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The recently released single “Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album, Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also in acetate.

With a fifty-year career in music, the leader of the Salsa 220 Orchestra, Colombian trombonist Oscar “El Gato” Urueta releases the second song of the musical concept he now directs.

“El Gato” delivers his latest single “Cómo te quiero yo”, composition and arrangement by Venezuelan pianist Alberto Crespo; this time with Rodrigo Mendoza, remembered for his time with Dimensión Latina de Venezuela, on vocals. Urueta got in touch with Alberto Crespo after seeing his work in social networks.

This single, in my opinion, deserves international diffusion because of the Afro-Caribbean interpretation in this concept described by Urueta himself as high-voltage salsa. I listened to the track and I feel obliged to highlight it for bringing us a classic salsa concept, without being more of the same; so let’s go to the mambo, here is what you hear:

During the first 10 seconds, Rodrigo Mendoza leads the vocal part opening the theme as if opening a door; inviting the listener to go on a musical journey that merges various cultural influences.

At the first minute mark it is already known that the trombones of Oscar “El Gato” Urueta and Eliel Rivero are in charge of the musicalization. At minute 1:45, Alberto Crespo’s piano solo delights us without making it dense.

This piano solo, from which the salsa dancer who dances in tune can benefit, seems to embrace in perfect synchrony the sound of José Soto “Mortadelo”‘s bass.

At minute 2:30 the trombones take over the song, and melodically give way to the tumbadora, in the hands of Carlos Padrón; meeting with the sound of the same in a tasty instrumental correspondence full of cadence and Caribbean flavor.

At minute 2:36, the bass of José Soto embraces again the sound of the tumbadora.

At minute 2:40 the tumbadora turns on the mambo. At minute 2:42 the tumbadora leads the percussion, opening the way for a bell that plays with the coros of Luisito Cabrera, Rodrigo Mendoza and Edgar “Dolor” Quijada, as well as interweaving with the trombones.

The trombones persist and sustain a mambo of those that bring “more salsa than pesca’o”, as we say in Puerto Rico; until around minute 2:55 the conga, the timbal and the bell execute a forceful cut and in unison, to return the arrangement to the trombones.

At minute 4:00, the leader’s trombone seems to be in sync with the percussion and vocalist to close the track; shortly after the trombones enter into a brief correspondence with the tumbadora, just before Padrón’s campaneo concludes the track at minute 4:25.

Urueta has a healthy musical trajectory, surrounded by the greats of the salsa sound. “El Gato” was part of the Colombian orchestra La Protesta, when Joe Arroyo was the group’s vocalist. Urueta was also part of the now world renowned Grupo Niche, replacing Alexis Lozano on trombone. Urueta traveled to New York City with Grupo Niche as part of the first international tour of the group founded by the late Jairo Varela. He later settled in Miami where he was part of the orchestras that accompanied stars such as Frankie Ruiz, Hansel y Raúl and Santos Colón, to name a few.

Coincidentally, “El Gato” Urueta joined Hansel y Raul’s orchestra when the song ‘Maria Teresa y Danilo’ had become a hit throughout Latin America. Urueta shared the stage with musicians of the stature of Israel López “Cachao”.

In the 1990s, Urueta was a musician with Joe Arroyo’s Orquesta La Verdad, with whom he traveled around the world.

After participating in several concerts accompanying Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, about five years ago, Urueta took on the task of forming the Orquesta Salsa 220 with which he presented the single “Guaguancó sabroso”, which featured Puerto Rican Rico Walker as guest artist on vocals.

“Cómo te quiero yo” is the preview of what will be the album: Sabrosura y Tradición, soon to be released also on acetate.

Bella Martínez

You can read: Sigo entre amigos de Luis “Perico” Ortiz

By Bella Martinez, ISM Correspondents, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Earl Miranda and Ric Feliciano talk about the Latin Rhythm Boys and its history

Here we have Miranda and Feliciano

Good afternoon, we have here Earl Miranda, musical director of the Latin Rhythm Boys, and Ric Feliciano, writer and arranger for the group. Nice to meet you guys. It’s a pleasure to have you here.

Hi, Karina. It’s great to see you. We’re doing great.

