Search Results for: Salsa en Venezuela

Virginia Ramirez is the artist of the XXI century, the Princess of Piano and Voice, the hope that will save the new generations of anti-music

Virginia Ramirez, the talented concert pianist, pianist and singer-songwriter, has been making an impact for her contributions to the music of her country and the world. She was born in the city of San Cristobal, Venezuela and grew up in a family where art, poetry and music were the language of every day.

Virginia Ramírez es la artista del siglo XXI

His mother was a poet (Etha, the Lady of Love), Dr. Enriqueta Martinez, his father Asdrubal Ramirez, a self-taught harpist, guitarist and singer of Venezuelan popular music.

Since she was 7 years old she plays the piano and from a very young age she began to develop her musical skills, she started her training at the Miguel Angel Espinel School with the well-known teachers Edgar Vasquez (Piano) and Heliodoro Contreras (Theory and Solfeo).

She graduated as a pianist, concert pianist and piano teacher at the National School of Music in Havana (Cuba) where she graduated with the highest qualifications and studied at the José Lorenzo Llamozas School and the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music.

He has taken courses in harmony and improvisation with professors Gerry Weil, Andres Alen Rodriguez and Mike Orta at the “FIU of Miami” in the jazz department.

Ramirez studied classical piano with Professor Igor Lavrov, recorded her jazz projects with drummer Willy Díaz and bassist José Velázquez in the “Jazz” program of the Venezuelan TV channel “Venezolana de Televisión” in Venezuela on several occasions, and her first album “Espiral de Fuego”.

She participated as a special guest of other groups such as Alberto Borregales and Fredy Roldán and El grupo la Calle.

She participated with a new proposal as a composer and pianist in important Jazz festivals in Venezuela as the “Latin Festival” of the Teatro de la Opera de Maracay (June 2003) and the “Prehot” of the 5th.

Festival de Jazz del Hatillo (October 2003), where he alternated and shared the stage with the American bands of Aaron Thurston (drummer) and Jaime Baum (flutist), receiving excellent reviews from the radio and television press.

She alternates her activity as a jazz concert performer with teaching, as a piano and singing teacher.

In her music school Vicky’s harpsichord.

Her formidable work in music and composition is very beautiful and colorful, because in her proposal she has fused jazz and Afro-Venezuelan elements highlighting the values of Venezuelan and Latin American music and using a variety of drums such as the Culo’e Puya, Quitiplas, Clarines, Cumaco and Chimbangles combining them with the songs of the peoples of the coast of Venezuela making excellent personal harmonic contributions.

He has achieved a high musical concept that has been recognized in the continent and the world, for that incredible capacity to unite the idea of the concert with the characteristics of the Show and for that reason he contributes much more of the pure musical element in each one of his performances.

With a rich repertoire and an unparalleled originality in the world of Venezuelan Female Jazz, this excellent artist is a source of joy and an excellent contribution to the new generations of Jazz.

She has won countless national and international awards and recognitions, among which stand out: World Prize “César Vallejo” for Artistic Excellence, World Prize “El Águila de Oro” for Artistic Excellence 2022, 2023, almo Chispeante prize 2024, awarded by the UHE, world Hispanic writers union, thousand minds for Mexico, and world academy of literature, history, art and culture First Mention in the Juan Sebastián Bach Competition in Havana Cuba.

1993 as a teacher, pianist, concert pianist has participated in various festivals and concerts such as the Fitztrovia Festival in London, in Mexico, Madrid, the south of France, in Colombia with his salsa group tabaco latino, where he performed in different cities, Cali, Bogota and Medellin.

Within the salsa accompanied artists such as: Cheo Feliciano, Hernán Olivera, Meñique Lena Burke the singer Alfredy Bogado of the Venezuelan group “La Calle” and precisely with this group La Calle in the Juan Sebastian Bar when she worked there in 2000 was where they began their activities with salsa in several cycles of pianists, composers and arrangers.

