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Enrique “Culebra” Iriarte, master of the piano and musical composition
Eusebio Enrique Iriarte, “Culebra Iriarte, was born on January 24, 1947 in Maiquetía, in the Republic of Venezuela.

In his childhood, Enrique Iriarte was already taking his first steps in the musical world with his father, who played several instruments.
His name was born in the Sonora Caracas thanks to the vocalist Johnny Perez when he discovered the thinness.
After his incursion in this world, with the inherited talent and the permanent updating and musical practice, has allowed him to treasure a long trajectory full of experiences next to orchestras such as La Sonora Caracas, Federico y su Combo Latino, El Sexteto Juventud, Don Filemón, in the beginnings of La Dimensión Latina for 10 months.
He also accompanied Oscar D’León on piano, for whom he also arranged his songs, among which are: “Mata Siguaraya”, “El Manicero”, “Siéntate Ahí”, “Mi Bajo y Yo”, “Mis Hijos”, “Juanita Morei”, “María”, “Ven Morena”, among many others.
In 1981 he recorded his first long-playing record, standing out with the song “La Ola Marina”, a piece that reached the first place in the music scene. It is worth mentioning that this album earned him a platinum record.
With more than six decades of artistic career, this Venezuelan virtuoso has left an indelible mark on salsa, collaborating with great artists such as Oscar D’León. During his career, the experience gained in iconic groups such as: La Dimensión Latina, Sonora Caracas, Federico y su Combo Latino, among others.
Currently, he continues to perform with his Sonora and has already become an internationally recognized musician.
Enrrique “CulebraIriarte Icon of Salsa is declared Illustrious Son of La Guaira and Cultural Heritage of Venezuela.
“Mr. Felo Bacallao Founder of the Aragon Orchestra, we are very proud to have as Cultural Heritage this distinguished MUSICIAN Maestro Enrique Culebra Iriarte”.
Reconocen trayectoria de “Culebra” Iriarte
September 28, 2019
The outstanding Guairean musician and arranger Enrique “Culebra” Iriarte was honored for his career, being considered one of the best salsa pianist, in an event held in the auditorium of the Bolivar Chavez Square.
Iriarte has stood out as a member of orchestras such as La Sonora Caracas, Federico y su Combo Latino, Sexteto Juventud and Don Filemón.
He was one of the founders of Dimensión Latina, the group that paid tribute to him yesterday and with whom he shared in some of the interpretations made by Rodrigo Mendoza, José and Edie Pacheco.
Culebra accompanied Oscar de Leon for many years as arranger of many of his songs.
The Mayor’s Office of Vargas presented him with the Armando Reverón order, within the framework of the municipal program “Forjadores y Forjadoras de Identidad Guaireña”, which seeks to exalt the work of men and women from Guaire.

“This is an emotional act with the presence of many musicians of the region, friends and relatives of Iriarte, to exalt the legacy that for years has given us this extraordinary musician. This is the twelfth award to people who have marked the local history”, said Alexis Rumbo, secretary of municipal government.
Percussionist Augusto Felibertt relates: exactly from 1997 to 1999 I was in the ranks of Maestro Enrrique ¨Culebra¨ Iriarte and his Sonora playing the Tumbadoras, at that time the founding members were:
Enrrique ¨Culebra¨ Iriarte: Pianist, Musical Director and Arranger, Eli: Bassist.
Juan Pablo Barrios: Timbalito, Campana and Bongo, Larry Machado: Singer, Perla Tabata: Singer, then Maritza De Quisquella, Cesar Pinto: 1st Trumpet, Yenny: 2nd, 3rd Trumpet a special guest, substitute percussionists: Yomar Mendez (Caballo) and Heyzer Cabrera.
Tremendous experience lived with all these musicians. Fabulous.
Note: The rehearsal studio at No 41 in Caño Amarillo-Caracas.

Cheo Navarro, Naty and El Maestro Enrique “Culebra” Iriarte Respected Masters and indisputable referents of the sound of Salsa and its history in Venezuela!!!!!
It has been for me immensely pleasing to share and receive with them this valuable recognition from SALSA SUPERIOR INTRNACIONAL!
Enrrique “Culebra” Iriarte, Alfredo “Guajeo” Naranjo, Dj. Augusto Felibertt, Elio Pacheco, Cheo “Bailatino” Navarro and Joseito Rodriguez 2nd Edition of the International Award 2022 by Richard Roman Director and Founder of Salsa Superior Miami.

