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Roberto Rodríguez was a Cuban trumpet player and composer, author of Ray Barreto’s hit song “Que viva la Música” (Long Live Music)

Roberto Reimundo Rodríguez (Cienfuegos, January 23, 1936 – April 18, 1988), was a Cuban trumpeter and composer, who belonged to Ray Barreto’s orchestra, which he would later leave to belong to Fania All-Stars, as lead trumpet player.

Roberto is the author of Ray Barreto’s hit “Que viva la música”.

Roberto was born in 1938, in Cienfuegos (Cuba). He began his musical career at the age of 12, in his native province; cradle of the world famous Orquesta Aragón.

From an early age he participated in “Las Comparsas de Cuba” and with the orchestra “La Unión Fraternal de Cienfuegos”.

In 1955, he emigrated to the United States and in 1957 he married Nancy Zayas, with whom he had three sons: Roberto Jr., William and Richard.

While growing as an artist, Roberto co-founded the orchestra “Los Jóvenes Estrellas de Cuba” with his long-time friend Ernie Stairs. He later moved on to Wilfredo Figueroa’s orchestra and “Ritmo Swing”.

In 1965, Roberto was recommended to Ray Barreto by Eddie Martinez. Eddie was a pianist for both the TataVazquez and Ray Barretto orchestras.

After listening to Roberto, Ray Barretto recognized that he was in contract with Vivar, one of his former colleagues and musicians, and brought him on board. Roberto remained in Ray’s orchestra for 11 years.

His performance as first trumpet soloist was extraordinary. While in Ray’s orchestra, Roberto composed several famous songs such as: “Yo Soy La Candela”, “Fuego y Pa’Lante”, “Invitación al Son”, “Cienfuegos, Perla del Sur”, “Se Traba”, “El Tiempo lo Dirá”, “O’Elefante”, and the worldwide hit: “Que Viva la Música”.

In 1972, Roberto became a member of the Fania All-Stars as first trumpet and soloist. The documentary “Our Latin Thing” launched Roberto along with the other members of the All-Stars to international fame.

Our Latin Thing

On August 26, 1971 New York City gave birth to a sound that would change Latin music forever. That night at the renowned Cheetah nightclub, the Fania All Stars took the stage with their unique sound that echoed across all borders and reached every country. Fania Records re-releases “Our Latin Thing” on DVD, the film that sparked the salsa movement of the seventies.

From the concert came a double LP entitled “Live At The Cheetah” and the historic film “Our Latin Thing”. Its director, Leon Gast, documented the events at the Cheetah with the addition of footage of the musicians in the recording studio and scenes of New York’s Spanish Harlem.

The 40th anniversary edition of “Our Latin Thing” includes a DVD with the remastered film, and two CDs with the music from the film and some additional tracks, which can be purchased on the label’s official website.

In 1975, Ray decided to take a turn towards a new musical facet and Roberto became part of the group “Los Kimbos”.

Two years later, in 1977, Roberto joined the charanga band “Orquesta Broadway”. In this group he not only excelled as a trumpet soloist but also as a vocalist. Here he composed new hits, including: “No Se Va a Poder” and “Como Nueva York no Hay”.

In 1982, Roberto decided to assist his sons in their desire to continue their musical journey and produced the album: “Roberto Rodríguez Presenta a Los Rodríguez”, under the “Combo Records” label.

In 1983, Roberto joined the “Los Rodriguez” Orchestra, to perform with his sons Roberto Jr (trumpet player) and Willie (bass player).

His health deteriorated in early 1988, and he finally passed away in April of that year, victim of skin cancer. His son Roberto Rodriguez Jr. followed in his footsteps and has excelled in salsa orchestras in New York.

Roberto Rodríguez was a Cuban trumpet player and composer

Sony Music’s new talent, Luis Figueroa, is unstoppable…And, he is a salsa singer

The singer and songwriter of Puerto Rican descent, Luis Figueroa, is one of Sony Music’s most recent acquisitions. Most recently… La Luz is now available on all digital platforms. Listen to it HERE.