In the Keyboard Museum of Caracas, in a jazz trio with Nene Quintero and William Velázquez on bass, in the Festival a toda Música Caracas, in the opera theater of Maracay and the Simón Bolívar University, among others.

Excellent comments in the national and international critics, have generated the presentation of his CD “Espiral de Fuego” presented by Otmaro Ruiz Jaquest Braunstein and Gerry Weil in his album “Manos y Alma” recorded, outstanding musicians such as: Nene Quintero, Aquiles Baez, Roberto Koch, Gonzalo Teppa.

Special guests: Vasallos del Sol, Aquiles Baez and C4 trio. This album “Manos y Alma” was presented by Aquiles Baez, Luis Perdomo and Pablo Aguirre from the BBC in London, received excellent reviews from the press in the south of France.

Her performance in the church La Canourgue in the south of France accompanied by the musicians Didier Hennot and Tonny Margalejo and her tour of successive concerts, carried out in France in different cities Mende, Saint Privat Des Vieux, Lozere, Ispagnac presenting her albums mentioned above.

She participated in the assembly and production of the play Cabaret with important theater artists such as Francis Rueda, Cayito Aponte, Natalia Martinez, Adrian Delgado, Karl Hoffman, Luis Fernandez performing in the Rios Reyna hall of the Teresa Carreño in different cities of Venezuela.

Virginia had the luxury of playing keyboards in the Kit Kat Club Band directed by Armando Lovera.

Great impact had her album “jazzguinaldos” produced as a trio with musicians Gonzalo Teppa and Nene Quintero, including as special guests Enio Escuariza, composer of all the lyrics of the album.

Her project “Acro Jazz” opens the horizon towards the world of circus arts, performing in different cultural centers of Venezuela musicalizing with the piano circus works and participating herself as a circus artist with the artist Jesús Piña in a pulsating work in the museum of the keyboard, Trujillo, Valencia among other cities with a new band integrated by Rubén Rebolledo Guitar, Willy Díaz Drums, David Rubio Bass and as special guests Jesús Piña and Kerlly Garcia.

He performed in the city of Morelia and Mexico, founded in 2015 a trio with musicians Fernando Mendoza Drums and Flavio Meneses bass, presenting the music of his albums in different nightclubs like Amati, Café de las Rosas, Casa de la cultura de Uruapan, and other cities of Morelia.

Virginia Ramírez, la talentosa concertista, pianista y cantautora

She accompanied drummer Antonio Sanchez in the house of music in Morelia.

Virginia Ramirez has collaborated with different artists of the Venezuelan music scene such as the group Facundo Project a Venezuelan Rock group, the singer Cheo Linares in his album “llegó la Navidad”, the singer Amarilis Bolaño in her album singing Henry Martinez, the singer Alejandra Gonzales in her album “Joyas de mi País” in the album “Tierra Liberada” and in the project “Venezuela demo”.

Ramirez has made music a matter of life and in her habitat of pianist and concert pianist, prepares for this year a vast plan to musicalize the poetry of the greatest poets of the world and a program entitled “La Totalidad de Virginia Ramirez”, by Cabina 11, Canal Global de Queretaro, Mexico, a country that has already known of her beauty and great talent.

I see in Virginia Ramirez, the complete artist with infinite talents as a pianist, singer, composer, songwriter and circus artist, who intentionally projects herself, illuminating the artistic firmament of the world with daring and magical projects that will always surprise the audience and make them feel the desire to ask for more.

Undoubtedly Virginia Ramirez is the artist of the XXI century, the princess of the piano and voice, the hope that will save the new generations of anti-music.

Dr. Carlos Hugo Garrido Chalem president of mil mentes por México and of the UHE Hispanic World Writers Union. President of the world academy of literature, history, art and culture.

Alterna su actividad de concertista de Jazz con la docencia, como profesora de piano y canto en su escuela de música la clave de Vicky.