Earl Miranda, Henry Miranda, and Yomo Toro

Okay, wonderful. This project began with your father, Mr. Miranda, who was at the head of the group. What did you and your brother Henry learn the most from your father? How did you develop a love for music?

This all started when we were just kids. We had a lot of family celebrations like Christmas and my father’s band always came and play until three or four o’clock in the morning. My mother made food. Music was always very important to all of us from the beginning. When my father died in 1969, my brother started playing for some bands and I started working as a DJ until it got to the point where we got together and decided to start this whole project together.

Around 2003 or 2004, we contacted our cousin Ric Feliciano to ask him to join us. We started to develop a new salsa style. Ric came with the salsa flavor, while we had the jíbaro flavor, so we brought those two things together to start making music.

Mr. Feliciano, do you have anything to add?

Yes, I am a Boricua from New York, that is to say, a Nuyorican as people say here. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, I grew up listening to the music of Hector Lavoe, Mon Miranda, Willie Colón, among others. I am a trombonist and also like trombanga, which is the music of Mon Rivera and Willie Colón which involves placing trombones at the front of the group so that the sounds are very heavy. That is the style of the Latin Rhythm Boys, which seeks to look to the future, but honoring the stars of yesterday. Since we have three or four trombones and a very particular singing style, many people say we sound like La Fania, including Hector Lavoe’s timbalero, who tells us that our style reminds him a lot of the 70’s and 80’s.

When I listen to your music, it sounds a lot like old school salsa. Why choose that specific style?

For me, that style represents the story of which we come from. My family and his father come from Puerto Rico and moved to Hawaii. In 1963, my father made his life in the United States, California, but he actually started his band in 1957, which was called Junior Miranda and The Latin Rhythm Boys. Then, my brother called it The Latin Rhythm Boys Orchestra.

We have added certain elements to make our music more modern, but many of the arrangements are typical of old school salsa.

Earl Miranda, Henry Miranda and other members of the band

How Earl, Henry, and Ric work together

Mr. Miranda, you are the musical director of the Latin Rhythm Boys and your brother Henry is the music producer. How do you work together?

(Mr. Feliciano answers the question) Well, I’m the arranger, so what we do is Earl and I write all our lyrics together. My family comes from a long line of jíbaros, but we also love salsa. That’s why we are what we are today.

(Earl Miranda’s answer) We are a great team because I have a lot of ideas and Ric applies them in a phenomenal way. Things work out even better than when I thought of them.

We’ve been invited to awards shows and films to make soundtracks in Hollywood. We’ve done some jingles for certain Hollywood and Netflix films.

Mr. Miranda, you said in an interview that jibaro is more like heart and soul, what did you feel when you listened to jibaro music as a child? Why is jibaro music so important to you?

This taste for jibaro music started when I was a child. This reminds me of when I was with my family, my uncles, my aunts, my cousins and other members. It is in my soul. However, we knew we had to evolve into something more relevant. That’s how we created the group and decided to mix new with old. We look to the future, but honor the past.

There are many family members in the orchestra. Would you say this is a family project?

I would say that myself, Henry, Ric and Ricky Castillo are part of the same family. Certainly, there are many members of the family, but many things change over time and members get older, so they withdraw from group. There are also many members who are not family, but they become family and become very necessary for the band.

Ric Feliciano playing the trombone

This question is for Mr. Feliciano. I understand that you joined the orchestra in 2003. How did you join the Latin Rhythm Boys?

I came to California in the 90’s and was part of a few bands here, but I was looking for something that might take me back to my roots. That’s when I heard about the Latin Rhythm Boys (laughs) and decided it was a project I could work on. It brought me get back to my family roots, but we also achieved a new sound.

Music is very important to the family. You have always listened to Jíbara and Puerto Rican music. Would you say that education and training is important for musicians?

Yes and no. Musical training is important on the one hand, but on the other hand I think that music just flows. For example, I’m not very good at reading music, but it’s here in my heart. I could perceive it, even if I don’t have a lot of training around it. I think that’s part of the beauty of it all. Well, Ric is a teacher, so he can offer you another view on this subject.

