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Get to know the “ La Malamaña ” Orchestra

On this occasion we have the opportunity to meet the “La Malamaña” Orchestra

La Malamaña, a salsa orchestra that was born in 2008 as a band that paid tributes to the greats of salsa such as: Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe, stars of La Fania and the Cuban music and timba. They have a neighborhood band spirit, heirs to the sound of the New York neighborhood orchestras of the 70s and 80s, fused with elements of the timba sound and concepts of street music.

La Malamaña Orchestra playing — La Malamaña Orchestra Live

The name of the band was baptized by the former member – founder of the band, “Mauricio Ochoa” who founded and is leader of the orchestra “La Sonora Libre de Barcelona”. The name alludes to the Rubén Blades theme “they are looking for you” and that in addition to that also reflects our way of interpreting, writing and arranging the master genre: Salsa.

The Orchestras are based in Quito-Ecuador, with members from different latitudes, they build a proposal of Quito sauce, also called “high altitude Salsa”, for the 2800 meters above sea level where the city of Quito is located.

His main concerts were:

· Emerald Carnival	· Foro Mundial de la Bicicleta MINGAMOS
· Music Festival in Quito and Cuenca	· Festival – Engine of Change (Ambato 2019)
· Festival in Defense of the Yasuní National Park	· LATIN GROOVE EC (Independent Salsa Festival 2019)
· Libertarian Days	· CUMANDA Parque Urbano (Agenda Cultural – 2019)
· Festival Cota 70, FIL Q (sharing stage with La 33)	· Quito Fest-Fiestas (sharing stage with Rubén Blades)
· Canoe Fest	· Festival del Chocó Andino, Pacto 2019

Photo of the keyboardist of the La Malamaña Orchestra — Member of the La Malamaña Orchestra

But internationally, among the most important are:

2012: Presentations in Beijing and Tianjin, in the People’s Republic of China.
2015: First Tour in Europe (Genoa, Barcelona, Madrid, Lyon, Paris and Tours).
2018: Second Tour in Europe:
- Festival des musiques métisses in the city of Colmar
- FIMU de Belfort Festival “3 presentations”
- Festival La Javelle-Guinguette “1 presentation”

During their time in the world of music they created several albums with a very characteristic sound of them. His first album was called “manual of urbanity and good customs” released in December 2011, which was followed by his single “El Kikuyo” in 2014, a song that was included in the international independent salsa compilation “Salsa de Hoy ”; In 2017 they released their song “Ya Llegó”. As of 2018 they released their latest album released which they baptized “SALSA DE ALTURA”; the members of the orchestra named it that way since Quito is 2800 meters above sea level. This new album has 6 songs by the band, among which are live versions and new material.

Photo of La Malamaña Orchestra — La Malamaña Orchestra at Club Lavoe

Did you know that there is a wide variety of topics that your audience likes, for example, the population of Cali, Colombia likes “What counts the braids” and “How to say” a lot; and in their homeland (Ecuador) they he quite liked his songs: “El kikuyo” and “Para armar”.

The members of the orchestra:

· Grecia Albán – Voices

· Edgar Granda – Voices

· Javier Toro – Piano

· Jamshid Gordón – Electric bass

· Fidel Minda – Drums and timpani

· Diego Minda – Conga Drums

· Sebastián Segovia – Saxo Tenor

· Carlos Quilumba – Saxo Alto

· Yony Muñoz – Trombone

· Francisco Rangél – Trombone

All the members like the strength that “salsa” has, as a music of resistance in the sense of maintaining African and mountain roots in Latin America. They have a lot of new songs and not so new ones that haven’t been recorded yet, we’re in a moment of creation. Soon they will record their new material for the enjoyment of our public.

Soon they will have an event in the month of January 2020 in the city of Quito, Ecuador for the anniversary of a hotel located in the Historic Center

They mentioned to us that their goal is: “We are interested in expanding the musical panorama of Quito salsa towards an alternative platform and generating more audiences at a local, national and international level”

They also sent a message to all their fans and new talents “To our fans we want to say that thank you for enjoying our music and our “sui generis” proposal of salsa and to the new talents simply that they believe in what they say and sing… .this is not about doing something to stick….but rather about being consistent with what is thought and with what we want to contribute in this world that so much lacks good art”

La Malamaña Orchestra photo — La Malamaña Orchestra finishing its presentation at the Club

For more information:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lamala.mana/
Phone: +593 99 801 9775
Email: [email protected] / Edgar Granda/ Manager: [email protected] / Press contact: Diego Minda, [email protected]

Europe – June 2023

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna in International Salsa Magazine

Who is Fausto Cuevas

Fausto Cuevas is a bandleader and percussionist from the state of Texas who is currently leading the orchestra Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna, which has been playing in a large number of nightclubs located in the state of California, where Fausto currently resides.

For its part, Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna is a salsa group whose purpose is to take the old Latin genres and provide a modern twist to them. While it is true that their main genre is and has been salsa, its members also experiment a lot with Cuban guaguancó, yambú, cumbia, son, cha cha chá, among others.

We are proud to have such an artist in our June edition and hope that this conversation will grace all our readers.

Fausto’s beginnings in music

Fausto grew up in Brownsville, a village in Texas very close to the southern border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where his father is from. Due to this territorial proximity to Mexico, the artist was always exposed to ranchera instruments and, in particular, drums. The latter would be very important in what would become his professional future.

