Search Results for: Salsa
North America – May 2018
Latin Saoko The Latin Corner of the World – 2018
Latinoamerica / Argentina / Buenos Aires
Latin Saoko, the radio is dedicated to spreading the richness of our Latin culture to all the public who want to have an encounter with the magical Caribbean and its music.
It is the Internet radio station of Latin-Caribbean genres that produces interactive programs with top-of-the-line speakers, this is how Dj timbao and Víctor Rodríguez define Latin Saoko, a radio station that since 2016 dictates the rhythm of timba and salsa on the internet .
In a pleasant conversation with his mentors, we were able to learn that it is an idea that arose a long time ago from these two great DJs and dance instructors from Venezuela, for now Dj timbao making life and projecting himself in Argentina and Víctor doing the same in Spain .
The radio is dedicated to spreading the richness of our Latin culture to all the public who want to have an encounter with the magical Caribbean and its music. Our work comes to you from the hand of professionals who strive every day to produce the best programs with true dynamic content through our website, with an excellent technical team and specialized personnel who work 24 hours a day in each one. Of its different spaces, Víctor mentions the director of the Kimbara school from the beautiful island of Tenerife.
There are 24 continuous hours of the best musical themes of Latin-Caribbean genres, we can enjoy premieres that come at the hands of this pair of DJs thanks to their great trajectory around the world. Dj timbao tells us that:
At saokolatino.com we seek to innovate the way in which Internet radio is currently produced so that in this way we can introduce real radio programming with dynamic content, for all local audiences and also worldwide. , offering the best of products so that saokolatino.com becomes the number one reference radio station for Latin American musical genres.
Among its main objectives is to create a space dedicated to the public that loves Latin genres, strengthen and promote Caribbean music and culture worldwide, expand the horizons of Latin radio in the world and reach number 1 in the ranking of radio stations. internet radio.
One of our main missions is to be the first Internet station of Latin-Caribbean genres, with unique production of true and real programs broadcast live and in real time. Spread the true Latin culture through the music that represents us and is loved worldwide, so that everyone who is connected to the radio identifies with its image and content.
Work hard so that our broadcasts, programs, calendars and music reach all possible destinations hand in hand with professionals who strive day after day, week after week and year after year to produce true radio content programs on the web, I emphasize Víctor, in the same way that the production of programs with characters from all over the world will take this radio to another level, they seek not only to delight musically speaking, they also follow the idea of nurturing with programs aimed at substantially improving the offer.
They are currently in the registry of people who want to make programs, they offer excellent benefits and are open to proposals that are presented to promote programs dedicated to Latin music and Caribbean rhythms.
On the website we can also find several interactive sections, the largest of which is a chat room in which all listeners, whether registered or not, can chat with each other, sending messages, images and emoticons on the topics they most want to discuss. and in turn they can talk directly with the announcer who is making the program at that moment.
On the other hand, there is the video section, where you can see the artists of the moment and those that have been successes or classics in their times, which Important to note in this section is that it links you directly to the station’s YouTube channel which has a direct playlist of the channels of each of the artists, this is important because by watching the video you are contributing to the artist directly and growing its popularity.
Similarly, they have a section of biographies where there is the story behind each of the most important orchestras, groups, ensembles or groups in Latin music.
To close, they invite us to download the saokolatinoradio app through playstore and for IOS present at www.tunein.com as saokolatinoradio, in this way they will be able to have 24 hours of good music at hand in any corner of the world where they are. For contacts: +34654723798 and +5491161380106 or by e-mail [email protected], by facebok on Saoko Latino Radio, on Instagram and twitter as @saokolatino and the youtube channel where we can enjoy video premieres of the most popular artists. recognized is Saoko Latino.
The “Patio de Tula”
Latin America / Venezuela / Yaracuy
In the Yaracuy state of Venezuela, where nature reigns, salsa is also danced
Meeting point: El Patio de Tula in the city of San Felipe
In the patio of a house in an urbanization in the city of San Felipe, since 2013, there has been a salsa scene that is worthy of recognition. The Patio de Tula is the name of the place, named after the Buena Vista Social Club song: El Cuarto de Tula. It is a space created by music lover and cultural promoter Yony Padilla, inspired by some night spots in Caracas where salsa was danced, such as the emblematic “El Maní es Así en Sabana Grande.”
Apart from having become a point of reference in the Yaracuy state and a meeting place for musicians and passionate salsa lovers, or simply a place to de-stress or have a delicious soup on Sundays, in El Patio de Tula We work diligently to rescue the salsa genre and become an engine of dissemination and a teaching center for the musical education of children, young people and adolescents.
