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Nicky Marrero is an innovator, timbalero and bongo player, living legend of our Afro-Latin and Caribbean music.

Nicolás Marrero Jr. “Nicky Marrero” was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 17, 1950, to a Puerto Rican father and mother (born in San Germán and Corozal, respectively).

He had formal studies in drums during his adolescence, but more could the sounds of Tito Puente and Willie Bobo, his major influences.

Nicky Marrero is an innovator, timbalero and bongo player, living legend of our Afro-Latin and Caribbean music.

He debuted in music with a high school ensemble called Orquesta Caribe.

However, his first recording session was at the age of 15 with the original band of another teenager born in 1950: Willie Colón.

Curiously, at the time of these sessions, three pillars of the Alegre All-Stars, Charlie Palmieri, Louie Ramirez and Kako, were present in the studio, and young Nicky was invited to participate as a timbalero.

In 1968 he was recruited by Eddie Palmieri, who by then, as a consequence of internal problems, gradually disbanded his original orchestra: La Perfecta.

Nicky Marrero joins the orchestra shortly after recording the album “Champagne,” the album “Justicia” (1969), where, still under the powerful voice of Ismael Quintana, Nicky begins to explore his own sound (listen to his solo in the song “My Spiritual Indian”),

The decade of the 70’s opens for him with three important events: the classic album “Vámonos Pa’l Monte”, his participation with Patato in the album “Portrait Of Jennie” by Dizzy Gillespie and the beginning of his career as a percussion teacher, as a member of the faculty of the East Harlem Music School, the school of Johnny Colón, legendary pianist and one-time pioneer of boogaloo.

At this institution Nicky gives his first lessons to a 13 year old boy named Jimmy Delgado.

In 1972 Nicky is invited to participate in the Afro-American Music Festival. 1975 he joins the troupe of the Wonderful Jew, Larry Harlow, then he is part of the Revelation Orchestra, two years with the Novel Orchestra.

In fact, thanks to his internship with Harlow’s band, Nicky was already part of Fania Records’ staff of musicians, recording as timbalero, bongos player and even drummer (and one of his first assignments for that label as a studio musician was the album “Pa’ Bravo Yo” by Justo Betancourt, produced by Harlow himself in 1972).

In 1973 he was included in the Fania All-Stars, replacing Orestes Vilató.

Marrero received an invitation from Pacheco to make his debut with them at Yankee Stadium in August of that year. Ironically, despite the events that separated Vilató from the stellar orchestra, he remained part of Fania’s studio staff. In fact, Vilató and Marrero crossed paths on countless sessions for various artists on the label between 1973 and 1980, in most cases with Marrero on timbales and Vilató serving as bongos player.

His multiple sessions for Fania (Ismael Miranda, Ismael Quintana, Héctor Lavoe’s first solo album (“La Voz”), Justo Betancourt and others), he also participates in “Sun Of Latin Music,” Eddie Palmieri’s classic par excellence and the first album to win a Grammy in the then debut category of “Best Latin Album.”

He is also invited to participate in the first of several rock sessions, this one specifically as an all-around percussionist for the group Electric Flag: “The Band Kept Playing”.

He travels with Fania to the African continent, later Jerry Masucci gets a potentially lucrative contract for the Fania All-Stars with Columbia Records, for recording purposes the orchestra is reduced to a sextet: Pacheco, Barretto, Nicky, Roberto Roena, Bobby Valentin and debuting with the orchestra, Papo Lucca.

This is how Nicky, without being a band leader, not only became a star member of the Fania All-Stars, but also an “exclusive artist” of the Fania label. And as such, he appears on several albums that are not necessarily Latin and travels with Fania to Europe (the first of several subsequent visits) and Japan. Together with Harlow, Vilató on bongo, Eddie “Guagua” Rivera on bass, Frankie Rodríguez on congas, Harry Viggiano on guitar and Pablito Rosario on percussion, he recorded an album of downloads for the Japanese market under the curious group name of Belmonte (“Olé”). [This album is very difficult to obtain.

1977 he joins Tipica’73, an orchestra which he joins shortly after the release of the previous album: “Rumba Caliente,” ironically replacing Vilató once again. The album in question, for which Nicky alternated between his timbales set and the drums proper, is “The Two Sides Of Tipica’73,” the band’s most progressive album.

Nicky introduces drum toms to his rhythm kit (the only drum component Nicky overlooks in his regular timpani set is the hi-hats).

