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The Big Three Palladium Orchestra live at the Blue Note (2004)
The Palladium legacy lives on
The idea of bringing together the three great Palladium orchestras in an innovative concept was the brainchild of Mario Grillo, better known in the music world as Machito, Jr. whom I had promised to address on the subject of the Big Three at the Palladium.
Here I share one of my dreams come true. To be able to write about what I am passionate about is a great luxury, but to have these greats of music welcome me with so much affection to fulfill it is simply magic, fantasy and illusion.
Mario Grillo was born and grew up in a home that supported and sponsored his decision to become a musician. However, his mother -Doña Hilda Torres (EPD)- forced him to practice one hour a day “the hard way” while she told him that being a musician was as serious as being a doctor or a “shyster”. Mario Bauzá was his solfeggio teacher, since reading music was mandatory in his professional path.
At the age of ten he was already playing with his father’s orchestra. When he was still in high school and only 15 years old, Mario Grillo was already the regular timbalero in Machito’s orchestra. However, Machito, Jr.’s career skyrocketed when he did not yet dream of being ready to become a bandleader.
In 1975, his uncles Mario Bauzá and Graciela Grillo Pérez left their Machito’s orchestra, forcing Machito to take action and rescue his orchestra. Machito did not seem to be affected by the fact that Mario Bauzá’s replacement had not yet reached the age of majority. At only 19 years old, Mario Grillo became a bandleader “a la cañona” as we say in Borinquen bella.
The new orchestra was affectionately called “Machito and his Kindergarten” since the musicians were youngsters hungry for musical experience. Although Mario Grillo did not know it, the virtuoso timbalero had been preparing for this moment since he was only five years old when he had performed a timbal solo with none other than the “King of the Timbal”.
In 1982, at the age of 25, Mario Grillo directed and produced the recording of the 1983 Grammy winning album in the category of Best Latin Recording. With great pride Mario adds that the recording was done in Holland and that the entire process was completed in four hours. It is worth mentioning that Machito and His Salsa Big Band won against Julio Iglesias, José Feliciano, Willie Colón & Rubén Blades and Ray Barretto.
Here is a sample of the album in reference (Arrangement by Isidro Infante):
I ask you: How did the idea of establishing The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra come about?
Mario Grillo Torres, whose name honors the great Cuban jazzman -Mario Bauzá (EPD)- and whose nephew he is, tells us that the idea came out of desperation. The booking agency of Mario Grillo’s orchestra found that its strongest market was rather in Europe and Scandinavia. However, one bad day Mario Grillo had to face the possibility of modifying his orchestra. His promoter suggested that he reduce the 16-piece orchestra to form a quintet or sextet to make the project more profitable.
Machito, Jr. laughingly recalls that he only knows about big orchestras, so he got down to work and started making phone calls. He called Tito Puente’s widow: Margie, Tito Rodriguez, Jr. and Tito Puente, Jr. Once Margie, Rodriguez, Jr. and Puente, Jr. agreed to ally with Machito, Jr. the latter returned to the booking agency in London to offer him three orchestras for the price of one. Three calls were enough for Mario Grillo to return to counter negotiate with that promoter, offering him an irresistible orchestra.
The idea entailed a large orchestra with three timbaleros. Each timbalero would play one third of the repertoire, corresponding to the repertoire of the Patriarch of the timbalero on duty. That is to say, Mario would lead the orchestra during the performance of Machito’s orchestra repertoire; Tito Rodriguez, Jr. would lead the orchestra during the performance of El Inolvidable Tito Rodriguez’s orchestra repertoire prior to the closing in which Tito Puente, Jr. would lead the orchestra during the performance of the King of Timbal’s orchestra repertoire. The booking agency representative had no choice but to give up the promoter’s original idea of reducing the large orchestra concept to form a smaller, more economical group, because no one offers three orchestras for the price of one. And Mario is not a salesman. As an important detail, the tour began after 15 concerts were confirmed, without the orchestra having posters, much less CDs to promote. And “in a crazy way”, as Mario Grillo describes it, they began to fulfill the “stews”. The first places to host that non-promotional musical tour concert were Columbia University and the Verizon Center. From there they went on to England, France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Latvia.
