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Tracy Jenkins from Lula World Records spoke exclusively with us

There are many Latin artists residing in Canada who have gone to the North American country to seek opportunities in music and, little by little, they have found them thanks to people like Tracy Jenkins and her label Lula World Records.

Tracy Jenkins, with whom we had the opportunity to talk a few days ago, is one of the co-founders of Lula World Records, part of the Lula Lounge nightclub team and an artist manager.

We found it very interesting to discover a record label belonging to a project focused on managing artists who make Latin music, which is a great opportunity to further promote our culture and genres that have been disseminated throughout the world in recent years.

Tracy has done an immeasurable work to guide and make known soloists and groups from all over Latin America and we want to recognize her great work with the most important details of the conversation we had with her.

Tracy Jenkins from Lula — Tracy Jenkins, co-founder of Lula World Records

Lula World Records

When we wanted to know a little about the context of creating Lula World Records, Tracy told us that this was a project born from the vibrant Latin music scene at the Lula Lounge club, which has 21 years of operation in the city of Toronto.

During this time, the venue has established itself as one of the best places to enjoy live Latin music throughout the city of Toronto and Canada in general. Attendees can usually enjoy live singers, orchestras and DJs on Fridays and Saturdays, although there can be more days.

Currently, it is the only place in Canada that offers a total of 12 salsa orchestras and each one has its own sound and repertoire. It is the club that gave rise to what would later become known as Lula World Recodrs, which was born as a means to share the best quality salsa music produced in Toronto with a much more global audience.

The first official release of the project took place in 2012, but in the form of a musical complication under the name ”Lula Lounge Essential Tracks”, including the best tracks from artists such as Roberto Linares Brown, Yani Borrell, The Puentes Brothers and many other important names in the Canadian music industry.

Tracy says that, from that moment, they saw the opportunity to continue producing and releasing albums and tracks from other renowned singers and groups such as Lula All Starts, Conjunto Lacalú, Lengaïa Salsa Brava, Salsotika, La Borinqueña and El Charangon del Norte led by Wilver Pedrozo.

Yani Borrell managed by Lula — Yani Borrell, one of the artists managed by Lula World Records

Why Lula World Records focuses on Latin Music

”We have centered our efforts on Latin music because of the relationship this project has with Lula Lounge, which opened its doors in 2022 with a concert by Isaac Delgado. From that point, the club has been remaining current for more than 20 years, time in which it has been the birthplace of new projects and emerging artists who have used the venue as a platform to develop and promote their music to local salsa fans,” Tracy said.

Among the many genres supported by Lula World Records all this time, we can mention salsa, Latin jazz, merengue, Cuban son, samba, bossa nova, reggae, classic tumbao, Latin-leaning funk, among many others. However, Tracy and his team are not limited to Latin genres, as they have also promoted Caribbean, Arab and European styles.

Something else Tracy said is that it is highly unlikely that the line followed by the label will change, since there are many migratory waves from Latin America that Canada continues to receive, so he knows that the Latin scene will keep growing in the coming years.

Charangon Del Norte managed by Lula — Multi-instrumentalist Wilver Pedrozo, leader of Charangon Del Norte, ne of the groups managed by Lula World Records

What Lula World Records looks for in an artist

As with any other music label, Lula World Records has its own requirements for managing an artist, Tracy explained that she and her team generally engage with artists who have made great strides in recording, mixing and mastering their own music.

During the evaluation process carried out by them, aspects such as the quality of the songs, excellence in production, catchiness of the tunes and the overall authenticity and originality of the project are taken into consideration.

The label has a particular interest in original and innovative mixes of diverse musical elements and used as an example an Afro-indigenous punk rock group of Brazilian origin called Xocô, which recently released one of its latest albums. Two other great examples of this diversity are Ahmed Moneka, the creator of Arabic and Afro-Iraqi jazz, and Nastasia, a Ukrainian soul singer.

Another detail they take into consideration is the artist’s ability to collaborate with them during the process of releasing their albums. Releasing a record production requires a lot of work from start to finish and a lot of things to do such as marketing and promotion of music. Lula World Records wants artists who fully live up to their commitment and use all the platforms and tools available to promote what they are doing.

To close the conversation, Tracy told us that any artist who want their musical work to be promoted can submit their EPK to the company for evaluation by the board of directors. They are still a small label, but hope to grow a lot more over the next two years and even manage artists outside of Canada.

North America – December 2020

Singer and manager of Cambalache Pancho Chavez

Peru continues to give much to talk about with regards to salsa and the guest we have this time is clear proof of that. We are talking about the talented singer and backup singer Francisco ”Pancho” Chávez, who has been kind enough to talk to us to reveal unpublished details of his life and career in his native country and, of course, in the United States.

Pancho, who currently serves as vocalist and manager of the Orchestra Cambalache, has a very long career in the U.S. Latin music scene, to the point that his group has established itself as one of the top salsa bands in the northwestern United States. It is a great honor for us to have an artist of this stature in this January 2024 edition.

