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| FEBRUARY 2024 FESTIVALS | ||
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Viña 24Feb 25 / Mar, 2024 Quinta Vergara |
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AloCubano Cuba Salsa Tour Dance VacationFeb 14 / 25, 2024 Hotel Saint John’s |
Yilian Cañizares is a Cuban and Swiss musician. She has lived in Switzerland since 2000.
Born in Havana, Yilian Cañizares began studying violin in her hometown, in the strictest tradition of the Russian violin school.
Soon after, the main orchestras in the area began to contact her and once settled in Lausanne, she collaborated for six years with different ensembles.
In Switzerland, she opened up to jazz and decided to embark on a new musical path, including singing in her career as a professional artist.
It was during this period that the artist decided to form a quartet with musicians from Germany, Venezuela and Switzerland (and later Cuba), and the group “Ochumare” was born, with which, just six months after its creation, in 2008, she won the prize of the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition.
From that moment on, his career has been growing steadily. In recent years, she has shared the stage with Ibrahim Maalouf, Omar Sosa, Youn Sun Nah, Richard Bona, Chucho Valdés, Roberto Fonseca, Dhafer Youssef, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and El Comité.
She also teaches violin at the Ecole de jazz et de musique actuelle de Lausanne (EJMA).
She was listed by the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur as “revelation artist of the year” for her great virtuosity and charisma with which she is able to sing and play the violin.
“My sound reflects the richness and mix of cultures that I carry with me to this day and represents who I am: woman, Cuban, musician and citizen of the world”, said the artist.
Her second album “Invocación” reached the top of the Qobuz – World Music chart and was re-released in a Deluxe edition.
“Aguas”, the album produced in collaboration with Omar Sosa, saw the light of day in October 2018.
Accompanied by another compatriot, Inor Sotolongo on percussion, the duo created an intimate and personal album that reflects the views of two generations of Cuban artists living far from their homeland.
This album is a mix of energetic rhythms and emotional ballads that clearly reflect the unparalleled musical chemistry that exists between the two artists.
It constitutes a powerful and unique fusion of Afro-Cuban roots, classical music and jazz.
On November 15, 2019 was released the new album “Erzulie”, with its new formation Yilian Cañizares & The Maroons and dedicated to the Haitian deity of love and freedom.
His style reflects the variety of his influences, with touches of jazz, classical music, Cuban music, with a large space left to improvisation.
The French magazine Les Inrockuptibles speaks of a jazz orchestration mixed with Yoruba ritual percussions.
She sings in Spanish, Yoruba and French and one of her distinctive features is that she sings and plays the violin at the same time.
There are so many influences on this album; Cuban, jazz, Venezuelan, Swiss, that it is difficult to pinpoint in each song which track falls into which category. In fact, they don’t.
Today it is too easy to want to pigeonhole music into one category: this is jazz; this is soul; this is funk. Yilian Canizares, in this wonderful album, breaks the stereotypes and that is why it is a pleasure to listen to it.
Sweet musical outbursts, explosions of improvisation that jump all over the place. He even finds a place to rap on “Iya Mi” and, obviously, it’s brilliant!
If we had to put a label on it, which I’m not thrilled about, I’d say this is a warm jazz album with Latin infused touches and tricks.
The meandering melody of “Beroni Abebe Osun”, the first track on the album, is a good indicator of this.
The throbbing bass, the heartbeat of the track, with its plucked violin, the blood pumping through his veins.
Cañizares is also a linguist, in case that wasn’t enough for us all to admire her.
The way he transitions from Spanish to perfect syllable-perfect French in his version of Edith Piaf’s “Je Ne Regrette Rien” (a beautiful version, by the way) is seamless and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s his first language.
It’s not easy to cover songs as big as Piaf’s classic, but Cañizares does it with style, class and, most importantly, grace.
And we’ll be on the lookout for the next album.
(kreolmagazine)
Yilian Cañizares – Invocación (2015).
Musicians:
Yilian Cañizares (Violin and vocals).
Daniel Stawinski (Piano)
David Brito (Double bass and electric bass)
Cyril Regamey (Drums and percussion).
