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Orchestra “Real Expression”

Latin America / Venezuela / Caracas

Orchestra “Real Expression”. Relay youth in Afro-Caribbean music

The “Real Expression” Orchestra was born under the initiative of a group of friends who converged during the 90’s as part of their free time and to liven up their family parties.

Empirical musicians moved by the passion for the salsa genre and their musical preferences chose a series of songs to inspire their repertoire of “hard sauce” paying homage to orchestras such as: Los Satélites, Fruko y sus Tesos, Dimensión Latina, Roberto Blades, among others.

Relaunching

The “Real Expression” Orchestra in 2016 had an unexpected loss. Its founder Oswaldo García and pianist of the group, exercising his role as a GNB official, lost his life in a confrontation.

This moment marked a silence in the Royal Expression Orchestra, which after the physical disappearance of Oswaldo, could not find a path to musical growth and there was no longer reason to celebrate.

After a year, his son Wladimir A. García, who learned the magic of the piano from his father, decides again to summon these friends of his father to continue the legacy that was Oswaldo’s passion in life.

During the year 2018, the “homemade” rehearsals and the desire to consolidate the group continued and in December of that year Wladimir Alexander formally decided to start piano lessons with the teacher Alberto Crespo, a Venezuelan pianist recognized in the salsa scene for his participation. in Bands such as Bailatino, and professionalize their innate skills in order to take on the challenge of Musical Direction of the Orchestra, under a concept of varied salsa repertoire and coupling talents of different ages in order to capture audiences of all ages.

With this impetus and desire, “Orquesta Real Expression” was born with a group of musicians of all ages and periods, a fresh and original repertoire with a “street tumbao”, extolling what is born at night in the Caracas parish “23 de January” cradle of salsa par excellence and in homage to all “street and guataca” dancers.

Musicians

After the call, many musicians were encouraged to participate, including Gilberto Gil (tumbadoras) who has been supporting Wladimir Alexander since he took over the orchestra, we consider him “the brother of the house”.

There is also Gonzalo Ribas (singer) of the old school with an original soneo and a musician by vocation formally dedicated to the business of selling spare parts. In the voice is also part of this project Jeanmicet Canónico, singer with a career in traditional Venezuelan music.

Jeanmicet is currently part of the “Francisco Pacheco y su Pueblo” Project and his son, also renowned percussionist Roland Orozco, decided to join the percussion base for “Real Expression” with Luis Urbina.

On bass we are accompanied by “Yimmito León” from the family of the great Oscar D’ León, son of Yimmy Leon. The sax is represented by Javier José Torres Perez (saxophonist and flutist).

Following the line of brass Meyderson Rada (trumpet) who also belongs to the project of Francisco Pacheco y su Pueblo, and as arranger and bass Premmlim Villamizar of the new generation of, under the direction of Wladimir Alexander singer and piano.

Repertoire

The repertoire includes songs covered by orchestras such as Los Satélites, Grupo Canela de Colombia, Spanish Harlem, Hildemaro, Eddy Santiago, Eddie Palmieri, Oscar D’ León, among others.

Real Expression Orchestra. Musical Direction: Wladimir Alexander Garcia. Phone (0414)3175583. email: [email protected] Instagram: orchestrarealexpression / twitter: @ExpressionReal / Facebook: Real Expression Orchestra.

Under the production of: La Negrix Salsera

Email: [email protected]. Instagram: Yohelia Acosta / Facebook: Yohelia Acosta.

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.

“Trayectoria de Clásicos” – Johnny Cruz and Adalberto Santiago

North America / United State / New York

Johnny Cruz releases his new Salsa album “Trayectoria de Clásicos” with Adalberto Santiago to the musical arena

The famous Timbalero and musical producer presents a CD tribute to all the Puerto Rico and the world’s Soneros, along with one of the most privileged voices of Latin music and Fania All-Stars’ vocal ex-leader: Adalberto Santiago.

"Trayectoria de Clásicos" - Johnny Cruz and Adalberto Santiago — “Trayectoria de Clásicos” – Johnny Cruz and Adalberto Santiago

Johnny Cruz “El Señor del Timbal” launches his second historical compilation “Trayectoria de Clásicos” directed to all the Salseros lovers of the whole world, which can relive in a single album ten great classics of this tropical genre in the interpretation of the vocal versatility most famous of six decades, Adalberto Santiago.

