machito and His Salsa Big Band won against Julio Iglesias, José Feliciano, Willie Colón & Rubén Blades and Ray Barretto.

Here is a sample of the album in reference (Arrangement by Isidro Infante):

I ask you: How did the idea of establishing The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra come about?

Mario Grillo Torres, whose name honors the great Cuban jazzman -Mario Bauzá (EPD)- and whose nephew he is, tells us that the idea came out of desperation.  The booking agency of Mario Grillo’s orchestra found that its strongest market was rather in Europe and Scandinavia.  However, one bad day Mario Grillo had to face the possibility of modifying his orchestra.  His promoter suggested that he reduce the 16-piece orchestra to form a quintet or sextet to make the project more profitable.

Machito, Jr. laughingly recalls that he only knows about big orchestras, so he got down to work and started making phone calls.  He called Tito Puente’s widow:  Margie, Tito Rodriguez, Jr. and Tito Puente, Jr. Once Margie, Rodriguez, Jr. and Puente, Jr. agreed to ally with Machito, Jr. the latter returned to the booking agency in London to offer him three orchestras for the price of one.  Three calls were enough for Mario Grillo to return to counter negotiate with that promoter, offering him an irresistible orchestra.

The idea entailed a large orchestra with three timbaleros.  Each timbalero would play one third of the repertoire, corresponding to the repertoire of the Patriarch of the timbalero on duty.  That is to say, Mario would lead the orchestra during the performance of Machito’s orchestra repertoire; Tito Rodriguez, Jr. would lead the orchestra during the performance of El Inolvidable Tito Rodriguez’s orchestra repertoire prior to the closing in which Tito Puente, Jr. would lead the orchestra during the performance of the King of Timbal’s orchestra repertoire.  The booking agency representative had no choice but to give up the promoter’s original idea of reducing the large orchestra concept to form a smaller, more economical group, because no one offers three orchestras for the price of one.  And Mario is not a salesman.  As an important detail, the tour began after 15 concerts were confirmed, without the orchestra having posters, much less CDs to promote.  And “in a crazy way”, as Mario Grillo describes it, they began to fulfill the “stews”.  The first places to host that non-promotional musical tour concert were Columbia University and the Verizon Center.  From there they went on to England, France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Latvia.

A year into the tour, Mario Grillo was asked by the booking agency to promote a tangible during the next tour.  The Big Three Palladium Orchestra, Performing the Music of Tito Rodríguez, Machito and Tito Puente was born.

This CD was recorded live at the Blue Note during two concerts that were “packed”, as Mario Grillo told me with emotion.  The recording of this masterful production was coordinated from a rolling recording studio that monitored 48 microphones.  The long awaited compact disc became the promotional item for the ten years that were added to that historic tour, which initially consisted of only fifteen concerts.  The first concert of this historic reunion was in 2000.  This year marks the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the Palladium’s Big Three Orchestra.  Having come of age, this orchestra has the repertoire of the owners of the mambo.  This results in more than three hundred record productions, which adds up to more than three thousand songs and no room for exaggeration; so as Mario Grillo declares: “Anything can happen”.

During the eleven years of touring Europe -Finland, Germany, Spain and France-, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco -to mention a few places- Mario Grillo repeated what he did with Machito’s orchestra; this time the legacy sounds through The Big Three Palladium Orchestra.  For Machito, Jr. one of the most emotional moments was when they came to Puerto Rico for the Jazz Festival.  For the first time, the heirs to the mambo era – Tito Rodriguez, Jr., Machito, Jr. and Tito Puente, Jr. – teamed up again in their three-orchestras-in-one concept to bring the Palladium legacy to Puerto Rico.  In fact, between laughter and mischief Mario states that his father always insisted that: “the best interpreters of Cuban music are the Puerto Ricans” adding that this assertion guaranteed him tremendous fire within the Cuban community.

