Search Results for: World Salsa

Lengaïa Salsa Brava is killing it in Montréal

Latin talent can be found where you might least expect it and, this time we found it in the city of Montreal, Canada, a place that is cultivating an increasingly large and vigorous Latin music scene. On this occasion, we were thrilled to be able to talk to Giany-Frantz Huyghues-Despointes, who is the leader and founder of the orchestra Lengaïa Salsa Brava.

Lengaïa Salsa Brava is a 12-member salsa orchestra that was created in 2012 by Giany, who was also a trombonist and had some experience in the world of music before daring to create his own group.

The effort of all its members has enabled them to collaborate with great performers of the genre and win important awards such as the Canada Latin Awards in the category of ”Salsa Group of the Year” in a row in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Lengaïa Salsa Brava has also performed approximately 30 concerts a year since its foundation and has participated in important festivals such as Toronto Salsa Festival, Festival Nuit Blanche de Montreal, Nuits d’Afrique, among others. The group was greatly helped by the fact that its members come from different countries such as French Guyana, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Quebec, Spain and Venezuela.

This interesting journey shows us how hard this group has worked to achieve a place within the industry and all the potential they have to achieve much more than what was obtained. Today, Giany, its founder, shares a little more about himself and his orchestra Lengaïa Salsa Brava.

Giany, founder of Lengaïa Salsa Brava — Giany Huyghues Despointes, director and founder of Lengaïa Salsa Brava

Giany’s beginnings as a musician

Although the trombone is the instrument for which Giany is known, he started playing the trumpet from 10 years of age, which is when he began his interest in this branch of the art.

An important point is that in French Guyana, the country where Giany was born, salsa is not a predominant genre, since the most played by the French Guyanese is the mazurka, which is very similar to the Haitian compas. In the case of Giany’s family, they listened to a bit of everything, including salsa.

A turning point for the artist was watching Celia Cruz singing on tv one day. The musician had never heard the Cuban singer before and it was an incredible experience for him, as her deep voice, colorful outfit and wig caught his attention at the time.

Because of her deep voice, he thought she was a man, but his mother explained to him who Celia was and, months later, took him to a concert to see her live. That performance of ”La Guarachera de Cuba” marked him so much that he would begin to lean towards music in the future. Today, he says that Celia is a spiritual mother to him, as she was his great inspiration.

Along with being a fan of the Cuban singer, he wanted to learn to play instruments and initially opted for the piano and the guitar, but that changed when his Spanish teacher at school gave him a trumpet and he discovered that he really liked to play it.

Some time later, he graduated from the national school of music in his country and, by the time he turned 18, Giany noticed that his musical skills excelled more with the trombone than the trumpet. This is how he decided to choose the trombone as his main instrument and so it has been to the present time.

He started playing classical music with that instrument but soon discovered that he wanted to return to the genre that captivated him when he was just a child, so he dared to create a group in France, where he studied aviation. The thing is that he went to live in Canada six months later and had to abandon the plans he had at that time.

Founding of Lengaïa Salsa Brava

Giany arrived in Canada with the vision to create another group in his new country of residence, but he did not know any musicians yet, so he moved into action and started placing ads on social networks and other virtual means to communicate with artists who were interested in joining his project.

The results were amazing and there were many musicians who contacted Giany because of their interest in the concept proposed by him. With this group, he started assembling the orchestra in order to give form to what Lengaïa Salsa Brava is today. The orchestra has six years with the same staff and format it presents to the public today.

Huge number of nationalities in Lengaïa Salsa Brava

As for the large number of nationalities living in the orchestra, Giany has said that all ”are part of a big family” hinting that national origins have not been a problem for the smooth development of the group. In addition to that, the salsa brava is a genre widely known worldwide, so the members of the orchestra knew in advance what they were getting into.

To what we must add that these guys work or have worked in other salsa brava orchestras, so they were pretty much steeped in everything related to this beautiful music.

Giany says it is very easy to work with his musicians because they always know how to perfectly interpret what he wants.

Lengaïa at one of its concerts — Lengaïa Salsa Brava at one of its concerts

Origin of the name Lengaïa Salsa Brava

When Giany was looking for a name for the group, he wanted something different and not very Latin sounding. He also wanted people to ask what the name meant, so we have fallen into the trap.