This four-years recording album involved more than 20 Latin music personalities, including: Jason Villamar, Louis Perieda and the special guest: Richi Ray (Piano), Rubén Rodríguez and Freddy Rivera (Bass), Johnny Rodríguez, Pedro Segundo and Luisito Rodríguez (Bongos), Eddie Montalvo and Erick Vélez (Congas), Jerry Rivas and Luisito Rodríguez (Three), Nelson Jaime Gazu (Trumpet), Johnny Cruz (Timbales), Moisés Noguera (Trombones), Freddy Miranda (Baritone), Jerry Rivas, Adalberto Santiago and Frankie Vásquez in the choirs and Adalberto Santiago as Leader Vocal.

Each track of this Salsa flagship CD was chosen with special attention for being emblems of the salsa movement of the 60s, 70s, and 80s popularized by great artists and orchestras, such as: Fania All-Stars, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Cheo Feliciano, Tommy Olivencia, Adalberto Santiago, and Justo Betancourt.

“Trayectoria de Clásicos” comes with the differentiating touch of musical arrangements of extreme sonority concerning their original compositions. “Anacaona” (1971) by Cheo Feliciano with the Fania All-Stars, “El Swing” (1965) and “Un Verano en New York” (1975) by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and “Hipocresía”, the work of the Cuban master: Adalberto Álvarez are interpreted by the legendary vocalist Adalberto, who at 82 years of age keeps his voice intact and dominates a wide range of tones. This former member of the Chuíto Vélez orchestra, Ray Barretto, Típica 73 and Los Kimbos has one of the most prominent careers in the music industry, which has allowed him to share stage and recording with almost all the world-famous Salseros.

In this Salsa compilation, the New Yorker Cruz, also included the six singles: “Planté Bandera” (1975) whose original composition is Tommy Olivencia, “No hago más Na” (1973) belonging to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, “Pa’ Bravo Yo” (1972) by Justo Betancourt, and “Imposible ha de Ser” (1977), “Más Sabroso” (1985) and “Mañoño” (1973) with Típica 73 by Adalberto Santiago.

Undeniably, it’s an album that was worth every year of waiting. “Trayectoria de Clásicos” is of incomparable quality and a super Salsera production highly recommended.

Waiting for the big concert in the city of New York for all lovers of the genre this year!

Release: 2019

Label: Cruz Music Inc.

“Salsa music means everything to me. It’s a passion that goes hand in hand with my culture and roots… I have been playing it for 40 years as a musician and love it dearly”. Johnny Cruz

Johnny Cruz “El señor del Timbal”

The New Yorker musician, CEO, businessman, audio engineer, producer and broadcaster of radio and television, Johnny Cruz since 20 years ago has had one of the most important programs of the five counties of the city of New York dedicated to Salsa, “The Johnny Cruz Show”. This program seeks to enhance the genre, raise awareness and make a difference to what has already been established with interviews with Salsa Mainstays and emerging artists. “The Johnny Cruz Show” is already part of the New York Latino culture and you can enjoy it on public access television every Saturday from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM and also through www.mnn.org and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNT-nQee0t_uiDvUGlyh5dA

Likewise, Cruz is also the host of the digital radio program “Galería de la Salsa” dedicated entirely to this tropical rhythm, concentrating on the biggest hits of all times and salsa styles, as well as presenting outstanding live interviews. “Galería de la Salsa” is broadcasted all over the world online at www.miradio.fm.us

This humble, sincere, and successful multifaceted artist told us that among his plans are to make great concerts in his hometown and the rest of the world.

“My legacy rests on what I have created like the SPAHA Salsa Gallery, my radio show, my TV show and all of my musical productions. I hope future generations look at my work here and are inspired to continue the Salsa tradition”. Johnny Cruz

Johnny Cruz Timbal: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100028301633677

Adalberto Santiago:

https://www.facebook.com/adalberto.santiago.1401

Balazo Destacado:

Johnny Cruz releases his new Salsa album “Trayectoria de Clásicos” with Adalberto Santiago

Puerto Rican singer and talented sonero Charlie Maldonado

Interview with Charlie Maldonado

José Charlie Maldonado Rodríguez, artistically known only as Charlie Maldonado, is a Puerto Rican singer who has a great talent as a backup singer and sonero, which he has been developing throughout a prominent and very successful career in the world of music.

After having read his biography and being interested in the journey he has been on in salsa, we decided to contact him and arrange a conversation in which we could learn more about him and everything he has done to get here. Next, is a little bit of Charlie’s beginnings and, later on, everything he told us.