Also Read: Wilmer Lozano from a very young age his mother saw in him the desire to be a musician

The Soul of Latin American culture – Salsa, Merengue y Lambada

Latin American / Venezuela / Caracas

Did you know that Salsa, Merengue and Lambada are rhythms that have been enjoyed in the last decade? Well, this link that unites them is the energy and passion for life, expressing itself in music, showing itself in the romance of couples dancing in harmony and with dance it unites them even more in a sentimental way as in fellowship.

These rhythms were born from a very urban environment, where each dancer can freely show their personality in the movement, however, following certain rules that each genre has, where one can follow each step and technique or do it spontaneously. For example:

✓ Never use the same foot twice, it must be alternated (right, left, right…).

✓ Dance with your partner as a mirror, that is, if you go to the right, your partner goes to the left.

✓ Transfer of weight from one foot to another as steps are performed.

Salsa is a rhythm that originates from the synthesis of Cuban son and other Caribbean music genres, with jazz and other American rhythms. One of the main contributors comes from the African rumbas along with the cumbia, the guaguancó, the guajira, the Cuban son, the mambo, the montuno son, the cha cha cha, among others.

It can be said that salsa is one of the most important rhythms in the music industry where it has many characteristics of its contributors, for example, “salsa” is close to “mambo” due to the steps executed in counts of eight, its movements and patterns are unique, however, it is a side-by-side dance with different turns.

The Merengue has its origin in the Dominican Republic and has a huge degree of popularity in the Caribbean area, it is a slow rhythm that increases its speed at the end of the dance, it is similar to the bolero but it is danced more than anything in groups than with a partner.

The secret of the dance is based on the transfer of weight from one foot to another, where each Latin genre has a characteristic that differentiates them, the best example is the similarity that everyone believes that “salsa” has with “merengue”, where Salsa has 4 beats, where the first beat touches the floor lightly with the tip of the foot quickly, which is known as “TAP” and this is repeated in four “4” and eight “8”, instead The merengue does not exist, this “TAP” is only 2 beats, it is a constant rhythm, very simple, whose speed of steps is marked by the musical rhythm.

But both genres have to have in the dance a movement of the hip, shoulders and position of the hands that characterizes them, marking the sensuality of Latin rhythms.

The “Lambada, a Brazilian genre that originated from the small cafes and bars that came from the garrafa dance, is believed to have been the product of rhythms such as the “Carimbo” and the “Merengue” with influences brought from the “Forro” and the “Samba” so it has a lot of Caribbean music influences, but the melody is the combination of Caribbean drums, brass and electric guitars with an added touch of Spanish elements and the flavor of the local indigenous people. It first spread to Bahia, Europe, Japan, the USA and the Middle East. It is currently danced in nightclubs and dance clubs, since its creation its jiv, merengue, rumba, even sevillanas and acrobatic maneuvers have evolved.

It is a 3-beat dance (fast – slow – fast) where the first step is taken with the first beat of the music, the second is the movement of one of the 2 senses and the third is the transfer of the weight back to the center moving the leg more slowly.

This dance is danced with the whole body, women dance pointe, flex the knees and the trunk moves in the opposite direction to the lower part of the body, if the hip rotates in one direction the rib cage rotates in the opposite direction. It can be danced alone or as a couple (they dance very close together giving the impression that it is one person), where the man molds his partner in the dance and the woman can embellish the dance with head movements or a controlled intentional fall producing a wave from the knee to the hips and shoulders.

If you want to know and learn some basic steps of the mentioned rhythms, look for the book in movement Latin Dance Dessi and Orod Ohanian and get passionate with these three “3” hot dances. Or follow us and watch the following videos to learn how to dance merengue, salsa and lambada.

Venezuelan businesswoman Joanna Torres is an example to follow

There are many Venezuelans who, due to the economic and political crisis that has affected their country in recent years, have had to set off for new horizons and leave their homeland to look for a better future for themselves and their family. Such is the case of the businesswoman and founder of Arepas Latin Cuisine Joanna Torres, with whom we had the pleasure of conversing with recently.