Nicky even recorded his first drum solo on the song “Yo Bailo De Todo” on that album. By this time, production at the Fania label and its subsidiaries was exhausting and the salsa boom in New York was in full swing.

Exhausting tours with the Fania All-Stars, he travels with Tipica’73 to Havana, Cuba, the first time in 20 years of economic blockade and open political friction that a New York Latin orchestra performs in the home of son, Nicky’s visit with La Tipica and Orestes Vilató’s own visit the following year, replacing him with the Fania All-Stars, helped to restore the timbal and bongo to the importance they should never have lost in Cuba.

To this day, Nicky remains healthy and active in music.

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Colombia’s legendary Grupo Niche and its founder Jairo Varela

Grupo Niche was founded in 1979 in Bogotá, Colombia, by Jairo Varela, born on December 9, 1949 in Quibdó, Chocó, and Alexis Lozano, who played trombone and was an arranger, later leaving Grupo Niche to form Orquesta Guayacán de Colombia.

That same year, the group released its first album under the Daro label, entitled Al Pasito, with Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano as directors, Nicolás Cristancho “Macabí” on piano, Francisco García on bass, Luis Pacheco on congas and singers Jorge Bazán, Saulo Sánchez and Héctor Viveros.

Two years later, Niche’s second production, Querer es poder, was released. The song “Buenaventura y Caney”, included in the album, became the first composition of the group to become a hit in Colombia, said Jairo Varela.

The legendary Grupo Niche of Colombia 2023

In 1983 After a tour of the United States in which they performed before several colonies of Colombians and a short stay in Buenaventura, the group decided to settle in Cali in 1983.

In 1984 and after releasing the albums Prepárate (1982) and ¡Directo desde Nueva York! (1983), Jairo Varela composed and produced the song “Cali Pachanguero”, which brought the group to national and international stardom.

The song, included in the 1984 album No hay quinto malo, was chosen as the official song of the Cali Fair.

After the success of No hay quinto malo, the group began to tour constantly throughout Colombia and other Latin American countries, becoming the most important orchestra in Colombia.

The album Triunfo, Niche’s sixth discographic production, was released in

1985 The song “Ana Milé”, sung by Jairo Varela, became a radio hit. A year later the group incorporated the renowned Puerto Rican singer Tito Gómez, who had previously worked with La Sonora Ponceña and Ray Barretto, the godfather of Latin jazz.

The inclusion of Gómez further boosted the group’s career throughout Latin America. That same year the album Me huele a matrimonio was released, with Gómez and Varela sharing the lead vocal duties.

Colombia's legendary Grupo Niche 2020 — Colombia’s legendary Grupo Niche 2020

Later, another Puerto Rican joined the group, pianist Israel Tanenbaum, who would eventually leave the group to join a parallel group to Niche, Orquesta Guayacán.

Taking advantage of the group’s growing popularity, in 1987 an album of new versions of songs previously released by the group entitled Historia Musical was released.

That year, the director Jairo Varela fired a group of musicians due to their claims for high fees.

Varela hired some new musicians and recorded the album Tapando el hueco, a production that became an instant hit especially for the songs “Nuestro sueño” and “Cómo podré Disimular”.

After the release of the album, Grupo Niche became a sensation in Latin America, especially in countries such as Venezuela and Peru.

In 1989, the group gave a concert at the Campo de Marte in Lima, where it attracted more than one million people, a record number in that country.

To thank the Peruvian people for their incredible welcome, the band released the album Me sabe a Perú that same year. 1989 also saw the release of the album Sutil y contundente, a production that revalidated the group’s good form, especially with songs such as “Mi hijo y yo” and “Miserable”.

In 1990, after the departure of singer Tito Gómez, the group released the album Cielo de tambores, Grupo Niche’s most successful production to date. The same year of its release, Cielo de tambores ranked third on Billboard magazine’s tropical music chart in the United States.

The album’s success was based on the quality of compositions such as “Busca por dentro”, “Sin sentimiento”, “Debiera olvidarla” and “Cali ají” and the massive popularity of the song “Una aventura”. Charlie Cardona and Javier Vásquez provided the vocals for the album.

From that moment on, the group enjoyed international popularity, touring constantly in countries such as the United States, Peru, Mexico and Colombia, as well as making some presentations in Europe.

In 1992 the group released another successful album entitled Llegando al 100% with Charlie Cardona as lead vocalist. The songs “Hagamos lo que diga el corazón” and “No tuve a quién decirle amor” stand out from this production.