The musician explained that he wanted something that refers to how explosive, energetic and aggressive his music is, so he chose the name inspired by a Tanzanian volcano called Ol Doinyo Lengaï that spews black lava. ”When you see a volcano exploding, you imagine something explosive and aggressive at the time. That’s what we want to reflect with our music”. Also, the fact that its lava is black is something different from other volcanoes, as is the group’s orchestration and technique,

Activities outside Lengaïa Salsa Brava

Giany wanted to emphasize that all the members of Lengaïa Salsa Brava have other jobs and work activities outside the orchestra. In his particular case, he works as a commercial pilot, but in his spare time, he devotes himself as much as he can to his great passion which is music.

So far, Giany and the other members of the orchestra are unable to live solely on music, but they do their best to keep the group together and are there to fulfill Lengaïa Salsa Brava whenever necessary.

Although the orchestra has been a second employment option, it is undeniable that this is their great vocation and the engine that moves his life, so there will always be space for it.

“The Sun of Latin Music” the first Grammy Award for Salsa Eddie Palmieri’s historic album

It has been 49 years since “The Sun of Latin Music”, Eddie Palmieri’s historic album, which marked a fundamental milestone in the history of Latin music by becoming the first production to win a Grammy Award in the category of Best Latin Recording, awarded on February 28, 1976.

"The Sun of Latin Music" the first Grammy of Salsa Eddie Palmieri's historic album — “The Sun of Latin Music” the first Grammy of Salsa Eddie Palmieri’s historic album

Recorded in New York at Electric Lady Studios, the album was released by Coco Records on Wednesday, September 18, 1974.

The album featured vocals by Lalo Rodríguez, who was only 16 years old at the time.

It includes: ‘Nada De Ti’, ‘Deseo Salvaje’, ‘Una Rosa Española’, ‘Nunca Contigo’, ‘Un Día Bonito’, ‘Mi Cumbia’.

“The Sun of Latin Music” proved to the world that Latin music, especially Salsa, was an honorable art form and opened the doors for many other Latin artists to receive solid recognition for their talent and work.

Eddie Palmieri

The sun of Latin music

MP, 1990. MP-3109 CD

Recorded in 1975

The Sun of Latin Music was a controversial album. It was too far from the easy formula of the middle salsa boom – what César Miguel Rondón calls the “mtancerization of salsa”.

“Ahead of its time” was one of the comments; “a piece like Un día bonito, had to be mutilated” with a 6-minute piano intro just to be able to play it on the radio; a danzón (Una rosa española) with lyrics by the Beatles; a cumbia that is not very Colombian, despite the name (Mi cumbia) and the chorus that says “very Colombian…”.

Nevertheless, this album represents the strength of the spirit of salsa: the encounter between the harshness of the street and the majesty of the most sophisticated musical sound.

One of the best albums of Caribbean music ever released.

Palmieri was always in search of something new. The Sun Of Latin Music is the culmination of a phase that began with an earlier album, Sentido (1974).

This time he chose the Panamanian Vitín Paz for the trumpet solo, Barry Rogers for his trombone and an unusual tuba, which formed a kind of basso continuo, and besides Barry, José Rodrigues, who for a long time was, and despite his absence still is, his most emblematic trombonist.

Cover of issue 36 of Latin New York magazine (April 1976) where Eddie Palmieri appears.

Ronnie Cuber and Mario Rivera were chosen as the first saxophonists in a Palmieri orchestra.

For many it is Palmieri’s best album, the most experimental and universal. One that borders on academic music, but without forgetting the dancer.

With spices like the violin of Alfredo de la Fe, who contributes his creativity everywhere, the tuba, the penetrating power of the brass, the overwhelming percussion.

Thus, Una rosa española is a modern danzón that later becomes a montuno that revives the joyful Palmerian game with the dignified uproar of trumpets, saxophones and trombones.

A young man of only 17 years, Lalo Rodríguez, who years later would become the standard-bearer of what was called salsa erotica, was chosen as the singer. Another novelty: the timbre of his voice, with a very high register, and the way he faced the montuno, which did not correspond to his age, caused different reactions.

But the most amazing thing about this 1974 album is the 14:20-minute track Un día bonito, arranged by Barry Rogers, which would keep even the most trained dancers busy. But Palmieri wasn’t just thinking about leg sets or dance floors.

The piece begins with a long piano interlude, the same structure he used in the track Adoración from the album Sentido, which would mark a new musical phase in his career.

It was more than experimental, it had some electro-acoustic music; no one had ever had the audacity to do that on a salsa album. Palmieri made the leap, he could do it, it sounded more like Stravinsky or Milhaud than Puente or Fania.