When I asked Mario about his favorite instrument, he commented with a loud laugh: “women, I’m malamañoso”.  Once we returned to the line of conversation, he added that he has been a TOCA artist for ten years.  With a serious tone he added that he is very proud of his colleagues, fellow artistic staff members within TOCA Percussion.  Among that list, he mentioned Tito Rodriguez, Jr. and the late Jimmie Morales, who, according to Mario Grillo, used to make a fire out of two coffee cans no matter what brand of instrument it was.

As you can see, each of the “Palladium’s Big Three” left behind a timbalero son, coincidentally.  These three timbaleros have made it their mission to keep the Palladium legacy alive and well.

With deep pride, Mario Grillo told me that in 2019, the 80th anniversary of the first Machito orchestra, established in 1939, was commemorated.  The average seniority of the musicians who remain in the orchestra since its establishment is forty years.  In fact, there are anecdotes that show Luis “Perico” Ortiz as an alumnus of Machito’s orchestra.  It is said that when “Perico” was part of Mongo Santamaría’s orchestra, he would go to play with Machito’s orchestra during his days off.  Another alumnus of Machito’s orchestra is the bongos player of the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico: Richie Bastar, who as a teenager became the substitute bongos player of that school orchestra.  With the privileged memory that characterizes him, Mario Grillo states with admiration that in 1979 Machito identified excellence in Isidro Infante -also a former student of Machito- when they played in Finland.

Although Machito, Jr. has not insisted on being Machito’s son, it is not possible to forget that he is the son of one of the greats of mambo, creator of Cubop and salsa, so it is not surprising that his father is still a topic of conversation in musical circles.

Here is one of my favorites (Arrangement by René Hernández)

 Website: Tito Rodríguez, Jr. “The Palladium legacy lives on”

WebsiteBy: Bella Martinez “The Irreverent Salsa Writer” Puerto Rico

WebSite: Bella Martinez

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International Salsa Magazine and its Miami Correspondent Diana Marie present Richard Román one of the most recognized and respected announcers of Salsa Dura on On-Line Radio in Miami.

His name is Ricardo Román Zapata; he has 40 years as a show promoter, 26 years as producer and host of his Superior Salsa Program in Miami.

As a promoter began in a series of events in Ventanilla Beach in 1981, his activities were known in Lima and Callao, so much so that Dr. Luis Delgado Aparicio came to my place in Ventanilla and made a program of Maestra Vida in which he gave me a plaque with the logo of Channel 9 Television and the name of Dr. Delgado Aparicio. Delgado Aparicio in 1984, in the years 1986 and 1988 I organized the First and Second Festival of Salsa Playa de Ventanilla where Orchestras of Lia and Callao participated with unpublished songs in lyrics and music.

The winner in 1986 was Carlos Orozco y La Fragua with the theme “ESTAS LLORANDO” of the authorship of Carlos Orozco in tribute to Chabuca Granda, in 1988 the winner was El Combo Espectáculo Creación with the song “CONVERSEMOS” by Ricky Tosso, in homage to the problem of the Petisos (street children), in 1995 I started the Salsa Superior Program in Ventanilla Estéreo FM.

In 1997 I moved to Radio Pirata FM del Callao, in 2007 we started transmitting via www. radiosalsasuperior.com to date, in 2015 we started the delivery of plaques of recognition to musicians, composers and personalities of music in Peru, United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, Panama and our motto is “WHERE A MUSICIAN LIVES THERE WILL COME SALSA SUPERIOR”, The particularity of the plates is that in all this our National Flag, highlighting our beloved country and its people.

The District of Ventanilla

It is one of the seven districts that make up the constitutional province of Callao in Peru. It is the largest of them and the second in population.

It has gone through a process of economic, social, cultural, political, and urban changes, mostly unplanned, presenting itself as a district with a mostly poor population, territorially disjointed, disorderly, with worrying levels of environmental pollution and that has grown at rates that have exceeded the capacity of local management.

Chimpùn Callao

Callao is a port city located in the constitutional province of Callao, in central-western Peru and in turn on the central coast of the Peruvian coast and in the central-western part of South America. It has the Pacific Ocean to the west and 15 kilometers to the east the Historic Center of Lima.