A year into the tour, Mario Grillo was asked by the booking agency to promote a tangible during the next tour. The Big Three Palladium Orchestra, Performing the Music of Tito Rodríguez, Machito and Tito Puente was born.
This CD was recorded live at the Blue Note during two concerts that were “packed”, as Mario Grillo told me with emotion. The recording of this masterful production was coordinated from a rolling recording studio that monitored 48 microphones. The long awaited compact disc became the promotional item for the ten years that were added to that historic tour, which initially consisted of only fifteen concerts. The first concert of this historic reunion was in 2000. This year marks the 21st anniversary of the establishment of the Palladium’s Big Three Orchestra. Having come of age, this orchestra has the repertoire of the owners of the mambo. This results in more than three hundred record productions, which adds up to more than three thousand songs and no room for exaggeration; so as Mario Grillo declares: “Anything can happen”.
During the eleven years of touring Europe -Finland, Germany, Spain and France-, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco -to mention a few places- Mario Grillo repeated what he did with Machito’s orchestra; this time the legacy sounds through The Big Three Palladium Orchestra. For Machito, Jr. one of the most emotional moments was when they came to Puerto Rico for the Jazz Festival. For the first time, the heirs to the mambo era – Tito Rodriguez, Jr., Machito, Jr. and Tito Puente, Jr. – teamed up again in their three-orchestras-in-one concept to bring the Palladium legacy to Puerto Rico. In fact, between laughter and mischief Mario states that his father always insisted that: “the best interpreters of Cuban music are the Puerto Ricans” adding that this assertion guaranteed him tremendous fire within the Cuban community.
When I asked Mario about his favorite instrument, he commented with a loud laugh: “women, I’m malamañoso”. Once we returned to the line of conversation, he added that he has been a TOCA artist for ten years. With a serious tone he added that he is very proud of his colleagues, fellow artistic staff members within TOCA Percussion. Among that list, he mentioned Tito Rodriguez, Jr. and the late Jimmie Morales, who, according to Mario Grillo, used to make a fire out of two coffee cans no matter what brand of instrument it was.
As you can see, each of the “Palladium’s Big Three” left behind a timbalero son, coincidentally. These three timbaleros have made it their mission to keep the Palladium legacy alive and well.
With deep pride, Mario Grillo told me that in 2019, the 80th anniversary of the first Machito orchestra, established in 1939, was commemorated. The average seniority of the musicians who remain in the orchestra since its establishment is forty years. In fact, there are anecdotes that show Luis “Perico” Ortiz as an alumnus of Machito’s orchestra. It is said that when “Perico” was part of Mongo Santamaría’s orchestra, he would go to play with Machito’s orchestra during his days off. Another alumnus of Machito’s orchestra is the bongos player of the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico: Richie Bastar, who as a teenager became the substitute bongos player of that school orchestra. With the privileged memory that characterizes him, Mario Grillo states with admiration that in 1979 Machito identified excellence in Isidro Infante -also a former student of Machito- when they played in Finland.
Although Machito, Jr. has not insisted on being Machito’s son, it is not possible to forget that he is the son of one of the greats of mambo, creator of Cubop and salsa, so it is not surprising that his father is still a topic of conversation in musical circles.
Here is one of my favorites (Arrangement by René Hernández)
Website: Tito Rodríguez, Jr. “The Palladium legacy lives on”
WebsiteBy: Bella Martinez “The Irreverent Salsa Writer” Puerto Rico
WebSite: Bella Martinez
Lore Pereira is one of the young interpreters with the greatest International projection
Lorena Pereira Méndez
In this delivery, graces our salsa column, one of the young interpreters of greater international projection and who currently places very high the name of Venezuela on the world stages and record level, we refer to Edgliz Lorena Pereira Mendez, known in the artistic environment as “Lore Pereira”, born in Barquisimeto, Lara state in 1985, daughter of outstanding musicians in the national territory, as they are: Édgar Pereira and Virginia Méndez, former members of the Sonero Clásico del Caribe and other recognized orchestras.