At the age of 11, he entered the public school system and was assigned to play a snare drum in a symphonic style. It can be said that this is when his fascination for this type of instrument began and continues till this very day.

In fact, Fausto claimed to have not been interested in guitar, piano or bass. He was always very clear that his aspirations were focused on drums, and percussion.

These first steps led him to specialize in playing American music, rock and jazz. Until then, he had not had any contact with Latin or Afro-Cuban music, but that would eventually change.

Moving from Boston to California

Fausto tells us that his biggest dream was always to go to New York, since the music scene was vibrant there at that time, but he could never do it due to some personal issues he encountered, such as the birth of his daughter. This is what made him move to Los Angeles and give up on that dream.

When we asked him if he still wanted to live in ”The Big Apple”, he told us that he had already found his place in California and his career had already taken root in this part of the United States.

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna was created in a very particular way. One day, Fausto received a call from the department at Berkeley that does concerts for the Boston community and was asked if he had a salsa band to play at the Tito Puente Latin Music Series. He said yes to everything, although he had nothing prepared at the time.

What he did have was a group of friends who were related to music and happened to live in Boston. They were all so well-suited and had so many plans that things worked out in an extraordinary way. That was 25 years ago and they have stayed together to this day despite the obstacles.

Relationships with other artists and genres

Fausto Cuevas Y La Moderna have performed and toured with stars such as Marc Anthony, Jose Alberto ”El Canario”, Celia Cruz, Julio Iglesias, Santana, Tito Nieves, Tito Puente Jr., Stavie Wonder Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, among others.

One thing that Fausto feels he has learned from these artists is to be identifiable as a Latino in American genres. He says it is very interesting to create things, always identifying with Latin rhythms when playing soul, R&B or pop.

Having had so much contact with all these musical luminaries has helped him to rediscover himself and be much more creative when mixing Latin and American elements. In this sense, knowing the roots of the genres he plays has helped him a lot to know how to link both worlds.

It is precisely the knowledge of these roots which has made Fausto Y la Moderna stand out among other Californian groups.

Future projects

As to future projects, Fausto Y la Moderna plans to release a few singles this year and record the rest of the album in order to release the whole album in 2024.

He also pointed out that he is about to release an album with Gonzalo Grau Y La Clave Secreta, another group in which he is also involved, so he invites everyone to listen to his music through networks and digital platforms.

Héctor “Rudy” Regalado and his great career

This is Rudy Regalado

Héctor ”Rudy” Regalado was a Venezuelan artist born on January 29, 1943 in the 23 de Enero parish, Caracas, and died on November 4, 2010, in Las Vegas, United States, at age 61 as a result of pneumonia.

For a great part of his life, he devoted himself to being a brilliant bandleader, composer, percussionist and musician who had a very prolific career with more than 50 years of duration. At that time, he made an endless number of tours and was a very important member of the Orchestra El Chicano, which was very famous in those years.

Rudy Regalado was born in Caracas and died in Las Vegas

Youth

As a teenager, a young Hector began playing drums and timbales in the city of Caracas. The years were not many when he adopted the nickname “Rudy Regalado” as his artistic name in honor of the former Cleveland Indians’ player.

When he decided to embark on a career as an artist, he moved to Puerto Rico in 1963 and began to delight the public of San Juan in various nightclubs of the city. Along with these concerts, he was professionally formed at the Pablo Casals Conservatory of Music.

In 1970, he moved permanetly to Los Angeles and united his talent with local groups before becoming part of El Chicano that same year.

Career with El Chicano

One of the most important details to mention about Rudy Regalado’s career is his participation as a member of the band El Chicano, which was always dedicated to mix rock, R&B and jazz. He remained in the group for 12 years and recorded about five record productions which included songs such as “Viva Tirado” and “Tell she’s Lovely”.

The orchestra also created the song used for the television series “Baretta”, which was broadcast from 1975 to 1978.

Rudy Regalado with the rest of the members of El Chicano

All Star Band

In 1983, he formed his own orchestra “All Star Band” with an outstanding group of musicians from Los Angeles with whom he toured a lot of countries such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and many more. A short time later, its members decided to change their name to “Chévere”.

Almost a decade later, Rudy Regalado impressed the whole world when millions of people witnessed his timpal solo in the World Cup closing ceremony, alongside Kenny G and Whitney Houston.

A few years later, the artist toured Japan in the company of maestro Tito Puente, with whom he demonstrated his great skills as a percussionist and his high musical level.

Mr. Duran, host of The Mr. Duran Show, and Rudy Regalado

Other musical works

In 2008 he reunited with “El Chicano” for a reunion tour, which highlighted the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival at the Golden Gate Park Music Concurse in San Francisco. That same day, its former members played together for the last time at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, resulting in a historic evening in which feelings were close to the surface.

During the course of his successful career, Regalado collaborated with different and important figures of the musical environment such as: Quincy Jones, Rubén Blades, Cheo Feliciano, Cachao, The Zawinul Syndicate, Paquito D’ Rivera, Willie Colón, Oscar D’ León, Alphonse Mouzon, Caravana Cubana, among others.

Rudy Regalado dedicated his life to music and to represent the name of Venezuela in every stage that enjoyed his talent, standing out in the music scene for his vibrant performances with the timbales, also for his prolific compositions and the dedication to his work.

If you want to know more about this Venezuelan icon, you can wrtite to his daughter Norka Tibisay Regalado and get more info about him.