Pancho from Cambalache — Francisco ”Pancho” Chavez, manager and lead singer of Cambalache

Pancho’s Musical beginnings

Pancho’s first contact with music happened thanks to his mother’s family, many of whom were musicians. Although the young man never go into business in his country, he was able to see how to handle things thanks to his relatives until moving to the United States in 1997.

One or two years later, someone gave him a double album by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico that, he says, he played a million times because he really liked it. This material was one of his great inspirations to dedicate himself to salsa as a genre and nobody could change his mind.

It was in Seattle that he started making music with college friends when he was already living in the United States, implying that he was not yet formally dedicated to music. In fact, Pancho was studying business at the time and was looking for a small musical group with other young college students he met around 1999.

This group turned out to be Cambalache, which he founded along with Colombian musician Camilo Suarez. This would be the first and only group to which the Peruvian has belonged, so everything he knows about music and the industry was learned with this same project.

He always stood out for his talent to sing and do vocals, but he also learned to play some instruments such as the congas, timbales, bongos, cowbells, among others. He also learned a bit of sound engineering and can work a little in this area, although he recognizes that he is not yet an expert.

Pancho and Maelo — Puerto Rican salsa singer Maelo Ruiz and Pancho Chavez

Recruiting talent for Cambalache

Pancho says that there were not many Latinos at the university back then, so he and Camilo forged a strong friendship and shared many common interests, especially music.

At the time, both were facing the economic problems typical of a college student and saw music as an opportunity to make a little extra money during their summer vacation. Camilo knew other musicians, so he contacted them and proposed them to join the orchestra they were creating.

Pancho and Camilo had thought of a group of five or six people, but there were so many interested in joining the orchestra that the first rehearsals included about 13 people. In the end, solely for economic reasons, they only accepted nine members, of which only he remains.

All these members, including Camilo himself, ended up working with other artists and groups and obtaining new opportunities in the musical field.

Clasiqueando

Cambalache’s first album was ”Clasiqueando”, which was released almost 20 years ago. Pancho assures that the acceptance to the material was very nice, even though the details are not so refined and worked.

The success they had was a surprise for Pancho and the rest of the group, since the scope they expected was local. “We were surprised that people called us from many countries saying they had heard the album and loved it. There were even companies in countries like Japan and Italy that wanted to buy us songs for distribution” Pancho said on the issue.

It was a great start for everything that came next for the group in the years to come.

Pancho and Porfi — Pancho Chavez and Venezuelan arranger, producer, and musician Porfi Baloa

Why choose Seattle

Pancho and his musicians chose Seattle as their base of operations because he and all the members of Cambalache have lived there for many years. That is exactly the city the Peruvian chose to make his living there and he never left it.

It is also in Seattle where they all have their jobs and occupations outside of music and where they meet to rehearse and deal with all the affairs related to the orchestra.

In the beginning, it was very hard for them because the Latino audience was not very large when they created the project. However, that has been changing, and today, many Latinos live in the city and maintain their Latino customs, including music.

Other tasks besides music

In addition to being the vocalist and manager of the orchestra Cambalache, Pancho is also a business administrator and manages his own event company whose main element is, of course, music. In this company, Pancho and his staff are in charge of hiring artists and bands for private events. Of course, Cambalache is involved in the operation of this project.

The event center managed by the Peruvian singer has a capacity for 500 people and has its own stage. He rents it to hold events there and has all types of clients waiting.

They have hired artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Willie González, Conjunto Bahía, Frecuencia Latina, among others.

North America / January 2024

CANADA DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS
Dirty Martini Oakville 2075 Winston Park Dr Oakville, OntarioN, Canada L6H 6P5 +1 905 829-8400	El Rancho 430 College St Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1T3 +1 416 921-2752	Lula 1585 Dundas West Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K1T9 +1 416 588-0307
Marlowe Restaurant & Bar 55 York Blvd Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 3B4 +1 905-771-8645	Sahara 1855 Dundas St E Mississauga Ontario L4X 1M1 +1 905 282-0316	Smokeshow BBQ & Brew 744 Mt Pleasant Rd Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4S 2N6 +1 416 901-7469
Mangos Kitchen Bar 1180 Howe Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1R2 +1 604 559-5533	Baza Dance Studios 1304 Seymour Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1R2 +1 778-379-2292	Studio Nightclub 919 Granville street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1L3 +1 604 620-6604

UNITED STATES DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS
CALIFORNIA	FLORIDA	ILLINOIS
MICHIGAN	NEW JERSEY	NEW YORK
OHIO	PENNSYLVANIA	TEXAS
VIRGINIA	WASHINGTON

JANUARY 2024 FESTIVALS
NEVADA, US		The Reno Latin Dance Fest Jan 04 / 07, 2024 Silver Legacy Resort Casino 407 North Virginia St., Reno, NV, United States, 89501
TEXAS, US		Houston Salsa Congress Jan 11 / 14, 2024 The Westin Houston Hotel, Memorial City 945 Gessner Rd, Houston, TX, United States, 77024
VIRGINIA, US		Interfusion Festival Jan 11 / 15, 2024 Crystal Gateway Marriott 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria, VA, United States, 22202

Musical history of Roosevelt Cordova ”El Presidente de La Salsa”

Just as the case of Cuba and Puerto Rico, Peru has also given birth to many salsa exponents worthy of being highlighted and one of them is the talented Roosevelt Cordova, artistically known as ”El Presidente de La Salsa”.

