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RUMBON TAINO 2Nov 29, 2025 240 East 123 St $ 25 |
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AzesuDec 06, 2025 Rhythmix Cultural Works +1 510-865-5060 |
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San Francisco SBK CongressNov 21 / 23 2025 Hyatt Regency San Francisco |
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Sammy Figueroa, a percussionist with an excellent career.
Sammy moved to Puerto Rico as a child to live with his grandparents and escape the Bronx’s gang violence.
At 18, he started his professional career with bassist Bobby Valentín’s band. Throughout his career, he has stood out for his versatility, playing in a multitude of musical styles and contributing to nearly 400 albums, ten of which are platinum.
He has collaborated with major pop artists like David Bowie, Chaka Khan, and Mariah Carey, as well as with distinguished jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, and George Benson. In 1977, he became a founding member of the Latin rock fusion group Raíces.
In 2001, Sammy Figueroa moved to South Florida and formed his own group, Sammy Figueroa and His Latin Jazz Explosion. His albums And Sammy Walked In and The Magician were nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album.
His 2023 album, Searching for a Memory / Busco Tu Recuerdo, is a tribute to his father. The project, produced by his wife, Rachel Faro, with whom he has also co-produced other albums, allowed Sammy to reconcile with his father’s legacy. On this album,
Sammy Figueroa has received numerous awards, including two Percussionist of the Year awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), two Drummie Awards for Best Hand Percussion, and a Best Percussionist award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
Discovered by jazz flutist Herbie Mann, Figueroa became a well-known session and studio musician, touring and recording with The Brecker Brothers, Average White Band, Morrissey – Mullen, The Mahavishnu Orchestra John McLaughlin, and Miles Davis.
He has also appeared with Blondie, Sonny Rollins, David Sanborn, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, George Benson, Chet Baker, Stanley Clarke, Grover Washington Jr., Al Jarreau, Lena Horne, Joe Williams, Mark Murphy, Mike Mainieri, Néstor Torres, Chico O’Farrill, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Bobby Watson, Dave Valentin, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Rubén Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Bobby Valentín, Tania Maria, Mariah Carey, James Taylor, Dr. John, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Celine Dion, Blues Traveler, Natalie Merchant, David Lee Roth, Hall & Oates, Joe Cocker, Rickie Lee Jones, Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, Grace Jones, James Ingram, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, and many others.
Some of the R&B hits he is featured on include Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” Luther Vandross’s “The Night I Fell In Love,” and Ashford & Simpson’s “Solid (as a rock),” as well as most of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards’ hits on the Chic and Sister Sledge record labels.
Michel Camilo wrote the song “And Sammy Walked In” in his honor, and it was also recorded by Giovanni Hidalgo. Two of his CDs, And Sammy Walked In and The Magician, have been nominated for Grammy Awards in the “Best Latin Jazz Album” category. Figueroa hosts a Latin jazz show on WDNA-FM in Miami, Florida.
If you’re not very familiar with Sammy Figueroa’s work, you can try an experiment with this album: listen closely to see if you can guess what his instrument is. In a medium-sized combo, what instrument seems to take center stage? The answer: it’s impossible to guess, which says something about Figueroa’s maturity as a leader.
But there are some very impressive horn arrangements (check out “Cha Cha Pa’ Ti” and the lovely “Cuco y Olga”), along with some of the sweetest, most tender ballads to appear on a jazz album of any genre in recent years (“Queen from the South” and “Zuliana” are the best examples).
Sammy Figueroa & His Latin Jazz Explosion – Urban Nature (2011).
Tracks:
Musicians:
Guest Musicians:
Website: Sammy Figueroa
By:
Also Read: Carlos “Nene” Quintero comes from a family of musical prodigie
For some time, Hispanic genres have attracted people from all over the world, who have been captivated by the rhythms and colors of our music and traditions. Such was the case of professional dancer and director of La Candela Flamenco Company, Ania Bartelmus, who despite her Polish roots, could not help but fall in love with these artistic expressions, prompting her to become one of the leading figures of flamenco in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ania was kind enough to take a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk exclusively with International Salsa Magazine and treat some issues related to her beginnings and current career.