After the release of two compilation albums, the group released Etnia, an album recognized especially for the compositions “La Canoa ranchá” and “La magia de tus besos”. The vocalists on this production were Willy García, Álvaro Granobles and Javier Vásquez.

Jairo Varela was captured and imprisoned in 1995 after returning from a tour of the United States.

The musician was accused of front man and illicit enrichment for allegedly receiving payments from the account of a sister of drug trafficker Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, corresponding to the presentations of Grupo Niche at the Caseta Carnaval del Norte, an event where artists such as Sergio Vargas and Oscar D’León el sonero del mundo also performed.

His experience in jail was reflected in the lyrics of several songs on the next Niche album. 1997’s A prueba de fuego became another commercially successful production for the group.

Colombia's legendary Grupo Niche 2015 — Colombia’s legendary Grupo Niche 2015

The song “Eres”, sung by Willy García, achieved strong radio airplay and its video clip was equally popular.

A year later the album Señales de humo was released, which could not match the success of the previous production.

The group closed the 1990s with the release of the album A golpe de folklore, an album in which the group returned to its musical roots, exploring the folklore of the Pacific coast and emphasizing the “salsa brava dura”.

In 2001, Jairo Varela decided to move Grupo Niche’s headquarters to Miami in order to better focus on the group’s international touring demands.

That year the group published Propuesta, an album that was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the “Best Salsa Album” category, along with productions by prominent artists such as Isaac Delgado, Oscar D’León, Tito Puente, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Tito Rojas, great salsa artists.

In 2005 the group performs for the first time in Japan. That same year the album Alive was released.

In 2007 Varela suffers a heart attack that forces him to quit smoking. Two years later he released a new album entitled Robando sueños, promoted by the single “Un día después” with Elvis Magno on lead vocals. Jairo Varela stated that it was the best song he had ever written in his life.

The death of Jairo Varela.

On August 8, 2012 Jairo Varela suffered another heart attack in his apartment in southern Cali, dying at the age of 62, while he was writing a novel titled “Luces negras”, a story based on the Colombian Pacific that he was unable to finish.

Jairo Varela Founder of Grupo Niche in Colombia

After his death, a large number of songs were recorded on demos and written down on sheets of paper.

Some of these compositions were recorded and included in the posthumous 2013 album Tocando el cielo con las manos.

Yanila Varela, Jairo’s daughter, succeeded him as the group’s director.

At the end of 2014, the group shared the stage with the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In August 2015 José Aguirre took over the musical direction of Grupo Niche replacing Richie Valdés. That same year the idea of releasing an album with songs composed by Varela that failed to become hits arose.

The idea was finally embodied in a new record production released on October 2, 2015 titled 35 Aniversario, promoted with the single “Niche como yo”, a song composed by Jairo Varela in 1978.

The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Salsa Album and a Lo Nuestro Award nomination for Album of the Year in the Tropical category.

New stage 2020

Grupo Niche is currently formed by singers Alex Torres, Luis Araque and Alejandro Iñigo, percussionists Juanito Murillo, Fabio Celorio and Diego Camacho, pianist Víctor González, bassist Sergio Munera and musicians Edgardo Manuel, Edward Montoya, Carlos Zapata, Oswaldo Salazar and Paul Gordillo on wind instruments, under the direction of José Aguirre. At the end of the year, Grupo Niche won a Latin Grammy award for the best salsa album of 2020 with “40” and in March 2021 they will win the Anglo Grammy.

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Willito and Japhet from La Sonora Ponceña

The stories of two great musicians

The island of enchantment, Puerto Rico, has been one of the places with the most talented musicians in Latin America, so it is always worth mentioning some of the most important names in the music scene in this beautiful land. Today it is the turn of talented musicians Willito López Vázquez and Japhet O. Rodríguez from the world-famous orchestra La Sonora Ponceña.

Next, we will talk a little about both salsa exponents’ stories separately so that our readers can get to know these great personalities of the entertainment world who are not so famous for some.

Willito López

Wilfredo López Vázquez, artistically known as Willito López, is a famous percussionist whose career over time has been brilliant and has countless great collaborations with other exponents of the genre such as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Nieves, Jerry Rivera, Luis Perico Ortiz, Lalo Rodríguez, Bobby Valentín, among many others.