Most of its territory extends in a wide bay protected by the islands of San Lorenzo, El Frontón, Cavinzas, and the Redondo islet, south of the mouth of the Rímac River, but also reaches the northernmost part of the bay of Lima.

Both bays are separated by a peninsula known as La Punta. It covers an area of 148.57 km², including 17.63 km² of islands. It is located 5 meters above sea level.

Since colonial times, the port of Callao has been the largest seaport, the most important in Peru, and one of the most important in America.

Today it is the main port of the country and the Jorge Chávez International Airport, making it the main gateway to Peru. These in turn are the ‘natural’ port and airport of the city of Lima.

In terms of population, Callao is the third-largest city in the country, with more than 1 million inhabitants (only behind Lima and Arequipa).

It has a floating population of approximately 500,000 inhabitants who visit daily for family, tourist, educational and business reasons, among others. Callao has always had the privilege of receiving military visitors, especially sailors, merchants, immigrants, tourists, and other types of social currents.

Salsa Superior Radio (Live)

Facebook: Richard Roman

Article of Interest: Ralph Irrizary, a well-known percussionist, is considered one of the most “Swing” timbaleros in the world.

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Jesus Pagan and his Orchestra Salsa Artist, Singer, Composer and Producer.

He began his musical career in 1991 as a percussionist and backup singer with various tropical music and nueva trova groups in Puerto Rico, being the Andrés Jiménez “El Jibaro”‘s group the best known amont those at that time.

In 1997, Jesús moved to the state of Massachusetts to get on with his life and continue his duties privately until he was invited to share a rehearsal of the Carlos Pabón’s orchestra, brother of salsa singer David Pabón.

That is when he again took the path on music, this time, as a lead singer. His name quickly ran throughout New England letting slip that this little guy was a great singer and sonero. Local orchestras such as The Latin Heartbeat, Komboloko, Ray Gonzalez, Eguie Castrillo and Frankie Rodriguez Y Homenaje A La Salsa immediately opened to him the doors and opened the plate to stand out as a great singer and sonero.

By 2008 Jesus Pagan was counting in a vast experience as a singer, sonero and composer, so he decided to release his first album under the title “Salsa De La Mata” becoming the new sense of the art of soneo in the genre he loves, Salsa. This album immediately became a classic of modern salsa.

Figures such as Hector “Maximo” Rodriguez, Eddie Montalvo, Ray Castro, Luisito Quintero, Joe Fiedler, Ray De La Paz and Lucho Cueto are among the talents in this recording which earned Jesus Pagan a Paoli Award and a U.S. Grammy Award nomination.

After this recording Jesus Pagan has released 3 other albums including one that he considers very special in his career which is “Ya Llego Conjunto Barrio”, “Somos Del Barrio” which he produced locally in the area of Springfield and Holyoke Ma. with musicians of the local salsa scene and internationally renowned figures.

Currently, Jesús Pagan is in the initial phase of what will be his new salsa work and has also recorded with other orchestras and artists in several genres as a guest artist, backup singer and composer.

Currently, Jesús Pagan also works as a chorister and singer for many of the best-known salsa artists in his environment. As a chorist, he has accompanied artists such as: Ismael Miranda, Tony Vega, Johnny Rivera, Adalberto Santiago, NG2, Frankie Negrón, Ray De La Paz, Raulin Rosendo, Wilmer Lozano, Héctor Tricoche, Tito Rojas, Roberto Blades, Willie González, Giro, Michael “El Buenon” and many others. As a singer, he has performed with: Larry Harlow, Richie Ray, George Delgado Y Conjunto Neoyorquino, Conjunto Classico, Alex Torres, Luisito Rey Y La Dinámica, Orquesta Dicupe and many others who have invited him to be part of special performances.

Recently, he returned from a super successful tour in Medellin, Colombia where he was the guest singer for the classic salsa orchestra from New York, the Dicupe orchestra in a sold out concert, over 10,000 people at La Macarena bullring.