Also Read: Eddie Palmieri brought salsa for the first time and live from Sing Sing Penitentiary in New York
North America / January 2025
Milonga’s contribution to Latin music in general
There are many Latin genres that have managed to find a place in the USA music scene thanks to the constancy of many of its great exponents, salsa being the genre we talk about the most. However, today we want to change the subject a little bit and analyze what is milonga and how popular it has become in recent years.

Definition of milonga
The milonga can be defined as a folkloric musical genre coming from the Rio de la Plata region, which is usually performed with a guitar accompaniment in 6/8 time. Usually, it is divided in two modalities that are the milonga campera (the genre in its purest form) and the city milonga (style subsequent to the milonga campera).
Etymology of ”milonga’’
Although the musical genre is known for being originally from Argentina, Uruguay and certain parts of Brazil, ”milonga” means ”word” in the Quimbundu language (a language of Angolan origin that corresponds in several expressions with Portuguese). It is important to mention that this is the language used by some tribes from Angola, which was a colony of Portugal, and that many of the slave population of those lands was transported to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
According to information received from some scholars, after the defeat suffered by the Argentine founding father Juan Manuel de Rosas in Caseros at the hands of Entre Rios Governor Justo José de Urquiza, the Brazilian soldiers caught the porteños off guard while singing guajiras in mockery, at the same time that the porteños sang milongas.
In the ears of Brazilians, these songs sounded like gibberish they could not understand. In the end, as a result, the term had such an impact that locals began referring to their own creolized guajiras as milongas.

A little history of milonga
Milonga is known for its joy, speed and sensuality at the time of being performed by its dancers. Its binary rhythm is of great simplicity, so it is in stark contrast to the four beats of the guitar that gives the melody to the dance and is usually accompanied by lyrics occasionally.
It has always been closely related to paya and tango. In the case of paya, milonga used some of its elements specifically for the dance, while tango uses some details of the rhythm and the melody in milonga for its own dance. Today, the three genres are considered a very important part of the Rio de La Plata music scene and each of them has their own characteristics that distinguish one from another.
Milonga had much to do with the birth of tango, but at the same time, it evolved and maintained its independence. In fact, there is some sort of mix of the two called tango milonga that is almost extinct, although it is known that many musicians wanted to use it to give the rhythm of the tango more strength and sustainability.
As for the places where milonga could be danced, the genre used to be found in neighborhood clubs, dance halls, tearooms and boites. The music used was usually recorded, although the venue owners hired small bands occasionally to change the modality. The popularity of these groups was so great that several of their musicians managed to join highly recognized orchestras at the time.
Couples who went to milonga clubs to dance ballroom tango and outskirts tango. The first only consisted of beat and elegance, while the second had beat, elegance and figure. Among the most famous places to dance milonga that remain active to this today, we can mention El Barracas Central, Unidos en Pompeya, El Sunderland and many others.

Milonga at present
Today, milonga has become a genre of big importance for people eager to learn to dance things other than salsa, bachata or merengue. This genre offers them the opportunity to try something completely different thanks to which they can connect with others in ways they would not have imagined due to its peculiar rhythm and overflowing sensuality.
In addition to that, every day there are more and more events also called milongas, which consist of massive dances where couples show their best moves to the rhythm of various genres, such as milonga, tango, and vals criollo. In general, the scheduling of a milonga is divided into blocks of three, four or five dances that are separated by short pieces of light music. Apart from that, each block contains a sort of rhythm that is grouped by orchestra, singer or composer.
These events were very typical in Argentina, but have been gradually spreading throughout various parts of the world, including the United States. Nowadays, it is fairly common to find restaurants, night clubs and academies that offer this kind of entertainment to their attendees such as Alberto’s Night Club (San Francisco), The Tango Room (Los Angeles), Milonga La Paz Tango Club (San Francisco), Tango De Rey (San Diego), Tango La Nacional (New York), Fairmont Tango Club (Philadelphia), Dance Fire Studio (New York), and many more.
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Rumberos del Callejón
North America / USA
Rumberos del Callejón “Celebrando” The Salsera Culture
After 11 years of trajectory, Rumberos del Callejón return with their third record label “Celebrando” for Salseros lovers from all continents. An album that since its inception has gained great acceptance by the public knowledgeable of this Tropical genre.


“Celebrando” will feature several unpublished tracks that highlight the evolution of this orchestra created in Caracas – Venezuela in 2007. These singles will be interpreted mostly by guest artists of the current movement, internationally recognized for their extensive and successful musical career.