Imparable el nuevo talento de Sony Music, Luis Figueroa

He is not new to the music scene. He brings experience from other sounds and has been nominated twice for a Latin Grammy. For Luis Figueroa, the recently signed Sony Music talent, success in the salsa sound is already assured.

Proof of this is that he has already performed on the most important salsa stage in the world, during the 39th edition of the National Salsa Day at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The salsa public is betting on him, and Sony Music seems to know it.

He says he has not come to the salsa scene to change anything. He claims “to have come to make a new chapter in what salsa is and to leave my essence within what inspired me and motivated me to be a salsa artist…Learning from the pioneers, who also had resistance in their time. In spite of that, salsa erotica and salsa romántica came to stay.”

He started early on and decided to combine his academic and artistic work. From his academic application, he approached music as a business, which is very encouraging for the tropical genres.

El cantante y compositor de ascendencia boricua, Luis Figueroa

Luis confesses that it was always clear to him that he “was not going to be just another one of the horrendous stories that have been heard about the contractual environment”.

For the singer and composer it was “extremely important to know the business side of the music business, to know the contractual aspect and to protect my copyrights”.

Luis is an artist with his sights set high and his feet on the ground. He is a humanistic and transparent person, allowing the positive in every story to prevail. He has been very judicious in applying the advice that more experienced artists offer him in good faith.

He recalls that when he was barely eight or nine years old, Gilberto Santa Rosa told him, “you have to keep studying because we are tired of brute singers, you know?” Luis took that statement almost as an instruction. Eventually, he managed to get accepted into Berklee College of Music, from where he graduated with a concentration in Song Writing and Music Business.

As soon as he finished college, the invitations and requests from different producers began.

He came to Sony Music through Magnus with Marc Anthony’s endorsement, but he was polishing his songwriting skills with the band Magic. He says he was not fluent in Spanish at the time. However, his mother always instilled in him the obligation he owed to himself to keep his mother tongue, Spanish, alive.

Although he learned the structure and mechanics of songwriting in Los Angeles trying to keep the focus on both languages, he didn’t feel the confidence with Spanish that he had with English.

Nevertheless, his development as a songwriter flowed. Before signing with Sony Music, in 2018, he had the opportunity to position a single with Sebastian Yatra, spreading nothing more and nothing less than the urban pop hit, Por perro, which is from his audit.

Luis Figueroa y Bella Martinez , Sony Music Latin

Today he reflects and understands that Por perro opened doors for him as a composer in both the American and Latin markets. Por perro has accumulated over 654 million views on YouTube and reached #16 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Songs chart. In addition, RIAA® certified it 4X-Platinum. And, the video went on to be nominated for Video of the Year at the 2019 HTV Heat Awards. Luis presented this single during Romeo Santos’ Golden Tour in stadiums throughout Latin America to sold-out crowds.

Says the artist, “We came to Sony at a time when we were not signed as a salsa artist. We were still finding our style, we wanted to go more on the urban pop side. We did songs for Janis and Sebastián Yatra and Manuel Turizo. I think from sharing with different songwriters on the Latin side I was able to develop more with my ideas and now I have the ability to be able to compose songs completely my own. It took me about four or five years to be able to generate that confidence to compose and to have the audacity to expose my inspiration.”

For Luis it was surprising that his interpretation of Hasta el sol de hoy was so well received. For a moment he thought he was going to hear something like: “you’re crazy, like this is not what we want you to do”, but it was precisely that song one of the bases of the bridge that managed to unite the urban aspect to salsa.

With that hit, which is already a salsa classic, Luis Figueroa made the transition that turned him into a trend. With that song he continued to be known and received massive support. With that song he gained more confidence, not only in the compositions he was creating, but also strengthened his career within the salsa sound. Luis has nourished himself from other genres, refreshing and enriching salsa.