(This is Mr. Ric Feliciano) Indeed, I am a teacher and I’ve been teaching music for over 30 years, but I must tell you something. Education is not enough to be a good musician because there is a connection that cannot be taught through a class. I’ve had many students who do everything right in technical terms, but they don’t have the necessary flavor. Not everybody has that. I think there needs to be a balance between feeling, flavor and education.

Ric, Earl, and Henry singing and playing

Do you have to be Latino to have that flavor?

We have some guys in the band who aren’t Latino, but they get the swing. We can work with anyone regardless of their ancestry, as we’ve had Americans and Europeans who have everything we’re looking for. We give them the sounds and they have no choice but to imitate them (laughs).

Do you consider it more important to make original music than to do covers?

Absolutely. If you have the talent and vision in your head, everything flows. I think if a person has a song in his/her head, he/she is going to want to translate into reality that idea and play it for an audience to see its reaction. If the reaction is good, you think you’ve done something right.

(This is Mr. Feliciano) What we usually do is to play our own songs at 90 per cent and covers at 10 per cent to please the audience. In fact, many people ask us for certain songs that they think they’re not ours, when, in reality, they are our hits from many years ago.

Ric, Earl, and Henry performing

“Tabaco y sus Metales” the legend of Salsa made in Venezuela

On May 30, 1995, Carlos “Tabaco” Quintana died in Caracas, Venezuela, the city where he was born on September 15, 1943.

Charismatic Timbalero, Sonero and Director of “Sexteto Juventud” and “Tabaco y sus Metales” the legend of Salsa made in Venezuela”

Former member of “Sexteto Juventud”, founder of the orchestra “Tabaco y sus Metales”. He was born on September 15, 1943 and began his musical training in the corners of San José.

Youth took him hand in hand with the street salsa brava, the rebellion of Palmieri and Mon Rivera’s trombones and the castinglés sound of Joe Cuba’s sextet.

And it was so long that they began to call him “tabaquito”, a tabaquito who waited for the day to be over to find the musical flavor far from the chore of shoeshine boy and town crier.

He never forgot that he used to go out to 23 de Enero to listen to the rehearsals of a group that was being formed there.

Years went by and rehearsals went by while Tabaquito got to know one by one the members of that group until 1963, when he was twenty years old, his friend Elio Pacheco recommended him to Olinto Medina, the leader of that band.

Olinto was about to rehearse “Guasancó” and the singer was not in tune with him.

Elio’s recommendation took effect and “Tabaco” did its thing, very well. Thus the Sexteto Juventud had a new voice and something more, because Carlos Quintana was able to walk through all the instruments of the group.

He had an almost magical vocal timbre. His voice was astonishingly similar to Ismael Rivera’s and we already know what that meant at a time when Maelo was the obligatory reference from the ranks of Rafael Cortijo’s Combo.

With Quintana the Sexteto Juventud had moments of true glory because although it reflected the influence of Joe Cuba they created a style that continues without copy.

In addition to his vocal art, Tabaco was a good composer, with a good vibe and reciprocity in the town. Every September he would go to play for the prisoners, on the day of Las Mercedes. He felt what a captive felt and that is why he composed “La Cárcel” (Qué malo es estar/ estar entre rejas/ y qué soledad/ qué soledad se siente).

Along with this song he released “Mi Calvario”, a piece that became a classic.

(Quisiera saber/ cuál fue la causa/ de nuestro olvido.And so, between recordings and toques, Tabaco, in the Sexteto Juventud, saw the arrival of José Natividad Martínez, Naty, the flutist and friend. Naty sold the idea of the brass to Quintana and Quintana, buying, suddenly came up with “Tabaco y sus metales” and recorded Pablo Alvarez’s “Una sola bandera” which was a smash hit, “Agua de mayo” and his tribute to the rumberos, “Tuntuneco”.

In May 1984 we published a very rich interview with Tabaco in El Nacional’s Feriado. Almost immediately they called to locate him. He was invited to the Managua 84 festival. It was the first time he left the country by air.

He performed for 30,000 people with Son 14, Amaury Pérez, Pupi Legarreta and Tania Libertad, among others. On his return he told me that the Cubans were astonished because they thought that in Venezuela there was only Oscar D’ León, and that he almost fainted when Daniel Ortega approached him to ask for an autograph, and that he touched the sky when Adalberto Álvarez and Son 14 went up on stage with him to sing “Una sola bandera”.