Celebrando will have a modern and emblematic sound effect, since it has the outstanding voices of: Tito Nieves, Maelo Ruiz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Domingo Quiñonez, Sixto Yorente “El Indio”, Luis Fernando Borjas, Wilmer Lozano and with the already prestigious vocal harmonies, members of this musical group: Rodrigo Mendoza, Gonzalo Díaz, Angelito Vallenilla, Memo Arroyave and their new musical bet, the young singer, Veruzka Verdú.

This group that owes its name to the San Pedro alley located in the popular Catia area, west of the Venezuelan Capital managed to obtain the collaboration of these international guest artists on their album not only thanks to the current avant-garde technology, but also to the printed constancy and always present in the director Carlitos Padrón, who took up the challenge with his father Carlos Padrón (founder of the orchestra) to produce “Celebrando”, which also had the privileged pens in the composition of the songs by Rodrigo Mendoza and Angelito Vallenilla.

“ For me Salsa is a way of life. It’s passion and culture. Carlitos Padrón “
This album with almost 4 years of production was recorded in the main cities of the American continent: Caracas, Santo Domingo, Cuba, Miami, Orlando and mainly in the recording studio “Chongo Records” belonging to the director, founder, composer and percussionist of the band, Carlitos Padrón, in New York.

“Celebrando” has the participation of important Venezuelan arrangers of the tropical genre, such as: Alberto Crespo and Willie Melo, who along with Carlitos Padrón took care of all the sound material of the production to get to the music market with a lot of “modernism and melao”, commented Carlitos Padrón. Currently, Celebrando is in the final phase of remastering and mixing so that dancers from the 5 continents are able to enjoy this new record proposal that Rumberos del Callejón will offer them soon.
“… We have international guests of great trajectory, which are a bit difficult to get but with the Grace of God, today, I think we have an Artwork”. Carlitos Padrón

Recently, “Celebrando” whose name also titles the album, was the first single released by the group in November 2017 on all digital platforms and radio stations worldwide, and which last February managed to reach # 1 on the DJs chart.
The theme “Celebrando” has the participation of the Salsero Puerto Rican singer, Tito Nieves and the composition of the Venezuelan Angelito Vallenilla. The musical performance was in charge of the excellent Latin American musicians:
José Tabares (bass), Carlitos Padrón (Timbal), Alberto Crespo (piano), Marc Quiñones (conga), Bobby Allende (bongó), Manuel Maneco Ruiz (trumpets), Pablo Santaella (trombone), José Antonio Fariñas Gutiérrez (baritone), and in the choir: Rodrigo Mendoza, Leo Gruber, Wilmer Lozano and Angelito Vallenilla.
With this third record production product of the celebration of their 10th Anniversary, Rumberos del Callejón, hope to take their music to every corner on the planet and continue betting on the support and integration of new generations in salsa music.

“For me, the biggest success is to be able to say that I have in my production the biggest salsa singers of today, nationally and internationally.” Carlitos Padrón
Rumberos del Callejón’s Discography:
In order to rescue the golden age of Salsa in the 70s, 80s and 90s, the Orchestra Rumberos del Callejón was created with a total of 13 members at the beginning, currently, they are 12 members. Their great musical proposal was captured in their first record production titled “De la Nada” (2008) under the label Callejón Música. This album is composed of 11 songs, including: Aquí Se Puede, Pa ‘Lante Otra Vez, Chechere Guma by Justi Barreto, among many others.

After 4 years, they release their second album “Construyendo” (2012) with such emblematic songs as “Cuando te toque llorar” by Puerto Rican balladeer José Feliciano, likewise, the production of “Constuyendo” was in charge of the director, timbalero and composer, Carlitos Padrón with arrangements made by the renowned Puerto Rican producer, Ramón Sánchez.

And Finally, for the musical performance Padrón decided to gather the best musicians from the NY area: Isidro Infante (Piano), José Tabares (Bass), Pablo Santaella (Trombone), Ray Colón (Bongó), Nelsón Jaime “Gazú” (Trumpet) , Manuel Ruiz (Trumpet), Iván Renta (Saxo Baritone) and Robert Quintero (Congas).

For more information, follow them at:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/rumberosdelcallejon1
- Instagram: @rumberos_del_callejon
- The Official Accounts on YouTube and Soundcloud: Rumberos del Callejón.