Salsa fans have long been calling for new injections of talent and suggesting new nuances. Luis seems to have picked up on those ideas, sharing new energy gained from his time in bachata, urban, romantic and pop.

I also find it fascinating that this recent salsa convert has made the long-awaited crossover from Spanish to English in reverse; that is, the innovative route from English to Spanish. That reverse crossover gave Luis a clear understanding of the artistic route he is passionate about and which seems to be one in a continual evolutionary process.

Maybe that is the key, what made him one of the fastest growing exponents of salsa, of the so-called new generation. He attributes this growth to the audacity to continue creating, which in turn has strengthened his roots in what he does: music. He reflects and affirms that: “seeing my friends take songs of mine, seeing them grow and seeing them be so successful gave me confidence in my pencil, as a composer on the Latin side, although it took me a while. Initially, I took the easy route; doing covers and interpretations of different songs, but I set out to focus on composing and I succeeded.

Before salsa it was bachata. The Caribbean rhythm was all around it. When he was working with Romeo Santos, his life was all bachata. “I was living, sleeping, singing and speaking in the language of bachata music that inspired me a lot. That’s where my compositions began to stand out, while I was doing backing vocals for Romeo Santos and Juan Luis Guerra on certain songs. It was in that environment that he came into contact with my interpretation.”

However, his greatest inspiration is Jerry Rivera and he considers himself fortunate to have many mentors and several godfathers in salsa, including Johnny Rivera, whom he thanks for lending him a hand and his collaboration in various projects.

Artists such as Tito Allen, Marc Anthony’s musical director Angel Fernandez, Johnny Rivera and Ray Sepulveda have all been supportive. Songs like the one catapulted by the eternal daddy of salsa, Frankie Ruiz, Esta cobardía, and Borinquen -from the pen of Johnny Ortiz- in voice of Yolanda Rivera managed to tattoo themselves in his musical formation.

Two of the aforementioned referents, Tito Allen and Yolanda Rivera were performing on the same stage of the 39th edition of the National Zalsa Day, which was given by Luis Figueroa. For his part, the famous Borinquen composer, Johnny Ortiz, witnessed the great concert accompanied by his most loyal fans in the front row.

Other composers who have influenced Luis are: “The composer of Hasta el sol de hoy – Gustavo Márquez – and Omar Alfano, with whom I had the opportunity to share the stage in Panama when I went to share the stage with great musicians, opening a Marc Anthony concert”.

Luis says he doesn’t mind having the same blueprint of all the others who came before him, and adds: “if you see all my songs, they have to be four or five pregones. The songs from the times before were six minutes, five interludes, they were eight minutes long.” He says he has taken the basic structure to merge it with the modern one on the urban side of salsa. He assures to have adapted because the times require agility in the processes. Having refreshed the salsa scene is one of his great achievements, and by leaps and bounds, hand in hand with Sony Music Luis Figueroa reached the National Salsa Day, the most important salsa stage in the world.

Luis made it to the finish line. Of course, he can’t afford to relax his spirits in this competitive environment. Nor can he afford to listen to criticism from detractors. His innovative spirit and the freshness of his pen make this salsa singer one of infinite possibilities and a forceful pace. From my corner, I will be supporting him, not only because of the clarity of what he is doing.

The public that follows salsa will support it because we all need salsa to do well. The coalition that we call salsa is now one of action and not complaints, because there is no Musical Productions, because there is no Fania, because everything has been changing, and now that the record companies have reduced their footprint, I affirm as a researcher, that there is nothing more true than the saying: “Nobody knows what he has until he loses it”.

I know that Luis is prepared for what is coming, and more. I know that he will continue to move forward like the snowball that continues to grow and as it moves, it becomes unstoppable. He has already reached the stage of the National Zalsa Day. He is no longer an emerging artist, nor a new artist. He arrived at the plaza by way of triumph. Luis Figueroa is a fully-fledged salsa artist. What remains is for him to continue.