Charlie talked to us — Talented Puerto Rican singer Charlie Maldonado, who kindly accepted to talk to us

Beginnings

Charlie was born on October 4, 1964 in the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. At a very young age, he was always exposed to boleros and salsa music, as his father belonged to a musical trio that was very popular at the time.

For those years, he listened to Ismael Rivera, Cheo Feliciano, Gilberto Monroig, Danny Rivera, Marco Antonio Muñiz, among others. Charlie said that, with such references at that time, it was impossible not to be enchanted by the music, so his interest in this branch of the arts grew and grew over time.

His interest got to the point where he wanted to learn to play percussion instruments such as the tambourines, the maracas, the drums and, most especially, the bongo (it was the first instrument Charlie learned to play).

Although he does not consider himself as the best bongo player of the world, he is believed to be very capable of playing it efficiently and delighting the listening audience. Most interestingly, he did not achieve this level through formal academic training at an institute, but through constant practice at ”rumbones de esquina” (congregation of people who play music, dance and drink alcohol on a street corner), school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties.

These informal activities in which he was able to participate gave him the opportunity to develop as an artist from a very young age. In addition, his father and other musicians in the family helped him a lot in this process. The magic you feel when you play music, the family warmth and interaction with the public are not learned in any academy,” said Charlie.

Charlie at rumbones — Charlie Maldonado practiced his skills at ”rumbones de esquina”, school activities, family gatherings and Christmas parties

The Saljaztet

The first opportunity for Charlie to play in a professional group came with The Saljaztet in 1990 thanks to its founder Bobby Concepción, who saw him singing in one of those street parties and believed in his talent and what could be done with it.

Bobby is an industry veteran who has worked with many orchestras such as Orquesta Panamericana and La Orquesta del Maestro Willie Rosario. Being around him taught him a lot and he gained a lot of experience by seeing him in action on stage.

He even taught him some vocal and instrumental techniques to apply in his performances.

Charlie keeps the best memories of this group, its director and his colleagues. He is extremely grateful for everything he learned from them and continues to apply many of these things today.

Osvaldo Núñez, Sammy Marrero, La Selecta and more

”Every human being who comes into our lives has a lot to contribute and teach us. Lord made is different, so all the musicians I’ve worked with have taught me different things” said the artist.

Osvaldo ”Cuchón” Núñez is a brilliant musician who was very dynamic on stage. He was able to play the trumpet, do chorus and lead at the same time. He performed all of these functions excellently, which is why Charlie paid too much attention to what he was doing and copied him.

Raphy Levitt from La Selecta de Puerto Rico was an extremely regimented person who ran the orchestra very well and was excellent for business. He had an almost military discipline and was extremely picky about his musicians and vocalists, to the point that he made them rehearse separately depending on their roles on stage.

Levitt, Marreno, ,Núñez, and Charlie — Levitt, Marrero, and Núñez were very important in his career

In the case of Sammy Marrero, he was always at the height of Levitt’s demands and sometimes exceeded them. In addition to being extremely disciplined, he always lived up to what was required of him on each project and even a little more. He even worked with him when he had his own orchestra, a period in which Charlie learned even more from him.

On this subject, the singer concludes that ”The personalities mentioned have taught me three fundamental things: discipline, perseverance and respect for the public”.

Solo career

The idea of becoming a soloist was always on his mind, but it was not until 2016 that he was able to carry it forward. The previous year, in 2015, the maestro Raphy Levitt unfortunately passed away, at which time Charlie had some songs recorded.

He was already thinking about becoming independent and creating his own musical project, but had not decided to leave the orchestra until the death of Levitt. That is when he got hands on work and finished the record production he had already started.

In 2016, he launched his first solo project entitled ”Dueño de Nada”, whose songs are mostly written by Charlie Ramos. The only cover in the album is precisely ”Dueño de Nada”, which was written by Manuel Alejandro and masterfully played by José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma” in the 1980’s.

His most recent album is entitled ”Vida Artificial”, which was released in September last year and addresses very interesting and current issues. The single that gives its name to the whole album, ”Vida Artificial”, ”is perfect for today. Phones, tablets and computers are damaging everyone’s mind. There are families who sit at the table, but don’t even talk to each other focus their attention to electronic devices. Technology is important, but we can’t be connected to it all the time. That was the message we wanted to bring with Artificial Life” said Charlie.