Although Ania was not born into a family of musicians or dancers, she has always been drawn to art and wanted to pursue one of its many branches as an adult. She started taking dance classes in different styles, including ballet, ballroom dancing, contemporary dance, and a little flamenco.
At that time, at 18 years old, the young woman recalls attending a flamenco show by Spanish composer and guitarist Paco Peña in her hometown. She was so fascinated by the musician’s performance that she wanted to focus a little more on that genre and, if possible, manage to professionalize.
Then, her dance classes began to fully focus on flamenco and at much more advanced levels than before. This appeared insufficient to her, so she decided to live in Seville, Spain, for a few years to learn directly from the source.
Ania was fortunate enough to have great teachers who turned her into the professional she is today and one of them was Curro Fernández, who affectionately nicknamed her “La Rubia de La Candela” when she was his student. During her first year in Seville, the dancer enrolled in the school of Esperanza Fernández and Miguel Vargas, the first being her singing teacher.
Esperanza was originally Ania’s teacher, but she was constantly touring and could not always attend the scheduled classes. Therefore, it was her father, Curro Fernández, who took her place and taught the classes instead of her, which made him some kind of father and mentor for Ania and the rest of her classmates. His knowledge and good humor made him one of the best references for the girl on the way she had to go.
In 2014, Ania officially started her company, which initially received the name Ania Flamenco, but she later renamed it La Candela Flamenco in order to give more importance to Ania’s stage name.
At the beginning, the company was seeking to present Spain’s traditional flamenco, but this became a tough task to pull off in the United States, as many of the best flamenco singers are not based there. So Ania decided to change her strategy and opted for a more Latinized flamenco, since most of her musicians come from Latin countries and a large part of the public feels a much stronger connection to Latin genres than to traditional flamenco.
On this subject, he also said: “We continue to respect the main rules of traditional flamenco, but we do not include flamenco singers because of the difficulty in finding them in the city. Our shows focus on other flamenco elements where we can best showcase the tradition’s richness.”
La Candela Flamenco Latin Band is the company’s main group and is made up of a wide variety of famous musicians, one of them being Venezuelan guitarist José Chirinos, who joined the band in 2018 and contributed greatly to expanding the company’s horizons thanks to his background and the rhythms he brought from his homeland.
Thanks to Jose, Ania met Cuban percussionist Juan Pablo Solas Machado, who brought a lot of experience in flamenco, having been part of a company that toured the world with a Cuba’s flamencoised repertoire. The other percussionist who more recently joined is American Dave Holland, providing great knowledge about rhythms from around the world and serving as a connection between the Latin and the Anglo-Saxon souls for the rest of his bandmates.
We also cannot fail to mention Venezuelan pianist José Manuel García, one of last year’s great additions to the team along with fellow pianist Tony Castillo.
Finally, we also have Bulgarian flutist Teodora Stoyanova, whom Ania met through Jerry Fields, the percussionist with whom she started the company in 2014.
One of the major events in which La Candela Flamenco Latin Band usually participates annually is the Hispanic Heritage Celebration, to be held on October 25 at the Emory Performing Arts Studio in New York. This will be the third time they have presented this show in Atlanta, although in previous years, the concerts were held at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.
Ania was first contacted to participate in the event in 2023, as its organizers wanted a show that reflected flamenco in the context of Hispanic heritage. On that occasion, Jose Chirinos played a leading role in the concert, while for the second edition, La Candela Flamenco Band featured the great talent of Mexican composer and guitarist Ricardito Sánchez and the aforementioned Tony Castillo. All of these musicians helped La Candela Flamenco to become more diverse and expand much more into Latin jazz and other rhythms of this type.
Thanks to the great job done by the team, for the second edition of the Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Ania noticed much more interest in the band’s performance than the previous year, and thanks to past experience, the next show worked best.