Guests:
Akua Naru on Iya Mi
Gabi Guedes Gã & atabaques Rum, Pi, lé
Blaise Lambelet English horn on Laïla
Caxeiras do Divino da Família Menezes, Graça Re Reis & Bartira Menezes Caxeiras & Bartira Menezes &
Brazilian choir in Beroni
Julia Stuller, Gàbor Barta, Ivan Zerpa strings in Non je ne regrette rien
Luis Carbonell Voice in Canciòn de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Lullaby to put a little black boy to sleep)
Juan Carlos Toca Voice in Mapucha
All the songs by Yilian Cañizares except Beroni Abebe Osun (traditional/ Y. Cañizares) and
Non je ne regrette rien (Vaucaire/Dumont)
String arrangement (Non je ne regrette rien ) by André Mehmari
Cyril Regamey uses exclusively Istambul cymbals, Vater drumsticks and Aquarian drumheads.
Information provided (December 30, 2023)
Carlos Ordiano is a talented arranger, pianist and composer who has given us the honor of talking to us and telling us a bit about his career.
Carlos was born in Southern California and was raised in a family of Latino parents who have always loved the music of their roots, which led the artist to be continuously exposed to these rhythms from an early age.
With a consolidated career, his specialty is Latin jazz piano and he has a long list of collaborations with big names in the California music industry.
After thanking the invitation to this interview, Carlos told us a little bit about how his interest in music began since he was a child. He told us that no one in his family was engaged in music professionally, but one day an uncle of his gave him a toy piano when he was five years old.
He loved the gift so much he told his father he wanted to devote himself to music as a young child, which led him to hire a piano instructor for his son so that he could learn to play the instrument as soon as possible. The problem was that the child only learned by watching his instructor’s hands, so he never learned to read music. The day came when the teacher gave up and told Carlos’ father to find someone else, since he could do nothing for the boy.
After that disappointment, Carlos stopped playing for a year until he resumed his interest in music and again took piano lessons, obtaining much better results than the last time.
During his learning process, he played a little bit bass and trumpet, but no instrument ever became as important as the piano.
His brothers Ruben and Oscar were also taking music lessons in parallel and decided to follow the path of music like Carlos. Ruben is a bass player and Oscar is a guitarist.
When he was 19, he went to study recording engineering at Golden West College, but he found this career very boring, so he decided to learn to read and compose music, since he did not have much experience with these areas yet. This is how he started playing in a Latin jazz band in which he learned a lot more about music in general and got a lot of support from the band leader and, of course, from his parents.
Carlos has participated in several groups from various genres and the first one was formed by him and his uncles when he was a child. The music they made consisted of cumbias and rancheras back then.
When he arrived at school, he began to focus his attention on Latin jazz, salsa, son montuno and other Latin genres, which led him to participate in groups based on these rhythms. In fact, he also began to be a replacement in several salsa groups when a member was missing. This is how he gained the experience he needed to work with other artists and orchestras in different areas.
Such is the case of the jazz-funk group Modern Time, with which he plays in a small Californian club every Wednesday and Sunday. From time to time, he also plays with his brother Rubén in Santa Ana and, on these occasions, they call themselves The Ordiano Brothers.
Another important group he became involved with was La Santa Cecilia. La Marisoul, their lead singer, had a big band project and wanted his friend Carlos to arrange some of their new songs, which gave a unique touch to the chords of each piece of music.
As for his time at Santa Ana Community College, Carlos confesses that he was not a very good student, since he had no interest in subjects such as English or mathematics. He was only interested in music and that is what he focused all his attention on. This caused him to take a long time to graduate and obtain the academic degree he was opting for.
After searching many institutes, he finally obtained a scholarship at Cal State Long Beach College thanks to which he studied things like orchestration for big bands and small groups. During his studies at this school, he only had to pay for parking and textbooks he needed. His stay at this school helped him create many important connections in the industry until finally graduating in 2010 and earning his bachelor’s degree in jazz piano.
To clinch the matter, Carlos has pointed out that the academic part is important to have more specialized vocabulary in music and build links with other colleagues, but at the end of the day, this is not necessary for a musician to be good. In fact, he said that many of the musicians he most admires do not have any formal academic training, so it is not strictly necessary to have a university degree in that field.
Read also: Large projects of Mexican pianist and composer Irving Flores
North America / USA / New York
For this special concert the Cuban legendary orchestra will join with the most popular lead Los Van Van vocalists: Mario “Mayito” Rivera and Pedro Calvo
Date: Saturday, June 1st
Show: 8:00PM
Cost: $50 – $100
Venue: 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West Bronx, New York 10468
Low cost onsite parking available for $5!