His dreams: He had two: To record an album as a tribute to Ismael Rivera, and to make another one with boleros. Once in Macuto he sang with Ismael Rivera and for both of them it was a tremendous experience. In Guarenas, the musical and brave, specifically in “Menca de Leoni” was cooking the dream.

With Naty’s help, he began to record Maelo’s on an album that the Sonográfica label did not take care of releasing afterwards. He could not finish it because cancer took him to the hospital where Joe Ruiz was also hospitalized.

That album was vocally completed by Ángel Flores. He, who admired Cheo Feliciano and Tito Rodríguez so much, could not make the bolero album either.

Naty says that in more than one night he managed to get Tabaco out of the hospital to advance the tribute album to Maelo. She knew that Tabaco wanted to do it, and pleased the friend, who also, looking for spiritual relief to his physical pain, went to Los Teques, where he was surprised by death on May 30, 1995.

“Tabaco” Chronology of his musical life 1.943 Carlos Quintana was born on September 15 in the San José neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela.

1.955 as a child he worked as a shoeshine boy and began to be interested in music.

1.959 in his adolescence he attended the rehearsals of a musical group in the 23 de enero neighborhood of Caracas, because of his skinny body and stature they began to call him Tabaco.

1.962 on May 13 was founded the group called Conjunto Rítmico Juventud, which eventually gave rise to the Sexteto Juventud, composed of Olinto Medina as director and bassist, Elio Pacheco on the Tumbadora, Carlos Croquer on drums, Arturo Lopez singer, Juan Medina on guitar and Isaias on bongo.

1.963 musician Elio Pacheco introduces Olinto Medina leader of the group to his friend Carlos Quintana.

1.967 “Tabaco” joins the group and in a short time he becomes the vocalist of the group in his first recording titled “Guasanco”, a 45 rpm single whose reverse side was titled “Cautivo”, this happened on February 22nd of that year.

SB1 Publications

Besides having a voice similar to that of Ismael Rivera, Carlos Quintana performed well on the bongo and other instruments.

On June 11, 1967, the first album of Sexteto Juventud was released, entitled “Guasanco”, it was recorded for the Velvet label and the name of the album was due to the success of its first single “Guasanco”, other songs on the album were “La Jibarita”, “Bógalo” and “Consejos de mamá”.

The same year 1967, this time on September 24th, their second album is announced: “Mas Guasanco”.

A new production of the sextet is called “A bailar juventud”, which contains the songs “Guasanco número 3”, “Hermanos con salsa”, “Soy el Bravo” and “Guajira Sentimental”.

The Sexteto releases the album “Mala” for the same Velvet label, where the numbers “Capricho antillano”, “La calle 10”, and “El Nuevo Guasanco” were recorded.

Two new records that were pressed for Velvet are: “Sabroso tumbao” and a work with the voices of Carlos Quintana and Oscar Mijares who was nicknamed “El chino” titled “La juventud se impone” for the Velvet label, in which they developed rites such as: Guaguancó, Jala jala, Guajira, Guaracha and Mozambique with hits such as “La cárcel” and “Jala jala Navideño” in the voices of Carlos Quintana and Oscar Mijares.

1.971 a new Sexteto album was released, entitled “La magia del sexteto”, which included songs such as: “Con todas las banderas”, “Sandra Mora” which would later be recorded by Naty y su Orquesta, “Caramelo y Chocolate” and “Virgen de los cuatro vientos”.

Also in this year they recorded an album called “A todo ritmo” in which they included “Caramelo Tumbao”, “De nuevo Borinquen” and “Comand Bógalo”, they were awarded a gold record by the Velvet music label.

1.974 On April 22nd without “Tabaco” in their ranks, Sexteto Juventud recorded an LP that we have to mention for its success at the Salsa level, the album was called “Lo espiritual del Sexteto Juventud” with rhythms like “Guaguanco”, “Guaracha”, “Bolero”, “Danzon” and “Guajira” and we highlight the numbers “Espiritualmente”, “Vestida de Blanco” and the homage to the Boricua land with the theme “A Puerto Rico”.