For the third edition, in which the talented dancer and her group will perform once again, International Salsa Magazine wishes them all the best and we have no doubt that everything will turn out in the best possible way.
Read also: Cuban singer-songwriter Osmay Calvo shows his versatility in the New Jersey music scene
North America / USA / New York
At Salsa Fever On2, they take great pride in being the only licensed Adult and Children Salsa / Mambo dance academy in the state of New Jersey! Salsa Fever On2 has been in business for 12 years.
Here, we have a reputation throughout the dance community for providing our students with an Award-Winning, structured curriculum that is conducive to all different levels of dancers while maintaining a fun and stress-free environment.
Whether you want to take your dance to the next level, support your exercise regimen, work on social skills or scape the daily stressors in your life, you can rest assure that you will be surrounded by a supportive staff in a non-intimidating environment.
The instructors at Salsa Fever take pride knowing that their students are held to the highest calibre and it’s evident on the dance floor. Under the artistic direction of Mario J. Gonzalez and his staf, SFOn2 Dance Academy aims to create true “On2” dancers – trained equally in dance and musicality.
Professional Dancer, Instructor, Choreographer, Actor, MC, DJ Date of Birth: April 23, 1976 Birthplace: Hoboken, NJ EthnicBackground: Puerto Rican/Cuban [email protected]
Mario has had an interesting start to what is now a SALSA / MAMBO lifestyle!
Mario was very athletic throughout his grammar and high school years. In 1999, a really good friend and high School teammate, Danny Useche, introduced Mario B. to the “Salsa Scene”. This, in turn, inspired Mario to sign up for his first dance class. It did not quite work out as well as he expected, as the class was slightly more advanced than he predicted. This left Mario even more determined to prove his point, size, shape and color was irrelevant when it comes to MAMBO!
Mario was down, but definitely not out. He then came across one of the smoothest and most humble instructors in the Mambo scene, Greg Taylor, a prodigy of Delille Thomas and Original Eddie Torres dancer. After a few days with Greg Taylor, Mario was in Mambo Heaven. Took classes with Greg for approximately 6 months and was eternally grateful to Greg for this time, patience and expertise. Mario knew it was time to move forward and take on more of a challenge; he began taking more advanced classes with other established instructors.
Mario was immediately sought out and asked to become “The Papa” to Abbey Plotkins “The Mambo Mamas & The Papa”. Mario was now the Mambo Papa! By joining The Mambo Mama & The Papa, Mario was gice the opportunity to perform for what would become an instant hit LATIN MADNESS, an off-Broadway Dancical / Musical depicting the evolution of latin dance from past to present. The director and producer agreed that Mario would be a great addition to their all-star cast. Mario was now dancing alongside the BEST Mambo Dancers in the world! Latin Madness gave Mario the opportunity to dance, work and share the stage with the most sought out professionals in the world.
With stage experience and help from an acting coach, Mario earned the respect to appear in the movies “Empire” and “Kal-ho-naho”. Mario acted for the NY International Independent Film & Video Festival at Madison Square Garden, which then opened the doors for Mario to perform in two latin concerts at MSG… the largest stage in the world! In a short amount of time, Mario has come a long away to become a Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Instructor and Actor.
What’s most amazing I that he achieved all of these goals with NO background in dance!
It’s true what they say “Hard work does” pay off! “Hard work does pay off!” Who would have thought that Mario would transition from a full – time athlete to becoming a future Mambo Legend? In addition, his love for music and dance was Mario’s motivation to name his youngest daughter Jazzlyn.
Please bring comfortable shoes with a leather or suede bottom. The best investment you can make as a dancer is a pair of quality dance shoes.
Do NOT recommend rubber soles or thick soled shoes as it will be difficult to find your balance, spin, and do the other exercises that to do in class. Bottled Poland Springs water is sold at the studio for a dollar.
Come dressed to dance. A short sleeved shirt and comfortable pants, tight & wind breakers are recommended. This class is a workout, you will sweat & enjoy it. There is a changing are at the studio, as well as restrooms.
The school is also equipped with state of the art central air conditioning & heating for both the summer & winter.