What’s next… For those who continue his unstoppable rise, the question is: What’s next? Luis Figueroa arrives with the album, Voy a ti, which includes the single, Bandido. We’ll keep an eye out for the release of what is sure to be another hit.

Chronology of an evolving salsero:

Awarded at the 2016 Premios Juventud for his version of Flor Pálida, performing with Marc Anthony.

In mid-2017, after being discovered through several videos uploaded on his YouTube page, Luis signed with Magnus Media, Marc Anthony’s entertainment company. His performance of Flor Pálida won him a Premio Juventud for Best Video Cover.

Combining his musical and acting abilities, Luis had a featured role in Telemundo’s acclaimed television series Guerra de idols. Along with Pedro Capó and Christian Pagan, he performed the series’ theme song, Tequila pa’la razón, presenting it live at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, 2017.

In 2018, he accompanied Romeo Santos as a vocalist on three of his international tours, including the world tour, Golden.

In 2019, he released his first single for Sony Music Latin, La Especialista, which reached #27 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart, remaining for 8 weeks, and the pre-release single from his debut album, Te Deseo, reached #24 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart, remaining 11 weeks on Billboard. La Especialista, boldly combines acoustic guitars and melodies that complement her voice.

Pandora named Luis to its Latin Artists to Watch 2020 music discovery playlist. That same year, Luis made Billboard’s list that consolidated 17 male Latin artists to be discovered during the forties. He was also named one of Billboard’s fastest rising Latin artists.

In July 2021 Luis scored his first #1 on Billboard with Hasta El Sol De Hoy, a track that also reached the top of the Mediabase and LATIN monitor charts. His follow-up single Si Tú Me Dices Ven became his second Top 10 hit, while Billboard chose Luis as part of its Latin Artist on the Rise series. Also in 2021, he was nominated for Best Pop Artist at the HTV Heat Latin Music Awards.

In 2022, Luis released his first salsa album. The production generated three consecutive Top 10 hits on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart and earned him his first Latin GRAMMY Award nominations for “Best Salsa Album” and “Best Tropical Song”.

The album – self-titled Luis Figueroa – solidified his status as one of the salsa genre’s leading voices and rising stars. Luis was nominated for his first Premios Lo Nuestro in 2022 for Tropical Artist of the Year and Tropical Song of the Year for Hasta El Sol De Hoy.

Luis Figueroa has had a good year in 2023. In January he topped the Media Base – Tropical chart with his Latin GRAMMY® nominated song Fiesta Contigo, and was also nominated for three Premios Lo Nuestro Awards in the Tropical – Artist of the Year, Tropical – Song of the Year and Tropical – Album of the Year categories.

By: Bella Martinez

bellamartínezescribe.com

Bella Martínez
Writer, Researcher in Afro-Caribbean music.

Allyson Briggs ”La Rubia de La Salsa”

A little of her story

Allyson Briggs ”La Rubia de La Salsa” is a bandleader and singer who has earned a lot of recognition in recent years. Currently, this talented woman leads the Fleur Seule orchestra, whose main musical genres are salsa, jazz, swing and ballroom dancing.

Also known as ”The Glamorous Girl of Jazz” is able to sing in seven different languages and several of her covers have been written by artists such as Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Marc Anthony, Héctor Lavoe, among others.

We feel very fortunate to have been able to interview Allyson, who has kindly agreed to tell us about her life and career so that readers of International Salsa Magazine can get to know her better.

Allyson Briggs ''La Rubia de La Salsa'' performing on stage — Allyson Briggs ”La Rubia de La Salsa” performing on stage

How she became interested in music

When we hit the subject of her childhood, Allyson told us that her parents always played classical music. ”We listened to a lot of the classics, big bands, swing, blues, rock and roll, jazz, opera, among other genres,” she said. That’s how her love for these styles began, but the case of Latin music was different.