1.975 following the suggestion of his friend and musician the Venezuelan flutist Natividad Martinez, Carlos Quintana creates his own group “Tabaco” and his Sextet. Their first song was called “Una sola bandera” and was very well received by the public.

Also in 1969 he recorded the spectacular album titled “Agúzate”, for Tico Records, with classic songs such as: “Aguzate”, Amparo Arrebato”, in homage to a dancer from Cali, Colombia, “Vive feliz”, “Guaguancó Raro”; “Traigo de Todo” and the bolero “A mi manera”.

Carlos Quintana recorded the album titled “El Sabor de Tabaco” in the Colors studios in Caracas, the album contains songs such as “Maria lienza”, “Pegao”, “Ofrenda” and Yabirongo”.

1.975 records the albums “Tronco e’ baile Tabaco y su Sexteto” for TH records in which appear the themes “Pobre”, “Mata Ciguaraya” by Benny More and the hit “La Libertad”, in which he makes mention of the greats like Benny More, Celia Cruz and Ismael Rivera, half of the themes of the album are authored by Gabriel Carrasco and the other record production of 1. 975 was called “Tabaco y su Sexteto: Mi pueblo – Mi burrita – Nostalgia”, for the Top Hits label, with the production of Tony Montserrat and which has the themes “El Vals de Papa”, the Tango “Nostalgia” and a very salsa number titled “Ponte en Ritmo”.

1.976 his musical work is titled “Tabaco y su Sexteto” with the arrangements, production and direction of Victor Gutierrez, the record was made in Venezuela by La Discoteca CA. And contains a number of authorship of “Tabaco” entitled “Mi Celda”, and other songs like “Amor amor” and “Prefiero mí son montuno”.

1.978 Carlos Quintana changes the name of his group to “Tabaco y sus Metales” and with that title they record for the Top Hits label in the Intersonido CA studios, the album includes songs like “Tristeza y pena”; “Celda de castigo” and “Sinceridad”; both by Carlos Quintana. The orchestra was formed by Pedro Landaeta on Piano, Hector Pacheco on Bass, Pablo Álvarez on Conga, Carlos Quintana Bongo and Percussion, Gabriel Carrasco on Tres, Trumpets by “Pollo” Fuentes and Luís Arias, Natividad Martínez on Flute, Carlos Quintana Singer and the choirs of Gabriel Carrasco, Dimas Pedroza, Álvaro Serrano, Carlos Quintana and Víctor Gutiérrez.

1.979 Tabaco y sus metales publishes a new album under the title “Ni poco ni demasiado” also for the TH label with a number of the same name and other songs such as the big hit “Arrollando”, a version of the song “Todo de los metales”, a version of the song “Todo de los metales”, and a version of the song “Todo de los metales”. a version of the song “Todo el mundo escucha” by Bienvenido Granda and also a number by Markolino Dimond titled “Maraquero”.

With the production, arrangements and direction of Victor Gutierrez, the recording was made at Intersonido CA in Caracas.

1.980 the musical work of this year was titled “Advertencia”, this work was made in Puerto Rico under TH license, it is a sample of what at that time “Tabaco” meant in Salsa, in this recording participated musicians like Luís Quevedo in the Piano, Polo Huertas in the Bass, Papo Pepín in the Conga and Yayo el Indio and Carlos Santos in the choirs.

The musical direction and arrangements were in charge of Ray Santos. Among the songs on the album are “Agua de mayo” by Pablo Álvarez, “Que ironía” by Carlos Quintana and “Alegría” by Naty Martínez. Regarding this work, Rafael Rivas, Disc Jockey of Radio Aeropuerto, wrote: “Latin music in Venezuela has had several variants, some aimed at fulfilling a certain time, others evidencing the spirit and reality, the daily life with success; precisely to this current or trend belongs Tabaco.

The commitment to sing what he carries inside, to expose with his natural style the things he feels, even his motivations, leads us to reflect on the figure of Tabaco.

It is he, and no other, in our country, who has dedicated himself to present with passion what he suffers, what he sees, what he truly feels.

Tabaco says, his naturalness allows that balance between what he sings and lives, he seems to conjugate, and perhaps that is the truth, to take for himself, what we have logically lived.