The aim is to create an African-American percussion and dance school, where rhythm and dance are connected in a vital and artistic encounter, through Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Venezuelan percussion workshops and Caribbean dance (salsa) and traditional Venezuelan dance classes. It is important to highlight that this training proposal will be called the Juan Carlos Marín Percussion School, as a living tribute to this musician from Yaracuya, who throughout his career has dedicated himself to the study and research of Latin music and the Yaracuyan drum. It would be well worth it for this project to be taken into account by the region’s cultural organizations to support it.
There are various personalities and groups linked to the salsa and urban music scene that have visited El Patio de Tula, among them we can mention: Edgar “Dolor” Quijada, Orlando “Watussi” Castillo along with Mandinga Star Band, Rodrigo Mendoza, Carlos Hurtado , Jóvito Eduardo, Wilmer Lozano, Edgar “El Abuelo” Rodríguez, Alejandro Mayora, Ray Herrera, David González Jr., Ronald Gómez, Cheo Linares, Aquamarina “La Sirena de la Salsa”, DJ. Augusto Felibertt, Sonora Yambú, Orquesta Salsa Cinco 25, Orquesta Salsa Libre, Orquesta Malecón, the Mango Group, Dame Pa Mátala, Y de Cuba, Sixto Llorente and the Yoruba Andabo Folkloric Group.
Yony Padilla tells us that the salsa scene in the Yaracuy state is on the rise. To do this, they have the Hermandad Salsera de Yaracuy Foundation, which goes hand in hand with El Patio de Tula and at the same time is linked to the radio program Expresion Latina, produced and hosted by Hermes Mejías, and broadcast on the 102.9 FM dial from the central area of San Felipe. Another location that is leading the scene in the area, as Yony tells us, is El Rincón de La Salsa. The large number of musicians and orchestras in Yaracuy are proof of what was said above. Among the musicians the following stand out:
- Domingo Bracho – piston trombone
- Jorge Yujere – trombone
- Harry Ramos –piano
- Luis Reyes –percussion
- Kendri Siso –percussion
- Asael Hernández – piano
- Darwin González – Cuban three
- Domingo Suárez – percussion
- Jimmie Graterol – percussion
- Jesús Mieres – percussion
- Manuel Mieres –trombone
- among others.
The salsa orchestras are: Sonora Yambu, Elegua Son, Yaracuy es Salsa, Orquesta Los Gullet de Marín, where Sonero Orlando “Watussi” Castillo, residing in Milan, Italy, participated as a special guest, Orquesta Trombosis and Escala 78. Among the DJs are: Diego Music, Jesús (Drupy) and Robert Villalobos.
Further, investigating the salsa scene in the states surrounding Yaracuy, we were able to verify with the promoter Padilla that salsa is picking up in Aragua, this, if we measure it by the number of orchestras that he mentioned to us: Orquesta Mangue, Orquesta Primera Clase, La Foca and his Caribbean Sextet, Enmanuel Orchestra, Latinos Orchestra, Mondys Band, Fascination Orchestra (Recognition from the Universidad Bicentenario de Aragua –UBA–), Sono-Star Orchestra and Roberto Monasterios and his Orchestra.
Likewise, in other nearby states there are orchestras such as Malecón, Sazón Latino, Soneros Latinos, Líder, La Nor-Star in Lara; Osaona, Juramento, Sorongo, Batakum, Son Colón, Adrenalina Latina Puerto Cabello in Carabobo; and the Piri Salsa Orchestra in Falcón.
We invite you, therefore, to attend one of the tremendous rumbas that take place in El Patio de Tula, in a family and calm atmosphere, and in the process visit the greenest and most vibrant state of Venezuela. The Exotic Tropical Flora Park, the San Felipe El Fuerte Archaeological Historical Park and the Cumaripa Reservoir Recreational Park are an exemplary example of how, in Yaracuy, nature reigns.
ADDRESS: El Patio de Tula is located on 3rd street, San Rafael, Independencia, Yaracuy state, Venezuela.
Note: We highly appreciate the collaboration received from Yony Padilla and Augusto Felibertt in the preparation of this text.
Luis Guillermo Rangel the great friend of everyone
Time is the owner of the best because of what happens
In this section of International Salsa Magazine, there have been very special characters who provided us with important lessons and wonderful anecdotes about their lives, but the luminary we are going to talk about in this opportunity simply has no comparison with the rest. We are talking about composer, musician and singer Luis Guillermo Rangel, who very kindly welcomed Augusto Felibertt and myself into his home to try to give us an overview of the highlights of his life, since he has a lot to say.