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents the return of Grammy-winning dance orchestra, Formell y Los Van Van, who bring direct from Cuba their blend of Afro-Cuban, disco and funk back to Lehman Center to celebrate their 50th Anniversary on Saturday, June 1st at 8PM.
Heralded as Cuba’s greatest dance orchestra known worldwide for their iconic live performances, Formell y Los Van Van features three of the late founder Juan Formell‘s children: Samuel Formell (Leader and Drummer/Timbalero) , Juan-Carlos Formell (Bassist) and the family’s youngest daughter, Vanessa Formell (lead vocalist).
BIO: Formell y Los Van Van, nicknamed the “Cuban Music Train,” is regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of 20th century Cuban popular music. Founded in 1969 by Juan Formell when he was 27 years old, the band pioneered Songo, a hybrid rhythm that blended Cuba’s native folkloric son music with the go-go of the 1970s and has electrified dance floors in Havana for over forty-five years.
The band’s original members were: Juan Formell (bandleader, bass player, and songwriter), Cesar “Pupy” Pedroso (piano, songwriter), and Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana (drums and timbales). Each one were music conservatory trained from a young age and were fascinated with the soul, go-go and disco music that dominated U.S. radio.
They named their dance band “Los Van Van” (which literally means “they go-go”) after the go-go fad, and pioneered the hybrid of son and go-go music – Songo – which can now be found throughout Latin jazz, pop, and world fusion.
And if the genius of Songo wasn’t enough, they also developed the complex rhythmic style that became known as Timba that was adapted by other bands in the ‘90s. Los Van Van soon became one of the best-known Cuban groups in the world, maintaining a loyal fan base throughout Latin America, Europe and Japan propelled by hits such as: “La Sandunguera,” “Anda, Ven y Muévete,” “Te Traigo” and “Yuya Martinez.”
In 1993, Changuito left the band and was replaced by Formell’s son Samuel who also proved to be an outstanding composer as evidenced by the song: “Te Pone La Cabeza Mala”, the title track of one of their best albums. Although American politics hindered their ability to break into the U.S. market, their popularity in the U.S. grew throughout the ’90s, and the band toured the U.S. for the first time in 1997, including a memorable concert at Lehman Center.
Two years later, Los Van Van was honored with the GRAMMY® Award for Best Salsa Performance for their fifteenth album, Llegó…Van Van — Van Van is Here and in 2013, the Latin Recording Academy awarded Juan Formell with a special Grammy for a Lifetime Achievement of Artistic Excellence.
With over 40 albums to their credit, Formell y Los Van Van’s 2015 album Homenaje A Juan Formell: La Fantasia, was 80% completed at the time of Juan Formell’s death in 2014 and was finished under the direction of his son Samuel with another son, Juan-Carlos Formell.
The album’s release on Reyes Records in December, 2014 was on the 45th anniversary of the band’s founding and it features several of the band’s hit dance tracks refreshed with contemporary arrangements as well as many new songs including the widely popular: “Somos Diferentes”, “Todo se Acabó” and “La Moda”. Sony Music released it worldwide in 2016 and it earned a 2017 Grammy nomination for the Best Tropical Latin Album.
The group’s most recent album “Los Van Van son La Patria” is scheduled to be released on Cuba’s Engrem label later this summer.
BIO: Mario “Mayito” Rivera is nicknamed “El Poeta de La Rumba” for his ability to vocally interpret all forms of Cuban music in both modern and traditional styles with a colorful range that can be powerfully dynamic or tender and soft.
He was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and has degrees from both the Escuela Nacional de Arte and the Instituto Superior de Arte. After college, he joined the band of Cuban singer Albita Rodríguez and played bass in Grupo Moncada.
From 1992 to 2011, Mayito was the characteristic voice and face of the extremely successful Cuban band, Los Van Van. He sang many of the band’s salsa hits, for which he was rewarded with a Latin GRAMMY® and two nominations.