Suddenly, back in the piece, the orchestra bursts in, harder and heavier than ever, wishing the city of Los Angeles a beautiful day and San Francisco a “warm greeting,” and it is certain that Keruack and Borrough heard the call.

Then Eddie Palmieri was consecrated by the intellectuals and the educated and also by the Grammy.

Eddie Palmieri

The sun of Latin music

Produced by Harvey Averne

Eddie Palmieri: piano

Lalo Rodríguez: vocals

Vitín Paz: trumpet

Virgil Jones: trumpet

Barry Rogers: trombone, tenor tuba

José Rodrigues: trombone

Ronnie Cuber: Baritone Saxophone, Flute

Mario Rivera: Baritone Saxophone, Flute

Alfredo de la Fe: Violin

Eddie Guagua Rivera: Bass

Tommy Chuckie Lopez, Jr.: Bongo

Eladio Pérez: conga

Nicky Marrero: timbales, percussion

Peter Gordon: French Horn

Tony Price: Tuba

Jimmy Sabater: Chorus

Willie Torres: Chorus

Tommy López Sr.: conga

Tracks: Nada de ti; Deseo salvaje; Una rosa española; Nunca contigo; Un día bonito; Mi cumbia

Arrangements by René Hernández and Barry Rogers

One of the most valuable pieces in the exhibition “Rhythm and Power: Salsa in New York”, which will be presented until next November at the Museum of the City of the Big Apple, is the first Grammy in the history of Latin music, awarded in 1976 to Eddie Palmieri for his album “Sun of Latin Music”.

Sources:

Anapapaya

Salsero Radio

D j. Augusto Felibertt

Also Read: Salsa and its detractors “Caiga quien Caiga”

José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela to the world

José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista, better known artistically as “Hildemaro, El Sonero Del Amor”, was born on November 10, 1957 in Caripito, a city in the eastern Venezuelan state of Monagas.

He is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter whose interest in music began at a very young age, participating in various children’s programs on the radio station in his hometown and in Maturin, the capital of the state of Monagas.

In 1970 he won the first “Festival De La Canción Inédita” held in Caripito.

Then he moved to Carúpano, where he began to sing with different musical groups of that city, such as “Los Bravos” and “Soles De Media Noche”.

"El Sonero del Amor" from Venezuela — “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela

Later he was called by the “Combo Melorítmico” of Maturín, where he stayed for a year. He always wanted to sing in the capital.

In 1976 his dream came true when he was called to be a part of the Front Train Orchestra “Los Satélites”, for seven (7) months, the proposed goals began to be different and began to work to achieve them. In 1979 he joined the “Orquesta Ideal”, with which the song “Contigo Besos Salvajes” was played all over the country and was successively imposed among the first places.

In 1981 he joined the “Supercombo Los Tropicales” of Maracaibo, then the “Noche Caliente” orchestra and later the “Porfi Jimenez” orchestra.

In 1985 he joined the orchestra of Renato Capriles: “Los Melódicos”, which gave him the greatest and best experience, given the popularity, prestige and discipline imposed by its director.

In 1986, as a soloist, he recorded his first LP of tropical music under the name “El Jr. de la música tropical” for the record label “Sur Americana del Disco”, , with the name “El Jr. de la música tropical.”

In December 1987 he received a wonderful offer from the record label “Top Hit (T.H.. ) and in 1988 he records his first LP, as a “sensual salsero” for Venezuela, titled “Amanecí Contigo” under the pen of José “El Flaco” Bermúdez, who is also the creator of the style that pushes him towards the international market, where all his songs hit with great acceptance and have his greatest impact in Peru (his second home as he usually calls it), starting his successful career as “Hildemaro, El Sonero Del Amor”.

José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista "El Sonero del Amor" from Venezuela to the World — José Hildemaro Hugas Amarista “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela to the World

In 1989 he recorded his second LP entitled “Sin Tabú”, which went gold a few weeks after its release, and this album took him back to Peru, where he is considered one of the main idols of Salsa Sensual. Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, United States, Europe (Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Switzerland, among others), Asia (Japan), among many other countries, have joined his successful career.

In 1990 he recorded his third album called “Romantic and Sensual”, consolidating himself as one of the best voices of Latin American and Caribbean Salsa, qualities that were also reflected in his fourth production entitled “Lo Mejor De Mí” in 1991.