Lore, since she was a child, showed her musical abilities and began her studies at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory in 1998.
In this institution she was part of the Youth Choir of Children Singers of the Lara State Symphony Orchestra. In the following years he participated in several musical activities in the city, such as: Voz Javeriana (1999), Member of the Choir of the Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado where he served as head of contraltos string (2001).
In 2002 he was part of the Lara State Lyrical Singing Chair “Aquiles Machado” under the direction of the renowned singer Angelo D’addona, where he made great and significant presentations such as: cycles of Lyrical Galas with a repertoire of sacred music and great works of Latin American music for the prelude to the first season of opera in the San Miguel Chapel of the Museum of Barquisimeto, Magdalena Seijas Auditorium, Santa Rosa Chapel, Auditorium of the Italian-Venezuelan Club, among others.
Subsequently, in 2003, she became part of the stable cast of the Compañía de Ópera de Occidente (Opera Company of the West), thanks to the chair of Lyric Singing and the Symphonic Choir of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Lara (Symphonic Orchestra of Lara).
This year, she is preparing for the staging of the trilogy “Love, Passion and Death” as part of the cast of singers for the acts of 3 plays “Rusticana, Madame Butterfly and La Boheme” and the play “Los Martirios de Colón” by Venezuelan composer Federico Ruiz, These works were presented in various stages of the city as the dance and ballet academy Taormina Guevara, Teatro Juares, Teatro Alirio Diaz de Carora, Auditorium of the Italo-Venezuelan Club and the Ateneo de Boconó.
At the end of this year, he lined up to pay homage to Maestro José Antonio Abreu in a concert with the Lara State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Tarsicio Barreto at the José Félix Ribas Hall of the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex.
He participated in Santus Group concerts and in Boleros Nights and something else at the Sala Alternativa Juan Carmona of the newspaper El Impulso.
In 2005 she worked hand in hand with music teacher Behomar Rojas, who played an important role in her training and incorporated her in various musical activities in her hometown and the Venezuelan national territory, such as festivals, concerts of sacred music and stylized Venezuelan music.
In the following years, he participates in record productions of Venezuelan folk and alternative music, as well as in regional and national festivals.
It is worth mentioning the most important one held in 2008, La Voz de Oro y de la Canción Inédita de Venezuela, where he had the opportunity to share workshops and rehearsals with great singers of the Venezuelan national territory.
In the same way, he is part of several popular Venezuelan groups as a vocalist and backing vocalist, as well as participating in productions with renowned artists at present.
In 2010 he joins his performance with Venezuelan singer-songwriter Ignacio Izcaray, making several recordings, live concerts in Venezuela, such as: May 2011 (Teatro Juares) Barquisimeto, Ateneo de Caracas and Sala Corpbanca), October 2011 (Ambrosio Oropeza auditorium of the Ucla), January 2013 (concert at the Country Club of Barquisimeto, Teatro Alirio Diaz de Carora), also participated in recordings of important recordings as vocal support of the singer-songwriter.
The recognition of her vocal and artistic talent has been overwhelming, both by her colleagues, spectators and institutions.
In 2015, Lore Pereira received the Mara de Oro de Venezuela award as “Best New Artist of the Year”.
Then in 2016 she received the award as “Best Tropical Artist of the Year”, recognizing her extraordinary talent and acceptance by the media.
Lore, for Salsa Escrita, the Salsera Column of Barquisimeto, International Salsa Magazine / www.SalsaGoogle.com we are proud to have you as a special guest and we would like you to tell us about your incursions into Latin music.
Well, Professor Carlos, I can tell you that I have lent my voice to important musical projects, being the only voice of the experimental group “Primigenio” and of several songs of “La Charangoza All Star”.