Bio: Pedro “Pedrito” Calvo is a popular Cuban-born vocalist known for his charismatic and unique singing style which often includes clever word play and expressive rhythmic vocal sounds. Pedrito started his professional career singing with his father’s orchestra and years after with several Cuban orchestras including:
La Riviera, La Orquesta de Julio Valdés, and La Ritmo Oriental with hits such as: “Mi Socio Manolo” and “Aquí el que Manda es Mulé”. He was the most famous for his time (1974-2001) with Los Van Van, where he was part of the infamous lead singing trio of Los Van Van along with Mayito Rivera and Roberto Hernández.
Event Details:
www.LEHMANCENTER.org
Cuba is and will continue to be one of the main cradles of the best artists in Latin America and San Miguel Perez is one of those cases. The producer, composer and singer gave us an exclusive interview to talk about his musical beginnings, his history and what he is currently working on. Don’t miss it!
San Miguel is known in his country as ”El Tresero Moderno” (the modern tres player in English) due to the styles he uses when playing. He chose the Cuban tres as his main instrument because it is a very important icon in the music of his country and the one that most represents Cuba internationally,
His first contact with music occurred at the age of 10, when he began studying classical music, but adding the Cuban tres. He followed this same path throughout high school and university until he became part of some Cuban popular music groups such as Los Jóvenes Clásicos del Son and Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son.
Together with the latter group, he released the album ”Respeto Para Los Mayores”, which was very popular at the time. This success led them to collaborate with great orchestras such as Los Van Van, with whom they shared the stage sometimes.
On one occasion, one of the members of Los Van Van took the stage to jam with the guys of Adalberto Alvarez y Su Son, including San Miguel. Seeing the Cuban’s talent and style with the tres, he baptized him with the nickname ”El Tresero Moderno”. This nickname had to do with his playing and the influences that the artist brings to the instrument when making a solo.
San Miguel was twice awarded with the Cubadisco Award, one in 2011 in the category of Best Tresero and the other in 2013 in the category of Best Traditional Cuban Music. These recognitions were very important for the musician, as the award was the result of a previous contest, which was focused on the work of treseros, singers and pianists from all over Cuba.
The primary objective of this contest was to rescue Cuban music and give new talents a chance to make their art known. Adalberto Álvarez, Frank Fernández, and Mayito de Rivera were part of the contest’s presidency.
Given that San Miguel was one of the winning treseros, the Bis Music label released an album called ”Treseros de Cuba”, material in which the young man was included. This was the album which won the Cubadisco award in 2014.
After receiving both awards, Adalberto Álvarez met up with San Miguel to invite the Cubadisco winner to join his group. He took advantage of the departure of the former tresero in the group to invite him.
San Miguel’s move to Los Angeles was due to a purely professional issue at first. He went to play with Adalberto Alvarez, Peruvian-American singer Cecilia Noël, her husband Colin Hay from Men At Work and other artists living in the United States. Due to this and other work proposals, he decided to stay in Tampa and, time later, to move to the city of Los Angeles and make it his permanent residence.
It should also be mentioned that many other artists have had to work other jobs outside of music in order to make ends meet, but fortunately this was not the case of San Miguel, who had the opportunity to work only in music and did not need to resort to other activities out of his passion. He has dedicated himself fully to playing, recording and producing music for the past 10 years.
Regarding the areas of music in which he has specialized, San Miguel began by explaining that he made a good improvement in composition during the time he played with Los Jóvenes Clásicos del Son. He also learned to make arrangements based on traditional music, something in which the director of the group, Ernesto Reyes Palma, played a very important role.
Regarding production, the artist did not participate much in that area, but he eventually did in the United States. It is in this country that he officially started his career as a soloist, tresero and artist. Three years after arriving in Los Angeles, he produced a first album called ”Un Poquito de Amor” in collaboration with Cecilia Noël and Colin Hay in 2017, which was a great learning experience for him, as he was able to experiment and mix many seemingly disparate rhythms.
Other areas in which San Miguel would like to specialize are sound engineering and remastering, but he is working hard to do so.
As for the current projects, he is currently promoting his single ”Besito Bon Bon”, which is the main song of his new album. In fact, San Miguel and his team are planning to give this same name to the whole album. On this occasion, he mixed electronic sounds with traditional Cuban music to give a much more modern rhythm to the traditional genres coming from the island. The album has nine songs, is produced by Jay Carona and contains some collaborations with Cecilia Noël.
Read also: Musical history of Roosevelt Cordova ”El Presidente de La Salsa”