After having picked us up on a busy street in the city of Caracas and arrived at the beautiful and comfortable home of Mr. Rangel and his family in the Las Mercedes area, we have become fascinated with his living room, which houses an impressive collection of instruments of all kinds, microphones, CDs and vinyl records, showing that the place is a reflection of what the artist is most passionate about. So much so that as soon as we entered the house, the first thing he told us was ”this is my life” as it was more than evident when appreciating the room.
Mr. Rangel’s beginnings in music
The first thing we wanted to know about the central figure in this story is obviously his beginnings in the musical world, to which he responded that it all started when he was only a child, since God gave him the opportunity to have parents who liked music very much. His father was a guitarist and his mother sang.
Although Mr. Rangel lost his mother at a very young age, she gave him with a love of music deeply anchored in his heart. At that time, it was very easy to play in family homes, so his was no exception.
”We came from El Cementerio, Avenida Los Carmenes 24 and that was a very familiar block. Every weekend, my home was filled with music and my mother loved parties, gatherings and friends. In one of these meetings, I met Alfredo Sadel, but he was not the only one. I also met Rubén Osuna and Sergio Mexicano in that context. My musical career as such began when I was seven or eight years old with a cuatro that dad bought”, he said about the subject.
Time in Coche
It was not long before the artist told us that he went to live in Coche with his family and it is in that same area that he met Cherry Navarro, José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma”, Fran Acevedo and many other young people who would become his great friends thanks to his passion for music. He also made reference to a very famous group of that time called Los Zeppys and consisting of ”El Puma”, Estelita del LLano, Agustín Calzadilla, Alberto Lewis and Nicolas Alvarado.
‘’We formed the first Venezuelan music group there in Coche and the harpist was Frank Acevedo, who lived in Los Valles del Tuy, but it was not an impediment for us to have the strength to form the ensemble. Nilson Díaz, who lived in El Valle, was our maraquero and ended up being the musical director of Yolanda Moreno’s group until he passed away recently” Mr. Rangel remembered about his time in Coche.
Friendship with Cherry and Carlos Navarro
His friendship with Carlos and Cherry Navarro comes from that Mr. Rangel was about 11 or 12 years old when he lived in the block eight letter D, while the Navarro brothers lived in letter C. They always met in the sports courts of the area to play basketball or rubber ball, but the time gathered also led them to become interested in other hobbies and one of them was music.
One day, we were all invited to a birthday party and Cherry, who was the fastest of all of us, proposed us to give a small performance to the birthday boy, since we had no money to buy him anything. That’s how we started in this world” said Mr. Rangel keeping with his story.
He continued his story saying that ”I met Chelique Sarabia at the Industrial Technical School while he was studying oil and I was studying electricity. We became great friends and he invited me to play with his band, with which I was for 26 years. We recorded very beautiful songs with Cherry, José Luis, Chucho Avellanet, Javier Solís and many other great talents. Such was the level we achieved that we even accompanied Placido Domingo at the Teatro Teresa Carreño in 1991 and 1992”.
Precisely because of the large number of artists he has managed to meet in the music scene, he wants to compile all this information in a book that includes so many anecdotes that no one even heards about before. At the moment, he has a page known as ”Mi Personaje de Hoy” which currently has 21,000 followers and always has interesting things to tell.
What does it mean to have met and shared with so many national and international luminaries?
Mr. Rangel ensures that the environment around him is very important to him. He thinks that the principles and values of every human being are determined by the people who accompany him in life. In the case of the Navarro family, he deeply values what each and every one of its members has done for him on a personal and musical level.
”I was very fond of Cherry in life and, today, I have a beautiful friendship with Carlos. The same thing happened with José Luis Rodríguez, although he went international in a way that made it difficult for him to return to the country, and many other friends with whom I still maintain contact because I never forget my friends” Mr. Rangel emphasized on the issue.
He also remembered singer-songwriter Rudy Márquez, who sadly passed away on October 9 this year. The artist grew up with Márquez in La Florida long before he went to live in Coche, a time when they used to play ball and cards. As adults, they met again on Radio Caracas Television and played in the extinct show ”Club Musical”, after which they went for lunch, had a coffee or shared any other plan to have a good time.
The family for Mr. Rangel
For Mr. Rangel, family is the backbone of growth and maturity. Fortunately, his was always very close, so he and his 11 siblings always stuck together and were in touch even after they became adults. Of course, that was until the older ones passed away.