This talented young woman has a fascinating history of success and is a true inspiration to any Latino wanting to open paths in the United States or anywhere else in the world. That is why, from International Salsa Magazine, we decided to contact her and share her journey in the land of opportunities.

Businesswoman Joanna Torres — Venezuelan businesswoman and founder of Arepas Latin Cuisine Joanna Torres

Arrival in San Jose

The first American city where Joanna arrived was Miami and her goal was to do a master’s degree, since she had studied her undergraduate career in Venezuela. Once there, she realized that she had a lot of trouble learning to speak English and there were few opportunities to practice it, since all with whom she interacted with spoke Spanish.

It was then when a friend suggested the idea of moving with her to the city of San Jose, where it would make it easier for her to learn the language and spend time with people who spoke it all the time.

How Joanna began to conceive the idea of becoming a businesswoman

Two years after Joanna arrived in San Jose, she began working in a clinic and, together with her experience in administration and accounting, she learned everything she could about medical coding and the way medical procedures were coded. This gave her enough experience to dare to open his own medical consulting firm which has more than 22 years of operation and a total of 150 employees in Venezuela.

The entire staff of the consulting firm residing in the South American country speaks English and takes care of serving all customers in the United States. Joanna even took it upon herself to provide her workers with their own fiber optic internet by contacting some telecommunications engineers, since this service in Venezuela is extremely poor.

Since the medical consulting firm gave her the necessary experience as a businesswoman, she decided to expand into another area she was very passionate about: cooking. Joanna had been wanting to start a food truck in parallel to her current company for some time and saw the opportunity to do so through a friend and former college classmate who owned restaurants and food businesses. She proposed to Joanna to buy one of her restaurants and partner with her, which she finally accepted and that is how the first Arepa Latin Cuisine restaurant was born.

Joanna and her team — Joanna Torres and part of her team in San Jose

Reducing failure possibilities for Arepas Latin Cuisine

Joanna was aware that the possibilities of failure of her idea were high, but she told us that her extensive knowledge of finance was fundamental to overcome all obstacles.

She was always clear that she had to look for ways to generate more income within the same company. That is why she and her staff have been responsible for providing lunch to employees from technology companies, making food for events such as birthdays or weddings, organizing pop-ups (temporary restaurants created to promote new menus and specific events) in order to innovate and always earn a stable income in the corporation.

The businesswoman points out that she always tries to innovate, and with regard to this, she said ”I have invented some taco-arepas with which I use arepa flour to make the tacos and give them a different touch, so it would be a combination of both dishes. I always try to innovate and do different things to surprise people and keep them from getting bored”.

”At the San Francisco headquarters, we have chosen the strong liquor license to start offering Venezuelan typical drinks and rum such as Diplomático or Ron Santa Teresa. We are also doing some remodeling in the place to make it much more pleasing to the eye” she continued.

In addition, both the San Jose and San Francisco headquarters offer live music for diners to enjoy good Latin music while tasting their food. There is also a dance floor for those who wish to move to the rhythm of the orchestra of that day.

Joana’s grandmother as an inspiration to create Arepas Latin Cuisine

After taking the required steps, the first Arepas Latin Cuisine restaurant headquarters were opened in October 2021, but it was not easy. This was an effort made over many years in which Joanna did her best to be able to reach that point.

The beginning of everything was her grandmother, with whom the Venezuelan learned everything she knows about cooking. She was a cook, a cooking teacher and taught cookery courses and workshops to support her 12 children because she was widowed at a very young age. Joanna tells us that, at that time, she and her children made ground corn arepas to sell to markets and restaurants.

All this made her an inspiration to Joanna and led her to learn to cook since she was just nine. As a child, she knew that cooking would be important in her life.

Lots of secrets that Joanna learned from her, such as the way in which the dough has to be kneaded, the difference between making homemade arepas and arepas to sell, the amounts of ingredients to be used, the way to prepare the fillings for the dishes, among other things.