Tabaco’s life is here, and we respect his criteria: without a tenacious diffusion Tabaco has managed to sell, to surpass the best; and there is a reason for it: Tabaco has the strength.

He is interested in singing, in carrying a message, and in his own way he has exposed it with sense, with full authenticity.

Tabaco commented to me one afternoon at the Airport: “Tigre, I believe that the important thing is to define ourselves, to express our reality and denounce at the same time: that is why Rafael believes in you, because you are the message, the truth of our movement”.

Tabaco was referring to the content of the songs; he believes in the possibilities of music, in its magic to undertake behaviors and to present the rage, love and passion of our spirit.

Later Tabaco pointed out to me: “What is indispensable is to sing, the way things are felt, the way the people communicate, that is why I make Salsa”.

And that is why Tabaco has a name, a special public, that has known how to understand him, because he has reached us, with sense and commitment. He is the voice of the people aimed at interpreting their process, their experiences, their daily work. Therein lies the reason for his inspiration, the context of his themes.

When he inspires, he shows his capacity to value, his speech evidences his thoughts, his aspirations, and also his repudiation. He hides nothing and what emotion we feel, when he unloads on the timbales, when his voice rises and blends with the rhythm, telling truths, encouraging the spirit, if I understand the dancer, generating relief to the heart, living the cadences, demonstrating his skills as a sonero. He created his own style, and this has consecrated him.

Now we have the new Tabaco, with more maturity, and the experience of the arranger who at this time has a special prestige: Ray Santos.

Ray’s commitment went beyond what we originally thought; Tabaco was a challenge for Ray; he had Santos in front of a marvel, as he described him, the people turned to the figure of Tabaco, who felt he had the best time to undertake the melody.

Ray prepared the arrangements with a concentration that he had never achieved before, he understood the commitment, and Tabaco knew how to respond to the requirements.

Ray confessed that Tabaco is gifted with possibilities, so his work demanded the maximum. For the first time, Tabaco appears with a superband, with a different orchestration, and it was necessary to do it, the time demanded it, his voice has the right to sound to the four winds, it is time that our best (Tabaco) interprets reaches the Caribbean, with height.

Tigres y tigressa, with this LP we will have special music; its quality, its conception, will lead us to take it into account, not only for our rumbas but to enjoy it all our lives.

The producers knew perfectly well the intention of recording with Ray Santos, they knew that Tabaco would keep to his style, without any change or twist that could deviate his personality as an interpreter; what they were basically looking for was perfection in the orchestration, that magic touch that would allow him greater expressive freedom; that is the reason for recording in Puerto Rico.

The best thing that could have happened to Tabaco this year was to meet Ray Santos, and for us, that unity represents the most audacious and wonderful thing that has been done so far. I believe, despite the express prohibition to advertise cigarettes, that this Tabaco is the purest, most inimitable in its Venezuelan flavor, and most authentic of the Caribbean. What are you waiting for? Light it up now! Tabaco y sus metales 1.981 was his next production for Top Hits records, with arrangements by Jorge Millet and Natividad Martínez, in which the songs “Si la envidia fuera Tiña” by Jorge Millet and Carlos Quintana: “Mi Celda” and “A Millet” were recorded.

In 1982 he recorded an album called “Cosa Linda”. The themes of the album are: “Cosa linda”, “Tremendo guaguancó”, “Fiebre de ti”, “El callo”, “De mi rancho a tu casa”, “El cafetero”, “Camarera de amor”, “Consejo a las mujeres”.

(H3) 1.983 Produces the album “Homenaje a los bravos”, also for TH records, which includes “Baranda” by Justi Barreto, “El Timbalito” by Tito Puente and “La Culebra” by Obdulio Morales.

1.984 in this opportunity the album was called “El Timbalero, Tabaco y sus Metales”, which includes two numbers by Justi Barreto: “Timbalero” and “Barito”, the song “Casamiento” by Rafael “Chivirico” Dávila and a song written by Carlos Quintana: “Contestación a mi calvario”, production, direction and arrangements by Andy Duran.