One of the instruments that makes this musician excel more than another is the conga and it is present in several of the greatest records of La Sonora Ponceña, the orchestra to which the artist currently belongs.

Willito playing the conga — Willito López playing the conga during a performance

In one of his last interviews, he talked a bit about maestro Ángel ”Maldonado” Maldonado, of whom he cherishes fond memories after his unfortunate death a few years ago. He mentioned that the sonero lent his support to him when he needed it most and was very grateful for that, while regretting that he was already no more in this world.

Undoubtedly, he is a pride to his family and the artists who have had the opportunity to feature his talents for any project in the past. He has always left everything on stage with each of his works and we have no doubt that he will continue to do so as long as his arms allow him to delight the audience with his talent.

Japhet Rodriguez

Japhet Rodríguez is also a talented Puerto Rican-born percussionist who has a very interesting career behind him.

The artist was initially invited by La Sonora Ponceña to participate in some projects in 1998, but after having shown what he was really made of, he continued working with the orchestra for years to come.

Japhet with his timbales — Japhet Rodríguez with his timbales

It was in 2007 that he became an official member of the group and thanks to which he became popular all over the world while serving as the timbalero of La Sonora Ponceña.

While it is true that he has reached a huge popularity worldwide thanks to the aforementioned Puerto Rican orchestra, Japhet has been part of many other important names in Latin music such as Sabor Ponceño, La Terrífica de Ponce, Costa Brava, Moncho Santana, Los Hermanos Moreno, Willie Crespo, Camilo Azuquita, Impacto CREA, Raphy Leavitt Y La Selecta, Manix Martínez, Rafy Class, Conjunto La Perla, La Tropicana de P.R., and Homenaje Matancero.

Something very interesting about the musical career of this great artist is that all these groups to which he has belonged have not only been from Puerto Rico, but also from countries such as the United States, Panama and Colombia. This shows that his talent has not only shone in his native country, but also in other latitudes.

In next editions, we will be talking a little more about other salsa exponents who have left our music in high, so you can not miss the section of Johnny Cruz in coming months.

Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe here in ISM

Eddie and his story

Latin talent has expanded all over the world to the point that there is a significant presence of these groups in Hawaii. Today we have talked to Eddie Ortiz, one of its leaders, who tells us his interesting story.

Eddie Ortiz, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, began his journey through music when still a child, which led him to become the musical director of one of the main Latin orchestras in Honolulu.

The following are the most salient aspects of his life and musical career.

Eddie and his trumpet — Eddie Ortiz with his trumpet

The Armed Forces and moving to Hawaii

Eddie’s first contact with music was in school, when he began taking trumpet lessons for a few years until he moved with his family to Tampa, Florida, where his life would change radically.

While there, he joined the Navy and served for more than 20 years, time in which the artist took the opportunity to join the Marine band and hone his skills as a musician.

It was in those years he served as a trumpet player and played for several military bands being in the armed forces.

During his military career, he was forced to visit many countries and Hawaii was his last stop. About three years before retiring, he decided to create Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe, a group he still plays with today.

As for Hawaii, he liked the place, the weather and the people so much that he did not want to return to the United States. That was over 27 years in total. He still thinks it was the best decision he could have made personally and professionally.

Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe

Something very interesting about Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe is that they play Latin music, but most of the members are not Latino. The group has people from Japan, China, Portugal and Hawaii. In fact, some of them were with Eddie in the navy and, today, support him in this great project.

A very particular case is that of Cynthia Romero, the band’s vocalist, who was born in Manila, Philippines, and speaks six languages, but Spanish is not one of them. However, she is perfectly capable of singing in that language without any problem, since she practices a lot the songs at the phonic level to avoid mistakes.

Whenever there are original songs, Cynthia usually asks Eddie what a song is about and he explains it to her in detail so she can perform it and live out it properly. She also takes the trouble to translate all the content and learn it to avoid any failure in the studio or on stage.

In the case of the genres, a different level of preparation for each one is always required, so Eddie and Cynthia always rehearse alone at first, while the musicians prepare themselves separately. It is then that they all join together to see how the band sounds as a whole.

Eddie in a studio — Eddie Ortiz playing his trumpet in a studio

Learning from other artists on stage

The members of Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe have had the opportunity to share the stage with Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz, Johnny Polanco, Tito Puente Jr, Luisito Rosario, and many more. When asked what he and his musicians have learned from these great artists, Eddie replied that the opportunity to accompany these personalities and open their shows have been a blessing and an immense honor.