Joanna and her grandmother — Joanna Torres posing next to her grandmother, who sadly passed away on April 1, 2023

Reception to Venezuelan food in San Jose

Joanna ensures that her recipes have been a boom in California, since there was no authentic Venezuelan food in San Jose, so her project was a pioneer in this area.

The reception her food has got with Americans, Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese and many other nationalities has been truly amazing because dishes from Arepas Latin Cuisine, besides being extremely delicious, were something that has never been seen before.

The taste for food at Arepas reached such a point that the restaurant provides lunch to more than 300 employees in several technology companies such as Netflix, Snapchat and Tinder. It is worth noting that workers who are benefited greatly appreciate being able to enjoy a rich and varied menu every day.

The biggest challenges Joanna faces as a businesswoman

One of the biggest challenges Joanna has faced is to find employees who know the Venezuelan and Colombian cuisine (there are also several Colombian dishes on the menu) as it should be. ”Finding cooks with great experience has been complicated, but with the arrival of Venezuelan and Colombian migrants in California, we have been able to find staff with knowledge in the culinary arena” said the businesswoman on this topic.

For her, it is vitally important to employ people who are very clear about how to cook the main Colombian and Venezuelan dishes, so she takes this into account when recruiting her talents.

In addition to that, Joanna also sells Venezuelan products and has a hard time finding them in San Jose, so she has to bring them directly from Florida in order to sell them in California.

Joanna’s restaurant inside — That is what Arepas Latin Cuisine looks like on the inside

Advice for Latino migrants

When Joanna was asked to give advice to future Latino migrants who wish to move to the United States, the first thing that she pointed out was that they must work very hard in that country to get ahead. In her particular case, she claims to have had three jobs at the same time, since she was alone in the United States and lived only from what she earned.

She also added that ”you have to make sacrifices to succeed in life and always do things well according to the laws of the country that welcomes you. I think that there are many Venezuelans who confuse ‘native cunning’ (taking advantage or others and the economic, political and judicial system failures to do whatever you want without consequences) with intelligence, which makes them believe that they are above others and make serious mistakes. You have to do things well and eventually the much-desired success will come,” said Joanna on such an important issue.

Salsarria Orchestra. Back to our Roots

Latinoamerica / Venezuela / Caracas

The Salsarria Orchestra was founded in Caracas on July 20, 2018 by its director, pianist, arranger Wilfredo Agustín Castro Sarmiento.

Salsarria Orchestra, in its beginnings, the orchestra performed at events in the capital city where it was widely accepted by the Caracas public.

Very important musicians of national and international stature have marched through the orchestra such as: Orlando Poleo (France), Orlando Watussi (Italy), Federico Betancourt, Luis Esteban Spain (El diablo del Son) among others.

The Salsarria orchestra has participated in important Latin music festivals such as the “Bicentennial Festival Suena Caracas” with a stage presentation.

Orquesta Salsarria - Pal Bailador — Orquesta Salsarria – Pal Bailador

In 2014 they recorded their first album entitled ¨De Vuelta aNuestras Raíces¨ having acceptance in the national and international salsa audience.

Its director and founder Wilfredo Castro is the composer and arranger of all the songs, I love you Caracas, Simply (international success), Las Leyendas, Carnival Comparsa for Caracas, Different Swing, That day you decide to return and in my neighborhood, and preparing his second record production.

Don Perignon and La Puertorriqueña are prides of Puerto Rico

There are many legendary orchestras in Puerto Rico that may not be widely known to many, but La Puertorriqueña is one of those names that cannot be excluded from the musical history of Puerto Rico and Latin America in general. Today, we were fortunate to interview Don Perignon, leader of the group, so that he could tell us about himself and the orchestra he founded.

Pedro Luis Morales Cortijos, better known as Don Perignon, is a bandleader and timbalero with whom we had the pleasure to talk about his musical background and the Orquesta La Puertorriqueña, which has given him the recognition he has nowadays. Then, these are the most important topics covered in the pleasant conversation we had with the veteran musician.