I am frequently called as a soloist of the Big Band “Raíces Orchestra”, led by the famous musician, saxophonist and arranger Pablo Gil.
And as for other musical genres, what can you tell us about them? As a vocalist, I have sung with important exponents of Venezuelan and Latin American music.
During these last years my voice has joined the show of great artists such as Marc Anthony, Natalia Jimenez, Marco Antonio Solis and Alejandro Fernandez on the stage of the Billboard Awards. Likewise, I repeated this experience in 2016 and 2017 with singers Luis Enrique, Farruco and Miguel Bosé, in Premios Tu Mundo.
As for recent productions, what do you have for us, Lore? I have been promoting my album “Inténtalo” where I share my talent alongside figures such as Luis Fernando Borjas, Irving Manuel, Marcial Istúriz, Chipi Chacón, Christian Delgado, Franco Lemus; all under the musical production of Jhosir Córdova.
Excellent Lore, recently the new version of the song “Callejón”, which was recorded some time ago by Arabella, was launched on the digital platforms, but we have been able to appreciate that your voice and that of Virginia Méndez, your mother, shows a lot of versatility with export quality.
Thank you Carlos for your appreciation, indeed this is a work that we are promoting, entitled “Callejón” with authorship of Catalino “Tite” Curet Alonso, arrangements by Jhosir Córdova, chorus by Andrés Brito, Gerardo “Pachanga” Araujo and my father, Édgar Pereira, on piano Johánn Morales, bass Daniel Barón, trumpets Luis “Papo” Márquez, trombones Jhosir Córdova, timbales Juan Pablo Romero, tumbadoras, bongo and bell Yomar “Caballo” Méndez, mix Daniel Barón, master Maikol Lugo, musical production and videography Jhosir Córdova and I hope everyone likes it, being able to appreciate it in my social networks or on youtube.
Lore, what are those digital platforms? My social networks are: fans page:Lore Pereira Facebook: Lorena Pereira Méndez ,; Instagram: @loresinger.
From our salsa column, we wish you continued success and continue to exalt the Barquisimetano talent and of course Venezuelan, worldwide.
Thank you Professor Carlos Colmenárez, for the support given to me and all the artists of my country, keep it up. Blessings.
Year 2021
Good morning dear ones!
I share with you the link to the premiere of my song “VUELVES” scheduled for 1pm Miami-Venezuela time.
take the opportunity and subscribe so you get the notification and you can see the video that is made with love.
Thanks.
Website de Interes: Alfredo Villamizar Alfredo Villamizar one of the most spectacular and sensational Venezuelan percussionists
Remember not to leave your house…! See you next time and let’s keep saucing!
By: Carlos Colmenárez Venezuela Correspondent
Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. Growing Up in Latin Dance Music and Jazz
Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez Jr. is a salsa legend and world-renown, pioneering bongocero.
His “Dream Team” is currently regarded as the hottest salsa “conjunto” performing In New York City.
It is rare, and ever increasingly so, that a musician would spend a lifetime in a band. But percussionist Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez Jr. who was a teenager when he was allowed to sit in with the Tito Puente Orchestra and be an apprentice for a few months before earning a place in its rhythm section, was also there at the end, playing alongside Puente until his death, after a concert on May 31st, 2000.
“I went from being a kid, coming into the band as a 16-year-old to being the man running the band at the end,” said Rodríguez, 70, in a conversation from his home in Las Vegas.
Between that beginning and end, Rodríguez also contributed, in prolonged stints, to the sound of the Tito Rodríguez Orchestra, Ray Barretto, his own band, Típica ‘73, and more.
The son of Johnny “La Vaca” Rodríguez Sr., a respected percussionist who also played with the Puente and Rodríguez orchestras, “Dandy” Rodríguez is one of those essential musicians who have created and shaped the sound of contemporary Latin Jazz yet are little known by the public at large.