Charlie on stage — Charlie Maldonado singing on stage

Future projects

Charlie is about to release a song titled ”Señora Rumba” written by Eduardo Saya. The material has already been recorded and Charlie and his team are working on the video clip, which has a few shots filmed. It is expected to be released this August.

Likewise, he is working on his concerts and private presentations in Puerto Rico, but some opportunities are opening up in Colombia in the future.

También lee: We spoke with Andrea Chaparro from Lulada Club

The void left by Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta

Pupi’s life

Cuba has given the world a large number of artists who have left the name of the country very high, so it is always a good moment to talk about them. Such is the case of arranger, composer, singer and musician Felix ”Pupi” Legarreta, who sadly left this world last month.

Given that this great exponent of Cuban music and the charanga genre is no longer with us, we think it is a great opportunity to remember a little of his career and all the way to becoming the great artist he was.

Pupi playing the violin — Pupi Legarreta playing the violin on stage

Pupi’s childhood

Felix Legarreta was born in 1940 in the city of Cienfuegos, Cuba, and from the very early age, his father nicknamed him ”pupi”, as he would be called for the rest of his artistic life. ‘’Puppy in Spanish means ”cachorro” (a very young dog), so this pronunciation was very interesting to Americans.

Around this same time, Pupi was not really interested in music as a profession, as his thing was carpentry at the time. However, he began being affected by severe asthma attacks due to the dust used in his daily work, so it was recommended to his father to take him away and make him dedicate himself to something else that would not damage his health.

This is how the young boy decided to become a barber and met a friend with whom he started taking music lessons, which could be considered as the first contact he would have with music.

The first instrument Pupi played was the violin. He admits it was not easy to learn how to play it, but with effort and dedication, he managed to become really good at music. However, he was faced with another challenge that would complicate the realization of his new dream: lack of money.

Like the majority of families in Cuba at that time, Pupi’s was also going through a complex economic situation, so buying everything he needed for his musical training was very difficult. However, it did not stop his father from getting down to work and raising the money necessary to buy his son his first violin.

In a 2010 interview, Pupi revealed that it took his father more than two years to raise 60 pesos to buy a used violin at a pawn shop, as it was the only way he could afford the instrument for the young boy.

Pupi playing a flute — Pupi Legarreta playing a flute in a studio

Formal beginnings in music

When he decided to travel to Havana, he was given the opportunity to play Orquesta Sensación, with which he earned about eight pesos a month to cover some of his basic expenses. It was very difficult for him to live with that little, but music helped him to support himself.

However, little by little he worked his way up and earned the respect of his fellow musicians, who consider him for their own projects.

In 1959, music also allowed him to travel to the United States, specifically to the state of California, but it would not be too long before he decided to try his luck in New York. Once there, he collaborated with artists such as Mongo Santamaría, Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco, Machito, Tito Puente and many more.

Fania All Stars

In 1964, he started collaborating with the Fania All Stars, which had more than 24 instruments, including trumpets, pianos, basses, singers and more. Pupi was so shocked that he could not refuse to work with the world-famous orchestra, as this number of musicians was something he had never seen before.

In total, he recorded between five to seven albums with La Fania on which Pupi was taken into account when issuing opinions about his work. If the artist considered something was not quite right and wanted to change it, the orchestra did whatever was necessary to satisfy him with the results of the recordings.

The only criticism that the Cuban issued towards the orchestra is regarding the excessive focus on the Puerto Rican market, in fact, the vast majority of musicians were Puerto Rican. This caused them to neglect other markets that may be useful for Fania. However, this does not exclude all the positive things that came for those involved during the time this union lasted.

When his time in the orchestra ended, he was working for an electricity company in New Jersey, but his family was in Philadelphia, so he decided to move permanently to this city, where he remained till the day he died.

Album cover for Pupi — Album cover for ”Pupi Legarreta Y Su Charanga”

Death

In the afternoon of July 3, 2023, Félix ”Pupi” Legarreta’s relatives issued a statement giving the deplorable news of the artist’s death the day before at the age of 83.

His daughter Frances Legarreta posted the following on her social networks on the already mentioned day: “I announce with great sadness the death of my father, Pupi Legarreta, on July 2, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife Frances, his son Michael, his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and his daughter Otie in Puerto Rico”.

In addition to the above, he revealed that his father expressed his desire to be cremated and not to be veiled in a memorial service. She also asked that her entire family’s privacy to be respected in view of the pain that its members were going through.