However, the artist believes that nowadays there is a great deficiency in the current family upbringing and submits that the values and principles of yesteryear are a bit lost. This is part of what has resulted in the situation facing the country at a social level, not to mention that there is no institution to protect these principles.
Despite everything, he continues to believe in the institution of the family and thinks that the good things it brings to society can be recovered if we all play our part.
What does music mean to Luis Guillermo Rangel?
Mr. Rangel says that, for him, music is everything. It is the best language in the world and the language we all speak. The musician ensures that a human being can be going through any situation in life and, no matter how hard it is, accompanying it with music will automatically calm the spirit and soul almost immediately.
He also added that ”music activates you. Psychologically, music is an element that helps you and each of its genres has a particular function. In the case of romantic music, we can use a song with this style to dedicate it to whom we like, while the ideal genres to brighten the spirit are guaracha and salsa. All this is what has made me grow and be here with you”.
Luis Guillermo the composer
Mr. Rangel claims to be pushing for his own achievements with songwriting, but unfortunately he has not found them yet. However, with sacrifices, he has been able to progressively become known thanks to this facet of his.
Recently, he recorded a very original Christmas album thanks to the fact that he listened to a lot of Christmas music at home and his father was a great arranger of aguinaldos, so he took some of that essence and poured it into an album which he called ”Navidad Criolla” about eight years ago. The big problem is that he has not had the resources to market it properly and the crisis and currency devaluation have made it even more complicated.
However, the artist does not give up and continues his campaign to get someone important to be interested in the album and promote it so that people can enjoy it.
Payola
Like many other Venezuelan artists, Mr. Rangel has also had to deal with the phenomenon known as payola, which consists of the payment to radio stations by the artists in order to be able to be played in those spaces.
He told us that when his Christmas album was released, a friend told him that he could make him reach number one on every available radio station in exchange for a specific monetary value, but he absolutely refused.
”I didn’t know what payola was and I never thought that radio stations would hurt composers, musicians and singers and keep them away from their passion due to their greed for money. I believe that payola is a profound mistake that was made and continues to be made, so I have not been able to get lucky with my songs. I made a spectacular album with La Rondalla Venezolana and I don’t know where all of it will lead” said Mr. Rangel regretfully about the situation.
Luis Guillermo Rangel the musician
As for his facet as a musician, Mr. Rangel defined himself in one word: ”guataca”. This means that the artist was always self-taught and did not need sheet music to do his job correctly. In this regard, he told us a very interesting anecdote, which we describe below.
‘’One day, Chelique Sarabia got a call from Radio Caracas Televisión to ask him to lend one of her cuatristas, me among them, and when I went to the channel, the first thing these people did was to give me a score that I could not read. Then, I told Aldemaro Romero that Chelique and I have never had the need to read music to be able to play, something that surprised him a lot” said Mr. Rangel with a laugh.
The artist ensures that he has never been ashamed to say that he does not use sheet music to play and he has his own methods to be able to play.
His greatest musical influences
Although the answer may seem very obvious, one of the greatest musical influences Mr. Luis Guillermo has had is his great friend Chelique Sarabia from the very moment they met at the technical school. His cuatrista retired, so he asked Mr. Rangel to fill that position and, from that moment on, they became inseparable until the death of the musician in 2022.
He got to know Sarabia beyond the demanding artist and producer of strong character. He also got to know the romantic, passionate and noble man who always helped those who were just starting in the world of music.
His great friend has been his biggest inspiration for what he has achieved musically.
Luis Guillermo the friend
Mr. Rangel describes himself as an extremely loyal friend who always tries to be consistent and never forgets his loved ones. He also revisits his friendships with Chelique Sarabia, Toco Gómez and Rudy Márquez, whom he met when he was just a 10 or 11year-old boy.
I have a very broad concept of friendship, but very specific. A friend is not just for the good times or when you are in a good position, but for any moment. A friend can even help prevent you from saying a phrase that could be misinterpreted and lead you to serious problems” said Mr. Rangel, who also defined friendship as ”the conceptual confinement of a human being” and the importance of loving people as such.
Luis Guillermo Rangel as a father
Mr. Rangel has four amazing children who unfortunately are abroad due to the current situation in Venezuela, which he assures us has affected him much not to having them close to him.
He learned the importance of keeping the family together from his own, but also from Cherry and Carlos Navarro’s family, which always faced adversity without separating from each other. For him, the Navarro family was also his family, so much so that he even remembers on one occasion their mother made a shirt and gave it to him, a gesture that he still remembers fondly.