Her taste for Latin music is because she is married to a Puerto Rican, so she feels her husband and her in-laws have influenced her to end up falling in love with salsa, Puerto Rican music and its culture in general.

This inclusion of Latin rhythms has made her Fleur Seule orchestra collect a lot of fans who simply want to dance to these genres and, some of them, remember their roots.

How she learned to sing in Spanish

Long before she learned Spanish, Allyson began to learn German, which she considers her second language. This interest came from the German roots in her family, whose past always seemed very interesting to her. The same happened with French, as the artist also has French ancestors.

In the case of Spanish, she had some kind of contact with the language at school, but its actual use began when she got married and had to communicate in that way at home. In addition to that, Allyson has a lot of friends in New York, who have helped her a lot to understand certain things about the language.

Allyson learned Spanish thanks to her Puerto Rican husband

Hispanic artists she likes the most are Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz and Javier Solis. As for covers, she commented that she always tries very hard to understand what a composer wants to say with his lyrics in order to make the interpretation as faithful as possible.

Why is she called ”La Rubia de La Salsa”?

The name ”La Rubia de La Salsa” was not invented by Allyson herself, but by some concertgoers when she sang at La Marqueta, Spanish Harlem. The point is that no one could pronounce Fleur Seule, so they opted for something that everyone could pronounce with no problem.

Upon hearing it for the first time, she realized that this nickname captured her essence perfectly due to her physique, her costumes and the type of music she makes. For the same reason, she is still called by that name to this day.

Fleur Seule

Allyson revealed that she chose the name ”Fleur Seule” for her orchestra in honor of the French language. In addition to that, it sounds unique and elegant to anyone who hears it.

As for the beginning of her orchestra, she told that she met a guitarist with whom she started doing some musical projects. This same person provided her with certain recommendations in terms of singing and even language, which were taken into account until she was able to assemble a complete group.

She chose the name ''Fleur Seule'' for her orchestra because it sounds elegant and unique — She chose the name ”Fleur Seule” for her orchestra because it sounds elegant and unique

Activity during and after the pandemic

Allyson told us that the pandemic gave her the opportunity to meet multiple people through social networks due to online concerts she offered twice a week. When things began to return to normal, there were many fans who told her that they got to know her music through digital platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

At the moment, she has some performances planned in Puerto Rico and the state of Florida after the success he had the last time she went to those places. He also mentioned that she would like to go to Colombia and Japan, as both countries are big salsa fans.

Ever Zapata and the Son de Ébano Orchestra

Latin America / Colombia / Cali

Get to know the Son de Ébano Orchestra

Son de Ébano, which was born in the municipalities of Puerto Tejada and Guachené Causa in the South of Colombia, its objective is that with its musical compositions it is possible to recover and maintain salsa de coup and salsa brava (both highly requested by the public).

Ever Zapata and the Son de Ébano Orchestra

The Son de Ébano orchestra has certain characteristics that identify it from other salsa orchestras, and the most important is that it preserves the rhythms and essences of its African roots fused with all the Latin flavor and cadence.

Among the members of the orchestra they have:

Manager
Sound Engineer
1 Bass
1 Conga drums
3 Trompet
1 Violin
1 Bongo drum
1 Tres
1 Lead Voice
1 Piano
1 Trombone
2 “Choirs”
1 Timbal Drum
1 Saxo

His best-known themes and/or songs are:

Vale un Millón
Pedro Rumba
Cuando Necesites
Layka
Como no voy a quererte
Herencia africana

In 2018 they made a national tour (Colombia) and participated in an event of international stature without mentioning that they produced their hits with their unmistakable label “La Buena Salsa Ya Esta Cooking”. The cost of the Son de Ébano Orchestra show has a cost of:

At the national level

COP$9,000,000,000 (of which they receive 50% and transportation at the time of signing the contract, and the remaining 50% before going up to the stage, all tax free).
COP$4,500,000.00 (If it is the Ever Zapata show without the orchestra)

On an international level

The cost is US$5,000.00 with the orchestra, without the orchestra it is US$4,000.00
The cost may vary depending on the conditions of the show.