While some of the great players in Duke Ellington or Count Basie bands have long been recognized for their contributions, their counterparts in the Latin orchestras, for the most part, have not. Rodriguez will be honored by Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in their concert “Tribute to the Great Sidemen of Latin Jazz” alongside Sonny Bravo, Ray Santos, Papo Vázquez, Reynaldo Jorge, José Madera, Joe González, and Bobby Porcelli at Symphony Space, in New York City, January 29th and 30th.
“When they called me about the concert I thought it was such a great idea,” says Rodriguez.
“Usually people just know the name of the bandleader and it’s fine,” he says. “But they must remember that there is a good team behind that leader which makes him look so much better.
There’s a way of playing that music that makes it sound the way they wrote it and the way they wanted it and these guys knew it and they knew how to do it.”
Rodríguez grew up in Spanish Harlem, Manhattan, in a house with “a great music collection, a good, what was then called, hi-fi system and always full of musicians,” he recalls.
“It was great but I was interested in baseball, in stickball. I didn’t get involved with music until later, but the music was always in the background, in my house.” By the time he was in junior high, Rodríguez played bongos, congas, timbales, and set drums and, as he puts it, “started to get into it.”
“Remember, I lived in El Barrio and back in those days, in that area, there was a lot of music in the air.
There would be speakers outside the furniture store or the bodega or the record shop, and music would be playing. This shop would be playing this radio station, the butcher would have another, so walking one block you’d be hearing three different pieces of music. It was an environment full of music.”
During the first two decades of the new century, the musical work of maestro Johnny Rodriguez continued; thus, his musical imprint has remained in other publications with The Latin-Jazz Coalition, Frankie Morales, Eddie Palmieri, Gilberto Santa Rosa, George Delgado, Victor Manuelle, Rick Arroyo, Orestes Vilató, Mitch Frohman, Cita Rodriguez, Doug Beaver, Adalberto Santiago and Jeremy Bosch.
In addition, special mention must be made of the participation of maestro Johnny Rodríguez with a group called The Latin Giants Of Jazz, in the best style of the classic Big Bands, made up of great teachers, among them, some of the former members of the band of maestro Tito Puente; with this group they have released four albums; this project gave rise to another band called The Mambo Legends, who recorded the album titled: Watch Out! ¡Ten Cuidao!
John Rodriguez is, without any doubt, one of the most prolific percussionists in the world of Latin music called Salsa; the nickname “Dandy” goes back to his childhood, when the car in which he was taken was bought in a warehouse or a store called “Dandy”, and people said: look how cute the “Dandy”, and from there he kept that nickname. In music he is better known as Johnny instead of John.
In the (year 2022) the experienced Johnny Rodriguez had three or four groups with which he is playing, among them Dandy Rodriguez and his Dream Team, and at the same time he teaches percussion classes over the Internet. He is part of the true legends of Latin music, not to mention that his talent has also been reflected in recordings for other musical genres such as: Electronic, Folk Rock, Folk, World & Country, Funk / Soul, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Stage & Screen, Jazz-Funk, Merengue and Pop.
In his very extensive artistic career, the master Johnny Rodriguez took part in historical and iconic recordings of our musical culture, some of these albums have been worthy of awards such as the Grammy Award, among which are:
Homenaje a Beny Moré – Year 1978.
On Broadway – 1983
El Rey: Tito Puente & His Latin Ensemble – Year 1984
Mambo Diablo – 1985
Goza Mi Timbal – Year 1990
Mambo Birdland – Year 1999
Masterpiece / Masterpiece Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri – Year 2000.
“In 2008, Johhny entrusted LP’s Research and Development Department with the design of the John “Dandy” Rodriguez Jr. bongoes in the Legends series. John is proud that these drums, which bear his name, feature such outstanding sound and visual characteristics.”
He died on August 17, 2024 in New York City of a stroke.
Facebook: John Rodriguez(Dandy)
Article of Interest: José Madera Timbal de Machito and his Afro-Cubans, Tito Puente, Mambo Legends Orchestra and Fania Record Co.