In 1993 he recorded his fifth album under the name “Al Natural”.

In 1994 he was invited to participate in the recording of the album “Con Ganas” by the Cuban Issac Delgado, where he performed a duet of a song composed by José L. Cortes called “Que Pasa Loco”, which quickly became an international success and took him to other latitudes.

In 1995 he released his sixth production with the title “Lo Que Siento”. One year later he signed a contract with the Mexican label “Balboa Records”, where he recorded the album “La Mejor Salsa Con Hildemaro”.

"El Sonero del Amor" from Venezuela and Viti Ruiz — “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela and Viti Ruiz

In 1999, he was invited by the Venezuelan group “Melody Gaita”, along with other artists, to record a tribute song to his friend and colleague Oscar D’ León.

In 2001, “Orquesta La Constelación” decided to record an album with several artists, in which he participated with two (2) songs (Peruvian waltzes), “Cuando Llora Mi Guitarra”, in duet with Andy Montañez, and “Jamás Impedirás”, which allowed him to sound nationally and internationally.

In 2002, he is called by another Venezuelan group “Pajarito Vola Show”, along with other artists, this time to participate in a well-deserved tribute to Betulio Medina. In 2002 and 2003 he burst in the national and international radio stations with two (2) singles “Corazón Loco” and “El Celular”.

In 2016, he begins to sound again in the radio stations with the song “Que Voy a Hacer Sin su Amor”.

In addition to his talent to sing Salsa Romántica, he is recognized for his interpretation of the Bolero. And on stage he has shared the stage with artists of the stature of: Oscar De León, Tito Rojas, Tito Gómez, Paquito Guzmán, Andy Montañez, Maelo Ruiz, Viti Ruiz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, David Pavón, Ismael Miranda, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Tony Vega, Nino Segarra, José Alberto “El Canario”, among many others.

"El Sonero del Amor" from Venezuela and El Canario — “El Sonero del Amor” from Venezuela and El Canario

Among his many facets is his love for sports, especially volleyball, which he has practiced since he was very young. He is an honorary member of the FUCUFOCA Foundation, which has been responsible for the organization of the Festival de la Canción Inédita de Caripito for fifty-one (51) years. Faithful collaborator of the Friends of Palencia Foundation and sponsor of several institutions.

Through his foundation HH Productions, he has carried out social actions such as Collaboration in the construction of the Virgen del Rosario Church in Caripito;

Donations of medicines and food to the needy, assistance to sports teams with equipment and clothing, organization of charity concerts and support of the “Amigos de la Palencia” Foundation.

Through his foundation HH Productions, he has carried out social actions such as Collaboration in the construction of the church “Virgen del Rosario” in Caripito;

Donations of medicine and food to people in need, help to sports teams with equipment and clothing; Realization of benefit concerts and concerts of popular attraction in collaboration with the end of year festivities of his hometown.

He has always given value to new talents, helping them in their first steps with his advice and teachings, such as Angel “Tu Angel”, Hildemaro Jr. “La Continuación”, Gilberto Hugas, among others.

Between the years 2022 and 2023 he will celebrate his forty (40) uninterrupted years of artistic life, with a long international tour in countries such as: Colombia, Bolivia,

Peru, Panama, United States, Canada and Europe. He is now promoting the songs “Si Tú Te Vas” and “Amigos Especiales” from his new production, which he is preparing with his inseparable director and producer, José “El Flaco” Bermúdez.

Also Read: Carlos “Nene” Quintero comes from a family of musical prodigies

Omslig D’ León: “I am the son of the sonero of the world, but I have my own style and I am creating my own musical history

Omslig D’ León enters the world of musical art hand in hand with his father Oscar D’ León, who works functionally as a dancer, choreographer, percussionist, background singer and singer, this young Venezuelan talent has already traveled the world in its breadth and length, through almost all the countries of North America, Europe and Latin America.

Omslig decided to start his career as a soloist and create his own history with new challenges, forming his own orchestra with his own compositions, innovating with his own unique and international style.

Omslig D' León I am the son of the sonero of the world — Omslig D’ León I am the son of the sonero of the world

“He recently toured Europe for more than two months, including performances in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Istanbul”.

“And with you, the sonero of the world, Oscar D’ León. Any Venezuelan or fan of the emblematic salsero from Caracas would be thrilled to hear such a presentation, but when you carry his blood, the adrenaline is even greater. His son, Omslig, explained it this way.