988 Tabaco y su grupo futuro, recorded for the Velvet label in which they recorded songs like “El taxista” and “El Temporal”, with arrangements by Félix Suárez and Víctor Santana, the members of the group are Carlos Quintana singer, Fidel Antillano pianist, Jesús Torres on bass, Cruz Armando Quintana on bongo, Alirio Castillo on Timbal, Alberto Vergara on Vibraphone, Victor Santana on tres and guitar, Jorge Ruiz on conga, Tambora and guiro in charge of Jorge Orta and the choirs of Carlos Quintana, Felix Suarez, Victor Santana, and Pablo Alvarez.

On May 30, 1995, the Venezuelan musician, composer and singer Carlos Quintana, known in the salsa world as “Tabaco”, died in the city of Caracas, victim of cancer. His voice died, but his legacy of thirty-two years of artistic life remains for all the followers of his musical work in Venezuela, Colombia, Latin America and the world.

The Salsera Fiesta Returns To Rome

The wait is over and Fiesta opens its doors with a new season of Latin concerts during the summer

Festival Fiesta has been the point of reference in Italy for Latin American concerts and events for 27 years.

Since 1995 the Fiesta club has been the point of reference for Latin American culture in Italy during summer nights in Rome.

Fiesta is located in the Rosati Tourist Park (Parco Rosati -Eur) and has an area of 5,000 square meters with a capacity of 3,500 people. Its distribution consists of an outdoor music room equipped with a stage with a led wall for live music and two dance rooms for different musical styles (Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha Cha, Bachata, Rumba, Merengue, Timba, reggae, and reggaeton).

“The objective of this festival is to build a permanent cultural bridge between Italy and Latin American citizens living in Rome, promoting the value of integration between peoples and respecting different identities.” Fragment extracted from the website. https://fiestafestival.it/

In this regard, the artistic director Mansur Naziri expressed the following: “Over the years I have witnessed several changes in the audience of Fiesta. Now, we have reached the new generations, those the children of immigrants who were born in Italy feel Italian but still keep their traditions alive, even through music. Next to them are the Italians who dancing and listening to Latin songs have also learned a little Spanish, giving life to a beautiful cultural fusion…”

The most representative Salsa artists who have come to this evocative stage of the Eternal City have been Celia Cruz, Los Van Van, Rubén Blades, Gilberto Santarosa, Tito Puente, Oscar D’ León, and Marc Anthony, among many others.

This year the club with its Fiesta festival will continue to offer the best of the Latin music scene from the traditional to the most current. Here are the Salsa artists who will be performing in the cool of Rome’s nights from June to August.

PUPY Y LOS QUE SON SON

Pupy was the pianist in the Revé Orchestra

The Cuban traditional music orchestra created and directed by the pianist, composer, and director César Pedroso Fernández better known as “Pupy” will be performing on Wednesday, June 1^st, and tickets don’t exceed €17.

Pupy is recognized for being one of the most important figures in Timba and traditional Cuban music. He participated in two emblematic orchestras during his career: Orquesta Revé and Los Van Van. In this last-mentioned band, he was one of the founders along with his partner and friend Juan Formell.

After 32 years of artistic career, on October 4^th, 2001, he formed his band Pupy y Los Que Son Son. Its name derives from the recognition of “Son” as a musical genre where his roots come from, and the style of the band is the fusion of the different instrumental formats with the “Tumbao”.

HAVANA D’PRIMERA

Alexander Abreu spent his childhood in Cienfuegos city (Cuba), where he began playing the trumpet at ten years old.

The band of more than ten musicians created in 2008 and founded by the Cuban trumpeter, singer, and composer Alexander Abreu will take the Fiesta stage on Friday, June 3^rd, and you can get the ticket for €30.

Alexander Abreu has become one of the most versatile and acclaimed Cuban musicians in Afro-Cuban music. “I have always seen Havana D’Primera with 15 people on stage, and everyone said that it was impossible, that it would be too expensive, too difficult to move… It is how we started: 14 or 15 of us and a lot of positive energy, now we are stronger than ever.” Abreu commented.

Havana D’Primera’s first album is Haciendo Historia released in 2009, followed by Cantor del Pueblo (2018), A Romper el Coco (2019), and Será que se acabó (2021).