”This is my life”
Recalling that Mr. Rangel told us ”this is my life” as soon as we saw his collection of instruments and records in the living room, we wanted him to give us an explanation of why it is, he replied that the contents of his home include the things he loves the most. His guitars, instruments, sound equipment and microphones are among the most valuable things he has because that is how people know him.
”I want to show people that my love for others is not only sentimental, but also musical, which translates into meetings I hold at my house, where we share, sing and play music. I remember one day Chelique Sarabia, Miguel Angel Landa, Henry Salvat, Toco Gomez and I affectionately baptized our group as ‘Junta Directiva’, since we were all directors. And the one who coordinated our meetings was journalist Aquilino José Mata,” he told us.
Transition from conservative to modern
Mr. Rangel claims that he has a lot of respect for music in general, but that there are some modern genres that have caused him a lot of rejection and one of them is reggaeton, which he can not stand since it is strident, rude and vulgar music whose lyrics he does not like in the slightest.
In fact, both he and Augusto agreed that the aforementioned urban genre can be defined as ”music without music” since its exponents do not know what music is.
Luis Guillermo the collector
One thing Augusto and I noticed was the huge amount of records and instruments he had in his home, so we wanted him to tell us a little about his facet as a collector, to which he wanted to clarify that he does not define himself that way. That is, he simply value the things according to the people who, at the time, gave them to him. In fact, each of his guitars is marked with the name of the person who sent it to him.
The instrument that most caught our attention is the Kravik harp or lyre designed by a luthier in Africa, but unfortunately, Mr. Rangel has not yet been able to figure out how to tune it. The artist thinks that it must have some harmonic key that he has not yet been able to discover, but he supposes that it is a romantic instrument due to the sweetness of its sounds. It was a gift from the Vice Consul of Venezuela, Mauricio Portañoro, and it draws the attention of all visitors because of its peculiar appearance compared to other instruments.
He also showed us a Chinese violin, which was also a gift from a diplomatic friend of his and only has two strings, which makes it so special and different from the rest of his collection.
What Luis Guillermo is doing today
Although he is very happy with the result he got, he also pointed out that the costs have made it very difficult for him to continue with the process to the point that he has not been able to get certain things done such as mastering. This has been one of the biggest obstacles he has faced in his career, although it has not stopped him from continuing to work with what he has.
The muse for Luis Guillermo
Every composer always requires certain conditions to be able to get inspired and write, and that is the case with Mr. Rangel, who needs to be completely relaxed prior to create music. According to his own words, ”I have to be fresh in soul, spirit, heart and mind so that everything flows better. I always prefer to be calm in any life situation and everyone close to me knows that”.
He also told us that, because of the things he is going living, he has not been able to focus on finishing the song he has been composing for some weeks now. Calmness and lightness are fundamental for him to writing a song, verse, article or whatever comes to mind.
From 1967 to 2024
When asked for a summary of his life in all areas from 1967 to 2024, he wanted to give thanks for what he has been able to sustain from that year until now, especially with his health. He feels he has achieved a set of things that make him very happy and he continues to reflect on all those things.
”I feel I have achieved what I’ve ever looked for, which is love, peace, tranquility and the possibility of creating and giving to others. I’ve tried to be the best I could be in life and I believe I’ve done it” Mr. Rangel concluded on the subject.
Luis Guillermo the spiritualist
Although Mr. Rangel can sometimes be arrogant and have a strong character in his own words, he also thinks he is a very spiritual person and, most of the time, very cheerful. That is exactly why his loved ones always want him around.
He says when he is unable to share with friends for some reason, they always tell him how much they miss him for his smile to cheer them up. He thanks God, to whom he is always devoted, for everything, including his way of being.
What did you think of the interview?
We were very curious about what Mr. Rangel thought of our interview, to which he replied that it was not like any other he has given in the past.
He told us that, throughout his career, he has given about 15 interviews, but in none of them had he felt the sensitivity, warmth and familiarity he found in us.
Among the many well-known media outlets that have had the opportunity to speak with Luis Guillermo Rangel, International Salsa Magazine has stood out for the closeness it has had to the artist and the interest in knowing the person behind the musical and professional field.
Therefore, the interview ends with the following words from Luis Gullermo Rangel to us: ”I want to thank Karina and Augusto for being here in my house and I hope you both feel comfortable here. I also hope they get to know my musical and instrumental side, but also my human side” And sure enough we did!
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