The Superimposition of Conguero Eladio Pérez
Conguero Eladio Perez was born on May 5, 1946, in Cataño Puerto Rico
He alternated at the side of renowned orchestras and stellar figures of Salsa. He was a great percussionist with a career that includes collaborations with Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Tommy Olivencia, Justo Betancourt, and Puerto Rico All-Star, one of the main ones is the one he did with Eddie Palmieri, with whom he recorded nine albums, four of which won Grammy awards.
Eladio gained fame as a member of the Orquesta del Maestro Eddie Palmieri, appearing in the band for the first time in the album Superimposition.
His first recording was with La Orquesta del Maestro Eddie Palmieri in 1970.
“A real scorcher from Eddie Palmieri as much a transition as Superimposition and the kind of record that would have a huge impact on Latin jazz in the 70s! Eddie’s got one foot in the small group styles of his 60s work, but he’s also reaching forward in a mode that’s rootsy and modern at the same time a back-to-basics approach that’s tremendously focused on the rhythm, and which mostly uses heavy percussion and piano to layout the grooves then tops them off with some jazzier riffing on brassy horns.”
Eddie’s piano is sublime throughout — crackling with life and energy that barely made it onto record before, and hitting notes that are modern, yet which sit comfortably next to the earthier grooves of the rest of the band. Ismael Quintana’s on lead vocals.”
He was a member of that “Ecuación Palmeriana” of the song 17.1 (download included in that LP) together with Chucky López and Nicky Marrero (it was said that 17.1 was the average age of the three young percussionists).
Eladio Pérez participated in the recordings of Vámonos Pa’l Monte, Harlem River Drive, the live LP at the University of Puerto Rico, and the two Salsa Grammy winners (Sun of Latin Music and Unfinished Masterpiece).
In the anthological song “Un Día Bonito” there are two congueros: Tommy López Sr. is the soloist in the opening rumba guaguancó and Eladio descarga in the solo accompanied by the entire band.
Around the same time he formed the Orquesta La Única with Julio Castro, Carlos Santos and Junior Córdova.
Years later, in 1976, Pérez was recruited by Frank Gregory to be part of the Puerto Rico All-Stars.
Charlie Palmieri and Roberto Roena also enlisted the services of the percussionist. When Eddie Palmieri returned to Puerto Rico and formed his new orchestra, he again called upon the conguero from Cataño, who shared credits with Giovanni Hidalgo (bongo) and Charlie Cotto (timbales).
1973, unloading of timbales in Panama with the man from Toa Baja Héctor Endel Dueño Rivera and the orchestra of maestro Tommy Olivencia in the song Cuero Na’ Ma where Eladio Pérez on congas, Papy Fuentes on bongos, with the intermission between each unloading of Reynaldo Jorge, Victor Candelario on trombones, the voice of Sammy González with the chorus of Paquito Guzmán and Papy Fuentes.
This song comes from Tommy Olivencia’s album “Cueros…Salsa y Sentimiento” from 1971 for the Inca Records label, but it was originally composed by Tito Puente in 1949 when he had Vicentico Valdés on vocals and Manny Oquendo on bongos.
In 1973 the Orquesta LA UNICA and Friends with the song PA’ LA RUMBA that comes on the album of the same name, composed and sung by Junior Córdova, with the direction and bongos of Julio Castro, the congas of Eladio Pérez, the timbales of Pedro Roque, Angel Rivera on piano, the trumpets of Joe Cepeda, Roberto Ramírez and Norberto Torres among others.
One of the last times we saw his name in recording credits was on Justo Betancourt’s Mató album.
On July 30, 2018, he dies while hospitalized at the Puerto Rico Veterans hospital.
El Conguero Eladio Perèz…Caballero
Facebook: Eladio Pérez
Article of Interest: Bella Martínez presenta “Las memorias de Jimmie Morales: un conguero para la historia”