It was inevitable that I would become a musician. It’s not just my father, Oscar, it’s my mother, it’s my whole family that has music in their blood,” said the son of one of the most important salsa musicians in history.

Omslig, who began his musical career at the age of 16 as a lectern player in his father’s orchestra, with which he toured the world for 23 years, was in Panama to promote his solo career, which recently took him on a European tour that included Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Istanbul, among other countries.

He will stay a while longer in the isthmus, a country that he says has treated him wonderfully, and then he will travel to Peru and Colombia. “People will think that I am 100% influenced by my father.

Although I learned a lot from him, especially responsibility, I have my own style,” said the director of the orchestra La Melena, referring to his musical project in which he covers songs by various artists, including Panamanian Omar Alfano and Venezuelan Frank Quintero.

Omslig D' León I am the son of the sonero of the world, but I have my own style. — Omslig D’ León I am the son of the sonero of the world, but I have my own style.

Not everything is rosy.

Being the son of Oscar D’ León can be very good, but it can also be difficult. He recalled that in the past there were people who “wanted to throw his last name in his face.

“Don’t think that because you’re Oscar’s son it’s going to be easy. I don’t think you sing the same as your father. Things like that have been said to me, but I have moved forward and thank God with his support and a unique style,” he explained.

For those who think that everything has been handed to him on a silver platter, he wanted to leave this anecdote from when he was in Oscar D’ León’s band. “We were in the Canary Islands, we had already finished the show and the next day, very early, we had to take the ferry to another island.

I fell asleep and my dad dropped me off. In the lobby he left me a note saying ‘you have to learn to be responsible’ and that marked me. Then I was able to make it, but I had to pay for everything.

¿Reencuentro de Leones?

Omslig admitted that he would like to reunite with his “soul mate”, his brother Yorman, to start a musical project and, if the opportunity arises, with Iroska, better known as “La Mazucamba”, Oscar’s daughter, who currently lives in the United States.

“A few days ago my dad called me to tell me that why don’t we do something together and the truth is that it would be great. We’ll see, but it was there and something important is going to happen,” he explained.

For now, Omslig is concentrating on his work as a soloist, with several confirmed performances, and continuing his work as a father, already with three children and happily married.

“I will continue to sing my father’s songs, I will continue to keep his name high, but with the tasty and fusion style of Omslig D’ León,” concluded the 42-year-old native of Caracas.

Omslig León enters the musical artistic world hand in hand with his father Oscar D' León. — Omslig León enters the musical artistic world hand in hand with his father Oscar D’ León.

In a few words

One place: Milan, Italy.

One food: lasagna.

Artist: Luis Enrique.

A person you admire: Will Smith.

A musician: Robert Vilera.

Hobby: Painting.

Why Omslig: Oscar, Moises (paternal grandfather) and Ligia (mother).

Also Read: Freddy de Jesús Ortega Ruiz “Coco & su Sabor Matancero”

Sources:

Peggy Blanco (Manager)

Panama El Venezolano

Yani Borrell ”El Elegante de La Salsa”

How Yani became the artist he is now

We were fortunate to speak with the Cuban singer based in Canada, Yani Borrell, who has been kind enough to spare us a few minutes of his busy schedule to reveal unpublished details of his beginnings in music, departure from Cuba, arrival in Canada, current projects, among other things.

Then these were the most important issues that came up in the conversation we had with the artist for a little over half an hour.

Cuban singer Yani — This is Yani Borrell, a famous Cuban singer based in Canada

Grupo Constitución

Yani joined Grupo Constitución being just a 17-year-old. In his native city of Camagüey, there was a small square where concerts were held and Grupo Constitución used to rehearse there. One day, the young man was going through the place and was struck by what the musicians were doing at that moment.

Suddenly, the musical director asked the vocalist to make a little more complex melody, but failed. However, Yani perceived the sound and reproduced it with his lips loudly. That got the music director’s attention so much that he asked the young man to come over and show the singer what he had done.

When he repeated it, the musical director of the group was so fascinated that he asked her to join them. This is how Yani began to study music to a more professional level and to hold the necessary auditions to be able to belong to an orchestra in Cuba (this was a mandatory requirement in the country to belong to a musical group).

After attracting the attention of other groups due to his talent, Yani was contacted by a more renowned orchestra, Yani decided to leave Grupo Constitución and go with his new companions to seize this new opportunity that life had to offer.