Don Perignon from La Puertorriqueña — This is Don Perignon, bandleader of La Puertorriqueña

Why the nickname ”Don Perignon”?

When asked about why he is known as Don Perignon, he laughs and says that this is the most frequently asked question he has answered in the past three decades.

It all started because his familly called him ”Perin”. Then, one day, a musician from Andy Montañez orchestra in Miami asked him why he was called that, to which he replied that he has always been called ”Perin” in Puerto Rico. Later, the same gentleman arrived with a bottle of Dom Perignon (a well-known vintage champagne brand) and said that, for him, this young man was a grown man because of how he conducted himself, so from now on he was going to call him Don Perignon.

After that, Andy Montañez took it as a joke and began referring to the musician as Don Perignon, which other fellow musicians began to do, so it ended up being his official stage name.

How did Don Perignon fall in love with music?

Don Perignon told us that the first instruments he liked were the bongo and the conga, but that changed immediately as he knew the timbal, which he felt was more in line with the personality that he projected.

This curiosity for music led him and other teens his age to create an improvised group, while being at the school and studying at the Puerto Rico school of music. It was not a long time that he was in the institution, but it was enough to learn everything he would need in the future. In addition, the style he has nowadays when performing and leading an orchestra was acquired by watching Barry White, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, among other celebrities of the day.

Don Perignon and Andy Montañez — Don Perignon next to Andy Montañez

La Puertorriqueña

Something that Don Perignon wanted to clarify with regards to La Puertorriqueña is that the project did not start in 1975 as we thought, but that the group started with other names until 1987, which is when the artist and his colleagues finally decided to name it that way.

In the early 1970s, both Don Perignon and the rest of his colleagues, in his own words, were ”kids playing at being musicians” who were only interested in playing. However, over time, they started taking things a lot more seriously and decided it was time to pass the baton to someone, so they all took a vote and chose the young man as their bandleader because he was the tallest, had more physical presence and more character.

That responsibility he was given was a training-school for Don Perignon and acquired most of the knowledge he has today about music. Although the group eventually broke up, the artist is proud that his former orchestra fellows have achieved success and obtain prestige in the projects they undertook, which shows that those seeds they sowed at the time have borne fruit. According to him, ”they all achieved their dream thanks to discipline”.

Over time, other musicians joined the orchestra and also did their bit to make La Puertorriqueña what it is today.

Demostrando a Tiempo

Don Peringnon has said that one of the most important features of La Puertorriqueña is to always pay homage to the dancers and of course their latest album ”Demostrando a Tiempo” could not be the exception. Orchestras and Latin artists in general can interpret music in their own way, but a common denominator between all of them is that they will always include the characteristic spice of the dance and that is what we aim for in each of our productions,” said the musician.

It is for this that the artist says that ”Demostrando a Tiempo” is not very different from the rest of the work made by the orchestra, since they have always paid homage to dancers and they will never deviate from that path. What has changed is that the group experienced with much more romantic lyrics than ever and included them in special rhythms for dancers. This makes the production have the perfect fusion of rhythms for those who dance or simply listen.

Another important detail is that ”Demostrando a Tiempo” can also be defined as a mix between tradition and modernity. In this regard, the bandleader points out that, in the early days of salsa, most musicians were self-taught, until conservatories and music schools welcomed salsa, so musicians were better academically trained and new ways of performing and doing things in general emerged. Therefore, Don Perignon and his musicians, who are from the old guard, have had to adapt to the new times, but without leaving aside the essence with which they started their project.

Some of its main songs are a new version of the classic ”Soy Tu Ley”, ”A Quien Iré”, ”Sácala A Bailar”, ”Sin Rumbo”, among many others that La Puertorriqueña fans will find in this album.

After a few weeks of its release, critical reception to the album was very positive and Don Perignon trusts that the impact will be greater as days go by.