His dreams realized include his performance at the most famous concert hall in the world, Carnegie Hall in New York City at a sold out concert with Puerto Rican percussionist Eguie Castrillo’s The Palladium Big Band and “The Gentleman of Salsa” Gilberto Santa Rosa featured as a guest artist by the year 2012.

Jesús Pagan also had the honor of being one of the main singers to salute the memory of Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández in a concert in his honour at the Mortenzen River Front Town Square in Hartford Ct and sang together with the son of the celebrated composer Chali Hernández.

Another of his achievements was to open 2 important concerts for renowned figures of the salsa scene. The first one at the UMASS Fine Arts a sold out concert with singer La India and the other one at the Boston City Hall for “Salsa’s bad boy” Willie Colon.

Jesús Pagan Y Su Orquesta Jesús Pagan & Conjunto Barrio

JD Productions Exclusive Artists

For booking: 413-297-8937 / 413-505-4745 E-mail: [email protected]

Artist Manager: Damaris Rivera de Pagan

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By: Erika Muñoz

La Mulata Rumbera

“Se Armó la Rumba en México“

International Salsa Magazine Correspondent

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Johnny Rivera Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, NY.

Better known as El Noble de la Salsa, with more than 40 years of artistic career, a descendant of Puerto Rican parents.

He began his artistic career in New York, thanks to the influence of his uncle Adalberto Santiago, he began to demonstrate a strong inclination towards music and a great desire to prosper as a singer and learn all genres of music and especially Salsa, he continued his studies to improve his technique in singing and in a short time as a singer and chorus singer, he joined his uncle Adalberto Santiago and once he had the backing.

JOHNNY showed his talent, recording in the album Noche caliente, Volume 2, the song “Terciopelo y piedra” with Meñique and Tito Allen.

In 1980 JOHNNY RIVERA, was presented with the opportunity to record with several great orchestras that put him in the spotlight of the Music Industry, including a youth orchestra, Grupo Fascinación.

He recorded three additional albums, later he also received the opportunity to join Conjunto Clasico, standing out as a lead singer, he recorded two albums with Conjunto Clasico before leaving for his solo career, he recorded his first album now for real in his debut as a soloist, he stayed between Puerto Rico and New York.

The songs “Necesito Una Amiga”, “Esa Chica Es Mia” and “Como Fui A Enamorarme de ti” were hits from that production and the salsa singer had already recorded his second album entitled Encuentro Casual.

The first single from this album, “Te Regalare”, became a hit upon its release.

In 1993, Johnny Rivera recorded his third album, Cuando Parara La Lluvia, which featured three hit singles, “Cuando Parara La Lluvia”, “Por Eso está conmigo” and “Voy a Conquistar Tu Amor”.

Cuando Parara La Lluvia earned platinum accolades shortly after its release and made an impact around the world.

Rivera made a name for himself at New York’s Madison Square Garden, during his tenure with the late Ralph Mercado’s RMM label, Johnny Rivera had the opportunity to join another of the most important music star conglomerates of all time, the RMM Salsa Stars or the also renowned Combination Perfecta, where along with salsa artist Ray Sepulveda he earned multiple Gold and Platinum Records for sales in the United States and Latin America, including the Caribbean for the worldwide hit titled “No vale la Pena”.

In 1994 Johnny received the Paoli Award for Newcomer of the Year and the Diplo Award for Best Album of the Year.

Johnny Rivera has also obtained first places in the Billboard charts and has performed in the most important stages of the world such as Madison Square Garden in New York and is one of the most recognized salsa artists worldwide who has traveled with his music and charisma to cities around the world such as Cali, Bogota, Medellin, Venezuela, Lima, Quito, Guayaquil, Panama City, Guadalajara, San Jose, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, among many others, always enjoying great acceptance and popularity in recent years.

Now Johnny Rivera, a salsa legend hopes to surpass the success of his past and present musical endeavors with a resume that boasts the accomplishments that only a man of his caliber and experience can show.

For this year 2021 El Noble de la Salsa launches his latest album titled “Romántico y Algo Mas” 

Already available on all digital platforms…!