LOS VAN VAN

Los Van Van was the first Cuban group to replace a solo singer with a vocal quartet.

The musical orchestra founded by Juan Formell in Havana (Cuba) in December 1969 will arrive on Saturday, August 6^th. They will present their fusion of Cuban Son, Jazz, and Rock with the incorporation of percussion, trombones, keyboards, electronic violins, flutes, bass, and drums for a rhythmic and harmonic sound that complements the quartet of voices, and you can get tickets for a value of €30.

All the best from Stockholm to the world with Fredrik Kinbom and Valter Percussion

Innovative Percussion Instruments designed in Sweden

Timba Valteriana is the salsa project of Swedish percussionist Valter Kinbom.

Renowned Swedish percussionist Valter Kinbom released this January 14, 2022 the first single from his salsa project Timba Valteriana, “Mil Colores”.

Valter founded Timba Valteriana in 2006, when he started composing salsa songs in collaboration with Cuban musicians Lesmer Solenzar and Pepe Espinosa.

These early songs were never officially released, but received attention in the Peruvian timba scene. Now – after 15 years of silence – it’s time for Timba Valterana’s first official single! The new track “Mil Colores” is a love song that addresses the human inability to see all the nuances and the whole spectrum in the other, and the ease with which we slip into a black and white point of view. A theme that seems more relevant than ever in this day and age.

Timba Valteriana plays Cuban timba (salsa) with influences from many other directions.

Innovative Percussion Instruments designed in Sweden Timba Valteriana is the salsa project of Swedish percussionist Valter Kinbom. — All the best from Stockholm to the world Fredrik Kinbom and Valter Percussion

The vision is to be innovative by introducing new elements into the music while at the same time there are strong roots in the Cuban soil, also giving space for new means of expression to flourish.

In “Mil Colores” this can be heard through the use of the tres (Cuban three-string, six-string guitar) instead of the piano, and in that Valter here plays four congas for a richer and more melodic “tumbao”.

“Mil Colores” has been written, arranged and recorded by Valter Kinbom in his Stockholm studio, mixed by Monsito Music, Stockholm, and mastered by Fredrik Kinbom at Madame Vega’s Boudoir, Berlin.

Musicians:

Valter Kinbom – lead vocals and backing vocals, congas, timbales, bongo, guiro, bell, tres, synth bass.

Karin Hammar – trombones

Nils Janson – trumpets

Julian Montilla – baby bass

Caroline Schröder – backing vocals

Rapson Espinosa Torres – backing vocals

About Valter Kinbom:

Valter Kinbom, born in Stockholm, is a musician (mainly percussionist) and instrument builder. He studied music mainly in Cuba (Censea, Havanna) and at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) in Stockholm, and over the years has played with many different artists in the Swedish world music scene (Simone Moreno, Hedningarna, Ale Möller, Massivet, Tarabband, Erik Steen, to name a few).

Valter has extensive knowledge of Cuban, Brazilian, Arabic and Western music, as well as other styles such as Flamenco. He loves the complex intricacies of polyrhythmic African music, but also the clean simplicity of Western folk music. His fascination with rhythms and instruments from all parts of the world has led him to a deep understanding of how they interconnect and relate to each other. This, along with his passion to innovate and improve, led him to found his company Valter Percussion in 1997.

Since then, Valter has designed and produced several new percussion instruments that have been recognized by percussion masters around the world, such as Jamey Haddad (Paul Simon), Trilok Gurtu, Marilyn Mazur and many, many more.

After many years in his workshop and playing behind other artists, the time has finally come for Valter to release his own music. “Mil Colores” is just the beginning – there is much more to come.

Private link to listen to “Mil Colores” on SoundCloud:

Private link to “Mil Colores” electronic press kit (WAV and MP3 files, cover art, photos, etc.):

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q4jbkx3r6pb6md7/AADdwU4zGRsj-JlELNppOZNsa?dl=0

Valter Percussion’s Instagram:

Valter Percussion Facebook:

Valter Percussion website:

Release Date was this January 14, 2022 (digital).

ISRC: USCGH2204179

Article of Interest: Gerardo Rosales meets Orlando Poleo, who invites him to study Afro-Caribbean percussion in Caracas