If you want to contact them to hold a concert and/or event:

Telephone: +57 311 45 6364 (his office in Cali-Colombia) / 1 – 829 965 3863 (his manager Charlie Perez).

Hindy & his Orchestra “The Sonera of the Moment”

Latin America / Buenos Aires / Argentina

Hindy Singer of the Latin genre, with a high and extensive artistic career in salsa.

Hindy born in San Félix – Edo. Bolívar, in the south east of Venezuela, in 27 years of artistic career, has enriched her musical career through her different participations as a soloist, chorister, singer-songwriter and producer.

Photo 1: Hindy dancing in a party festival

His beginnings in the Venezuelan salsa music elite are with a first place in the Record Report, at the hands of the international producer César Monges “Albóndiga” interpreting in his production “De Regreso a mi País” the version of the song A Flor de Piel del Venezuelan singer-songwriter Yordano Di Marzo, being in turn the leading voice of the Monges orchestra “Latín Girls” under the representation of Korta Records of the businessman “Negro Mendoza”.

Among some of the national and international celebrities with whom he has participated on different stages are: Cheo Feliciano, Viti Ruiz, Henry Fiol, Roberto Blades, Jr. Gonzáles, Paquito Guzmán, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Gilberto S, Wladimir Lozano, Erick Franchesqui , Paquito Barón, Gustavo Rodríguez, Armando Manzanero, Pancho Céspedes, Gran Combo, S. Ponceña, Hildemaro, etc.

There is a long way to go, if it can be said, in the “short” artistic career of Hindy Castillo. His jump to internationalism was in 2007-08 to Europe, where he participated for two consecutive summers in different popular music orchestras touring more than 30 cities in Spain, and in France.

Photo 2: Hindy dancing in a party festival

His next artistic stop was in the state of Mexico.

Hindy was selected to assemble an international orchestra and travel from Venezuela to do a 3-month tour, which lasted another 13 months, the immediate rapport of all its members was a total success, profiling a true blunderbuss in the salsa environment. Veracruz.

She was also chosen to participate in the 1st Boca del Río salsa festival and, among other presentations, shared the stage with the great composer Armando Manzanero and Pancho Céspedes, extending her presentations to Guatemala City. Later, she travels to the capital, DF, invited by a local producer, who, seduced by her talent, encourages her with her orchestra to perform on different stages of the Aztec capital, capturing the taste of the Mexican music lover and salsa dancer, who turn to her presentations. to appreciate and enjoy his voice and the special talent of the soneo Salsoso.

Hindy musicalizes, produces her first songs and debuts as a singer-songwriter, under the executive production of her representative Carlos Zapata.

They record four songs sprinkled with romanticism, maintaining the bases of “hard” salsa and with novel musical variants.

Flamenco was one of these variants that played an important role in this product since its mixture with salsa resulted in a very genuine and fresh sound, from the pen of select Venezuelan arrangers. Graduated instructor of Popular Singing.

He has developed musical studies of: vocal technique, German singing method in Spain, Latin piano and modern harmony. He is currently doing his Bachelor of Music and Popular Singing at the José Ángel Lamas High School of Music. And preparatory studies of trombone. Caracas.

Photo 3: Hindy dancing in a party festival

As a musical producer, she manages the concepts “MujereSon & Boleros”, a musical of Boleros and sones, the social project Mujeres de la Escena, and her main project “Hindy & su Orquesta”, with a dynamic scene, full of salsa for all tastes, with the majestic quality that characterizes her performances.

Hindy is a talent full of energy, charisma, quality, with a Venezuelan flavor to export.