”Each one of these artists has a very unique style and, whenever we accompany one of them, there are always new things to learn in order to be able to interpret those styles in the future. All of these things that we see in others are incorporated into our own music as we see fit” said Eddie.

The media’s role in his career

With respect to the media, Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has had a presence in various magazines and channels such as Honolulu Magazine, KS TV, 88 Tee, University of Hawaii Sports Television, among others.

Eddie said they did not expect this media exposure, but it has been very well received. They have been asked to make music for one or two radio stations or channels, which has given them the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and be known among a wider audience.

The best thing is that this gave them the opportunity to explore other genres, as the aforementioned media have asked for pop, traditional Hawaiian music and other genres requested at that time.

Original music and covers

Eddie also told us that his band usually performs live on various entertainment places about four times a week, so they should try to have a repertoire as different as possible every night so as not to bore the audience.

Regarding covers, there are always certain songs that people usually ask for, so the band always takes them into account to satisfy those attending.

They also try to make a balance of all the genres they play such as salsa, bachata, merengue, cha cha chá, cumbia, Latin pop and many more.

Eddie and his band — This is Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe, the whole band

Tours

Although the band’s strength is in Hawaii, their audience is not centred on the island and they have also managed to tour Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and the Philippines. In those places, the reception of the public towards Eddie Ortiz & Son Caribe has been phenomenal because there are many lovers of Latin music and culture in general there.

Because of this, these countries usually have relatively large salsa events and festivals where they always take this band and other groups of this kind into account. Of course, they are also supported by dancers and DJs in order to liven up the atmosphere even more.

Eddie remembers attending an event called ”Isla De Salsa”, which featured El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico, Juan Luis Guerra, Havana De Cuba and many others. This shows how much Latin music is valued in those places and the large number of followers it gathered.

To end the conversation, Eddie pointed out that they have a large audience in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, so they also have plans and are making the appropriate arrangements to go there soon and meet their fans. They will also perform an anniversary concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the orchestra and will have Luisito Rosario as a guest.

Pablo Padin born in Manhattan, New York

North America / United States / New York

Pablo Padin born in Manhattan, New York. I grew up with a pair of Timbales at home

I was born in Manhattan, New York on December 1, 1969. My parents Pablo and Haydee Padin moved from Puerto Rico to New York in 1968. My father played Timbales with local salsa groups at the time, so I grew up with a pair of Timbales at home.

My father started teaching me how to play at a very young age. We moved to LA. , California in 1978 and I started playing drums in the school band and in the community drill teams as well.

I (Pablo Padin) got my first private drum set lesson at the age of 9 at a music school in Hollywood California.

At the age of 15, I (Pablo Padin) started playing my first steady gig in a salsa band with my father at a nightclub in Marina Del Rey, California.

In 1989 we moved to Puerto Rico so I started studying music at the Interamerican University in San German, PR. At the university I studied with the musicians that were playing with all the big salsa and merengue groups of that time.

So at that point in time I started playing with famous salsa singers such as Roberto Lugo, Nino Segarra, Hector Tricoche, Domingo Quiñones and Johnny Rivera.

At the same time I started doing studio work as well. In 1996 I got the call to play with Gilberto SantaRosa and did that gig for 15 years. It was with Gilberto that I hooked up with piano player, arranger and producer Jose Lugo.

Jose started using me on all of his studio productions. I have won 6 Latin Grammys and 2 American Grammys on recordings and productions of artists such as: Millie Quezada, Elvis Crespo, Grupo Mania, Gilberto SantaRosa and Tito El Bambino.

At that point in my career I started recording and playing concerts with artist such as Puerto Rican Power, Pedro Brull, Yomo Toro & Willie Colón, Andy Montañez, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves, Cheo Feliciano, Rafael De Jesus, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Bobby Valentín, Marvin Santiago, Cano Estremera, Victor Manuelle, Ruben Blades, Ray De La Paz, Jose Alberto ”El Canario” Lalo Rodriguez, Truko Y Zaperoko, DLG, Isaac Delgado, Herman Oliveras, Edwin Colón Zayas and many others.

To this date I’ve been working with Jose Lugo’s Guasabara Combo, in which our first cd was nominated for the Latin Grammy.

We are working on our third cd now that will include two original compositions of mine. I’m super exited, humbled and thankful for all the great experiences that I’ve lived and for the ones that are yet to come, Thank You God!!!!!