Every class begins with a warm-up as a group, with introductory footwork drills for the first hour.
This gives students a chance to review the material that they know, and also gives them opportunity to assess new students and makes sure that they are in the appropriate group. For the second hour you split into partner work & continue with turn patterns & instruction. At the end of the class students have time to practice the moves that they learned, as well as ask question & clarify things that may have been missed.
Location: 83 Franklin Street
Jersey City, NJ 07307
Phone: (201) 792-116
North America / USA / California
Rudy Regalado was a composer/ educator and one of the top Latin Rock Timbaleros based in the area of East Los Angeles, California during the 1970s and the second more famous Latin percussionist after Tito Puente. His legacy has been exceptional, 23 recorded albums, participated in big Festivals from USA and shared the best platforms with the best in the world. This artist was well known for his style, his contagious rhythm and eccentric presence.
His beginnings in this instrument go back at the end of the 1950s. During that period as s teenager, he learned to play the drum and timbales in home town (Caracas-Venezuela). For 1963 and with desire to eat the world with his music he moved to Puerto Rico and started playing in hotels and clubs in the San Juan area with Julio y su combo, the first house bands he played with in Puerto Rico’s at Hotel Caribe Hilton. They were the backup house band for all the famous musicians that performed in the Island in 1965; at the same time he studied harmony and percussion at Pablo Casals Conservatory of music.
A decade later the restless Venezuelan timbalero migrated to Southern California, where he joined playing with local jazz and Latin groups before joining with the extremely popular Latin Rock Band called El Chicano.
The timbalero of timbaleros spent twelve years with El Chicano, singing and playing the timbales in 5 albums, which was included in Top 40 hits during the 1970s with the songs “Viva Tirado” and “Tell Her She’s Lovely”. El Chicano also created the theme song for the television series Baretta, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978.
After, Rudy formed his own Latin Jazz All-Star / Salsa Band in 1983, which included a selected group of musician from Los Angeles. Initially known as Todos Estrellas, the band eventually became known as Chévere (aan expression of Venezuelan popular slang) and appeared at the PlayBoy Jazz Festival, Disneyland and Fiesta Broadway, among other engagements. The band also performed overseas in summer festivals in Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and throughout the European continent.
As part of an El Chicano reunion in 2009, the Timbales maestro performed during the 40th anniversary of Woodstock festival at the Golden Gate Park Music Concourse in San Francisco, where the group actually celebrated their own 40th Anniversary, and last played with them at the Greek Theatre of Los Angeles in front of over a 100,000 screaming fans.
In addition, he participated in a variety of sessions with the Zawinul Syndicate, Quincy Jones, Alphonse Mouzon, Caravana Cubana.
Rudy also toured with Aretha Franklin in charge of her percussion section, was a drummer for Los Melódicos in its 1980 tour of United States, and performed on the Tonight Show, the Nancy Wilson Show and American Bandstand. His film credits include The Skeleton Key (2005), as well as the television series Pepe Plata (1990) and Clubhouse (2004).
Héctor José Regalado better known as Rudy Regalado passed away on November 4th, 2010, in Las Vegas – Nevada, where he died from complications of pneumonia at the age of 67.
Currently, his daughter Norka Tibisay Regalado founded in 2013, the Rudy Regalado Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to provide inner city music programs with instruments and financial support. “Let no child be left behind due to lack of funds”. In February, 2014, they donated over 2500 instruments and donated $2000.00 to help with cost for instructors. Her goal is to get financial support from big companies and the community in order to reach many more music programs; she is also working on bringing music programs inside children´s hospital to help the healing process to their mentally ill children and burned survivors.
Rudy Regalado will be forever remembered as one of the greatest Latin exponents of Salsa / Jazz sound of all time, undoubtedly, The Legend of Timbales (January 29, 1943 (Caracas – Venezuela) – Covember 4, 2010 (Las Vegas – Nevada).
For additional information or to make a donation, please contac Norka Regalado at 323.270.8176 or go to website www.rudysfoundation.org/