Making music in Cuba

We know that the political and economic situation in Cuba has been complicated for some decades, so we wanted to know how Yani lived these years in his native country while devoting himself to music.

That’s when he started telling us that he had to live through the terrible Special Period, one of the worst crises experienced by the island, so logically he did not have the necessary resources to devote himself fully to his passion and put aside any other job at that time.

Yani on stage — Yani Borrell performing on stage

This is because Yani thought that being in a mildly famous orchestra would bring him the benefits he was looking for, but unfortunately, it was not so. Rather, he was really struck with the difficult reality that sometimes performances and concerts were paid several months later.

Yani and many of his colleagues had to borrow in order to survive and wait for the pay day to settle the debts with those same people. This situation persisted for quite some time until he could work for an orchestra established for tourism, with which payments were a little more regular.

However, she had to make a living doing other activities outside the world of the arts. In his case, Yani was self-employed and even had a small mobile coffee shop where he sold sandwiches. At the same time, he studied music and worked with some orchestras, since it was impossible to live only from music.

The first level orchestras that toured internationally always pursued better financial compensation for their musicians, but salaries were still insufficient to alleviate the crisis experienced in Cuba.

Moving to Canada, Toronto

The process to live Cuba and move to Canada was extremely hard. Yani had already toured the North American country for some time, in fact, he was in about 25 Canadian cities during his tours, so he already knew the territory quite well.

Before the second tour he would do in that country with his orchestra of the day, the artist was very clear that he was going to ”defect from Cuba” (that is how the act of leaving the country at the first opportunity is called in Cuba).

While it is true that his standard of living had improved considerably with this international orchestra, this did not offer the stability he wanted, so he resigned from the group, decided to stay and live permanently in Canada and start a new life.

Today, he is completely satisfied with the results of his decisions and knows very well that he has done the right things for his career and his life in general.

Yani on radio — Yani Borrell during a radio interview

Adaptation to the Toronto music scene

One of the hardest decisions was already made, but there were still some challenges to overcome. He had to face language and cultural barriers in order to stand ut and make a place in the city’s Latin music scene.

At the same time, he worked in factories and even start his own business. He says there were times when he did not even sleep because he played with several local orchestras at the same time, so dividing his time between each of them was a titanic task. However, all the effort paid off.

After being with one of the most renowned orchestras in the area, Yani realized it was time to create his own project, which he called Yani Borrell & The Clave Kings.

After all this, he began to be prompted by a group of people who wanted to help him and pushed him to keep growing, thanks to which he released his first solo album in 2013.

C.W. Entertainment

The artist management company C.W. Entertainment was very important in Yoni’s growth as an artist, because at one point it joined forces with the artist and boosted his career to such an extent that this team made him one of the most important salsa artists of the time in Canada. So much was the support that it was this label that filmed his first two music videos.

Although he no longer works with that company for a year and a half, Yani assures that he still has an excellent relationship with its team and thanks these people for everything they have done for him.

Today, the Cuban already has his own record label and is entirely independent in this aspect.

Yani Borrell receiving recognition at the Caribbean Music and Entertainment Awards

El Elegante de La Salsa (The Elegance of Salsa)

One of the names by which Yani Borrell has been known throughout his career is ”El Elegante de La Salsa” due to his style when singing in this genre and the use of formal wear in concerts.

Regarding the story of how the nickname came about, it was precisely a social communicator who was very well liked in the city of Toronto, constantly interviewed the Cuban singer and started refering to him as ”the heartthrob”.

However, this journalist was the host of the concert in which Yani released his album and referred to him as ”El Galán de La Salsa” (The Salsa Heartthrob) at the moment of presenting him to the public.

From there, the public started refering to him as ”el galán” and ”el elegante”, which led one of his managers to tell him to start calling himself ”El Elegante de La Salsa”.

Future performances

Recently the nominees for the Latino de Oro Music Award have been announced, among which Yoni Borrell appears as one of the nominees for the ”Impact Singer with International Projection” category.

This was news that Yoni received with great pleasure due to so many years of effort to lift his artistic career. This and each one of the recognitions that the artist has received throughout his career has made him feel very proud and sure that he is on the right path.

He also revealed for the first time that he will be one of the artists invited to perform on stage that day to animate the event in the city of León, Spain.

To end the conversation, Yoni finished giving a message to Cuban musicians in which he said that they should always focus on discipline, which he defined as ”the mother of perfection”. He also invited these same young people not to despair and to be constant, since this career is an endurance race, not a marathon.