The sonero has a very interesting career behind him, so we decided to contact him and know a little more about his personal and professional life. Roosevelt responded by thanking us for the opportunity and finally, we were able to agree on a day and time to talk about issues of interest around his figure.

Roosevelt El Presidente de La Salsa — This is Roosevelt Cordova ”El Presidente de La Salsa”

His taste in music since he was a child

As has happened with many other salseros, Roosevelt also fell in love with music when still a child, but without knowing at the time that this is what he would dedicate his life to later.

He always saw his family enjoying music at amateur level, which awakened in him a taste for this branch of art. However, his journey in this world did not begin with salsa, but with Peruvian waltzes and Creole music. It was not until he turned 17 that he became interested in salsa because an uncle of his signed him up for a contest called ”Buscando Un Sonero”, taking third place among 84 participants in total.

Thanks to his performance in the contest, he was proposed to join the orchestra Camagüey, but his father refused because of all the excesses that an artist must face and he considered that his minor son was not ready for that. On the contrary, he preferred his son to be interested in other activities such as sports and leave music for later.

In addition to this, the great references in which Roosevelt was inspired to follow his path have been El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Willie Rosario, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Héctor Lavoe, La Fania All Stars, among others.

Roosevelt in Los Angeles

It wasn’t until Roosevelt, at the age of 25, left for the United States that he could pursue his dreams and become the artist he dreamed he would be.

He did not initially plan to devote himself to music, as he simply wanted to progress in life like any other immigrant, but it was not long before he decided to take the bully by the horns and return his great passion. It is then when he recorded an entire Peruvian Creole music album, but soon left this genre to return to recording salsa.

This is how he began to seize every opportunity to participate in salsa orchestras to gain experience little by little.

The first group he belonged to was La Sonora Santiaguera, which he joined in 1998, but from then on, there were many others with which Roosevelt learned much of what he knows today as an artist.

Roosevelt in La Sonora and El Conjunto — Roosevelt Cordova belonged to La Sonora Santiaguera and Johnny Polanco Y Su Conjunto Amistad

One of the most important orchestras he belonged to was Johnny Polanco Y Su Conjunto Amistad. After all the experience gained so far, Roosevelt was encouraged to personally look for Johnny to talk to him at El Floridita, where El Conjunto Amistad performed weekly.

The artist told the leader of the group he was a singer and wanted a chance in his group. After hearing him sing with his musicians that same night, Johnny invited him over to his home to give him a cassette with all the songs he had to learn to work formally with them. Two weeks later, he was already making his debut with Johnny and El Conjunto Amistad. His entry into the group coincided with the farewall of the lead singer, something that was just perfect for Roosevelt.

Other groups

After leaving El Conjunto Amistad, Roosevelt continued his career and joined Ángel Lebrón y Su Sabor Latino, with whom he recorded a full album. Some time later, he joined Guapacha Latin Jazz led by the Venezuelan Gil Tower, with whom the Peruvian has an excellent personal relationship, despite having separated professionally.

In 2011, he became part of Conjunto Oye, which Roosevelt thinks is the best moment of his career because he was able to be himself within the orchestra and express his art with independence, something difficult in his previous groups. It was here that he had the growth he really needed to get ready and to take up greater challenges in the future.

Solo career

The information we found about his solo career revealed that Roosevelt went solo in 2019, but he corrected us by saying that, in reality, his first solo album ‘‘Un Nuevo Cantante” was recorded in 2018, which is when he really decided to open paths on his own.

Although he says he is grateful to all the bands he has played in, he also adds that there comes a point in life where every artist wants to build his own path when he already fulfil the conditions for that. In his case, he already had experience in singing, composing and creating useful contacts, so he gave himself the opportunity to try. The best thing is that his wife supported him at all times and, today, she continues to be his rock in whatever he sets out to do.

He also noted that he dreams of having his own orchestra someday and that it is important to have dreams in order to get where you want to be.

Roosevelt singing — Roosevelt Cordova singing on stage

Roosevelt Cordova ”El Presidente de La Salsa”

When we wanted to know the origin of his artistic name, he laughingly told us that it is all abut his first name. Let us remember that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President of the United States and his last name coincides with the singer’s first name.

When someone approached him to ask for a picture and asked his name, he said he had the same name as former U.S. President Roosevelt. Since this situation constantly repeated, his wife proposed him to use this to create a stage name for himself. That is how ”El Presidente de La Salsa” was born.

Llegó La Navidad

Currently, Roosevelt is currently promoting his new Christmas song ”Llegó La Navidad” of his own authorship. The idea of composing the song came from his wife and daughter, who insisted that it was time for him to release music written by himself.

So, he started the writing with the chorus and, from there, continued with the rest of the song. This is a technique he uses regularly when composing, as he ensures that people always remember the chorus more than the rest of the lyrics, so he always strives to have a catchy chorus that stands out in the public’s mind.