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José Flores Pérez

Jose Flores Perez, better known as Chevy El Pitirre De La Salsa, is a salsa singer who was born in the town of Cidra, Puerto Rico, but currently resides in Georgia. We have had a very pleasant conversation with the salsa exponent, in which we have touched on certain various professional and personal tissues never mentioned before. It is a real pleasure for us that he has agreed to talk with us and tell a little more of his personal story on this platform, which is International Salsa Magazine.

Origin of his artistic name

”Chevy” is a nickname his parents and friends always gave him and ”pitirre” refers to a Puerto Rican bird with very short dize, but a very strong character. Maestro Felix Ortiz name him ”El Pitirre” because of the way he sings and improvise in the stage and the trust between them was such that he even became the music director of his orchestra. This combination of nicknames was what made Flores start to become known by that way during the last four years of his career.

Influences and predilection for salsa music

The reason Chevy opted for salsa was the great influence from his family. His father was a salsa singer for local orchestras in Chicago, which made him listen to various Puerto Rican genres such as salsa, bolero, jibaro music and trova throughout his childhood.

There were years when he really enjoyed listening to hip hop and rap in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but it didn’t take long for him to reconnect with salsa when he started listening to Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Rivera, Sammy Marrero, Bobby Valentín, Cano Estremera, among others. Listening to all these idols and what they achieved led him to take salsa much more seriously.

His time in the military and formal beginnings in music

During his time in the military, he performed in different orchestras and accompanied various artists throughout Atlanta. Although this was a demanding career, he organized himself to pursue his interest in music. When he leaves the armed forces, he went to Puerto Rico, where he lived for a great deal of time until he moved to Georgia in 2016.

His current residence is still in this state for professional reasons totally unrelated to music, but he had been there around the time he served in the army, so this part of the United States was not unknown to him. It is there that he resumesd his musical career after so many years.

In 2017, he began to compose, but it was not until two years later when he decided to launch as a soloist, make his first single ”Instrumento de amor” and carry out his first independent musical project entitled ”Entre el amor y el vacilón”.

In this same year 2019, he took advantage of the internet and social networks to become known at an international level and released his second record production during the pandemic, but the singer does not think this situation has hurt his carrer. On the contrary, he believes that social media and digital platforms gave him the push he needed to promote his artistic proposal.

Recent projects

One of his most recent projects was carried out in 2019, is titled ”Atacando en Navidad” and was born from the songs ”Arbolito de Navidad” and ”Compay no se me raje”. The first is written by Chevy, but the latter was composed by the legend Johnny Vega. At some point, the artist decided that these two singles were not enough, so he created a full album based on the Puerto Rican parranda he always enjoyed as a child. The result is a mix of nostalgia, sadness, love and joy. He tells how Christmas was celebrated at home, his childhood dreams, what this time meant to his family and the sadness when a loved one dies that year.

One of the most significant songs is ”Navidad Sin Parranda”, which was written a year before Chevy’s mother died. She was so ill at the time that the whole family thought she suddenly would lose her life, but fortunately she did not. Back then, the salsero was beginning to imagine a life and a Christmas without his mother, as she kept the family together and her house was the meeting place for all the important dates.

It just so happens that Venezuelan musical arranger Willy Melo lost his father within a few days of receiving the song, so he was very connected to that same pain around the same time.

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We talked with announcer Tatiena Mezarina

The world of broadcasting is of utmost importance to the promotion of Latin music and today we are talking to one of its greatest exponents. We are talking about Peruvian broadcaster and host of the show ”Con Sabor Y Amor Latino” Tatiana Mezarina, who very kindly agreed to talk to us about her career and current projects.

Tatiana began by thanking us for inviting her and telling us how she became interested in the world of radio. All this enthusiasm for this interesting world of communication began since she was very little in her native Peru, at which time she worked as a school correspondent for one of the most famous newspapers in Latin America, ‘‘El Comercio”. On the radio, she began on the radio station Radio Libertad, specifically in a program show ”Viva Juventud”.

Since a very early age, Mezarina was very involved on all types of media, both print and audiovisual. Then, she had the opportunity to work in television with a show dedicated to music called ”El Mañanero”, which was in charge of broadcasting all kinds of artists and rhythms in her country.

When he started working for ”Canal Global”, he received a scholarship to study Communication Sciences in Germany and worked in German media such as Deutsche Welle and Berlin Channel. Both there and in the United States, she has had many shows linked to social causes and dedicated to informing her listeners about important issues.

How ”Con Sabor Y Amor Latino” started

In the case of her most recent project ”Con Sabor Y Amor Latino”, Tatiana wanted to work on all these issues and give a friendly voice to help Latinos living in the United States so that they know that we are the largest ethnic minority in this country, so we should not be harassed by anyone. At the beginning, this show sought to keep the Latino community informed, but as time went by, it also wanted to offer good music. This is how Tatiana began inviting Latin artists from all over the world and of all musical genres, but she always had a special tendency to salsa because it is her favorite type of music.

In September 2019, the announcer decided to create ”Con Sabor Y Amor Latino”, a name inspired by how delicious Latin food is and how loving much of us Latinos are. This was her first project of this type since arriving in New York and arose from the need for Latinos to have a window through which they could communicate in their native language and feel comfortable to express themselves.

Music has been very important as dancing and joy are part of our identity. Music is part of our DNA and salsa has always identified with the Latino.

Is academic training important for communication?

Mezarina states that she has no problem with communicators without any training long as they do this job responsibly. However, she also argues that a person with training tends to offer a higher quality work, but this is not always the norm.

The communicator confesses that she herself took a radio and television course there in New York, which was aimed at people who had never done radio before, but wanted to learn about this profession. This is how she became interested in this branch of communication and is the one she currently works in.

”There can be all kinds of communicators, but it’s up to to everyone to decide who to follow and what to listen to,” says the announcer.

Non-recommendable behaviors in communicators

When asked what behaviors which no communicator should have, Tatiana says that ”unverified information should never be disseminated. When we stand at a microphone, we have the responsibility to be careful with what we say because we reach thousands of people in a matter of seconds. If things are not done right, we confuse people and do not honor the truth.”

Future projects

As for her future projects, the communicator has said that she would never want Con Sabor Y Amor Latino to be cancelled, as she considers that much remains to be done from that platform. Unfortunately, she has been unable to dedicate 100% of her time to the radio show, but she hopes to be able to do so in the future. Similarly, he also hopes his content will be broadcast on one of the major television networks in the United States.

Meanwhile, the goal of Mezarina and her team is to keep the community informed on everything a Latino in the United States need to know to avoid inconveniences and to give publicity to artists from all genres who are unable to make their talent public through traditional radio stations and channels.

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