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Two years after the creation of the Latin Jazz album XYZ with Son Bent Braam

Michiel Braam presented XYZ at the Music Meeting Festival. “The festival takes place in Nijmegen, where I was born (1964), grew up, and still live”. Foto: Marjan Smeijsters

Virtuous pianist, masterful producer, and surprising composer. Winner of the Podium award (1998) and Boy Edgar (1996/1997). Musician trained by conviction and at the ArtEZ Music Academy in Arnhem. His lifestyle is synchrony between freedom, creativity, teaching, and love. It is how he presents us his life and his works in Nijmegen, Michiel Braam.

This friendly artist with a protective childhood where love prevailed always had the support and freedom to develop and create everything he considered necessary to him. Michiel is the only one in his family who turned to music professionally, but the rhythm of melodies runs through his veins. His parents played the piano self-taught. His mother wrote notes while his father just improvised.

During high school, he participated in a band for which he wrote and arranged all the music. He studied at the conservatory and founded his more minor quartet Bentje Braam (“Little Band Braam”) in 1985. In the same year, he traveled with his band to Sweden to be the first Dutch group to open the EBU Jazz Festival and wrote his first composition for the Dutch radio “Cows and Beasts”. A year later, he created the band Bik Bent Braam.

“Music is, as long as I know, everything to me. I feel better with music. I dance when I’m happy, and music comforts me when I’m not doing so well… It seemed like a logical step to pursue what I enjoyed most.” Michiel Braam https://www.michielbraam.com/

By 1988 Braam had had no contact with Latin music until percussionist André Groen asked him to be the pianist for his Orquesta Europea de Danzón. In this regard, this wonderful pianist told us: “He wanted a pianist who had a wild free Jazz attitude and who didn’t only play the well-known Latin patterns because he thought that fitted better with the authentic Cuban music. That music immediately appealed to me, especially because of its rhythmic impact, but also because as a pianist, you have a lot of freedom to go in all directions during improvisations. I have touched on those Latin patterns to some extent and in the course of the 10 years that I played in that orchestra I managed to master them better, but it was mainly the combination of freedom and rhythm. That orchestra lasted ten years and we celebrated the thirtieth anniversary in 2018 with a couple of concerts. Great to do that again and I felt again exactly why I found it so appealing back then”.

In 1988 Michiel won the Podium Prize, an encouragement prize for Dutch Jazz music and in 1996/1997 he won the Boy Edgar, the highest prize for Dutch Jazz.

This pianist, the architect of great projects, built a party based on the Latin alphabet of Western culture on the album XYZ released in 2020, creating a danceable mix that includes Mambo, Rumba, Son, Danzón, Boogaloo, Calypso, Rumba, Bembé, Mozambique, Samba, Afro, Bolero, Cha-cha, Merengue, Bembé, and Samba. Michiel is also the Director of the Jazz and Pop department of the ArtEZ conservatory and founded a Danzón orchestra. Now, I leave you with the rest of this wonderful interview that I had the opportunity to do with the great Maestro Michiel Braam. Enjoy!

They have played on the ZomerJazzFiets tour, North Sea Jazz, and Bimhuis. Likewise, some of the members of the orchestra are fluent in Spanish.

– How did the idea of the Latin jazz album XYZ come about?

In 1995 I wrote “The XYZ of Bik Bent Braam” for my big orchestra at the time, Bik Bent Braam (phonetic Dutch for “Big Band Braam”). I thought it would be fun to make a festive version of it to celebrate the 25th anniversary. The XYZ was (and is) a 26-part suite, with a piece for each letter of the alphabet, starting with Aardedonker (English title Atramentous, Spanish Apagado, both not exact translations…) and ending with Zwoerdspek (Zaftig, Zafio). I revisited all the pieces in 2020 and paired various styles with the original material. In the 1995 original, they were mostly jazz-like styles (bebop, free improv, swing, jazz ballad, etc), but Chachachtig was a rumba even then. It is the only piece that has not changed its mood substantially.

– What happened to the previous members and how did the new members take hold?

The original orchestra Bik Bent Braam was composed of top musicians from the Dutch improvised music scene. The orchestra existed from 1986 to 2013 and had a number of lineup changes. In the final version of Bik Bent Braam there were only a few members left from the very beginning. That the musicians of Bik Bent Braam could read well was not really a requirement, the core was affinity with swing and great improvisational skills. For this new version, it was important not only that the musicians were excellent improvisers, but also that they had to have a feel for Latin music and also that they were outstanding readers, because I did not foresee that there would be very much rehearsal time and the notes are quite challenging. Bik Bent Braam was subsidized with government funding and I could then easily occupy a longer period with many rehearsals. Son Bent Braam, the current line-up, does not have its own subsidy, so we have to look at each concert and hope that everyone can make it. There have been quite a few subs, and they too have to be able to improvise and read well.

– Tell us about your Danzón orchestra.

André (André Groen – Percussionist) wanted to immerse himself in traditional Cuban music. There is so much richness in the danzón with its fixed forms that pass by in each piece with the most beautiful melodies and the wildest spaces for improvising on highly danceable rhythms. We found the instrumentation with violins, cello, flute, percussion, double bass, and piano attractive. After ten years I got too busy with my jazz ensembles, by then I was touring all over the world with Bik Bent Braam and other groups and especially with my Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher. I could hardly combine it anymore with the Danzón Orchestra and the great pianist Peter van Marle took my place, which made me feel very humble. The European Danzón Orchestra then existed for another year or so. I honestly don’t know why it stopped then. In 2018 we did a couple of reunion concerts, great fun to do.

– How many years have you been in charge of the Jazz and Pop department of the ArtEZ conservatory and what do you teach the new generations based on your experience?

I have been head of the program since 1992. It is part of a broad arts university and is located in a building that also houses dance, theater, fine art, applied art, fashion, and creative writing. As a head, I don’t teach very much… only when students very specifically ask for it a few hours of individual lessons per year and a few group lessons, and I also regularly give master students some lessons. My message is usually quite short and clear: there are millions of people who play an instrument excellently, and you can probably teach an orangutan to play Keith Jarrett better than Keith does himself, but – apart from the fact that that would be a fun YouTube hit – there is no point; in our music, it is almost all about an authentic voice, including all the shortcomings that are in everyone, which also make you a unique musician. Obviously, you must have many skills as a musician, but my life motto is that one’s deficiencies are far more important for one’s personality than one’s skills, and that attitude underlies my whole vision of art education.

“With Nos Otrobanda have started to concentrate on the music of Noro Morales and have his composition Maria Cervantes (single) firmly in our program. His music will probably be the subject of our new album”. Foto: Marjan Smeijsters

– What are your next projects?

Everything is starting up again post-covid. I want to record a solo album on my grand piano, a so-called “Alurip”. That’s an aluminum grand piano made in the fifties with a specific sound. And the album of our trio Nos Otrobanda, which specializes in Antillean music, is almost sold out. That doesn’t matter obviously, if there are no more physical copies then you can always hear the music through iTunes, Spotify, etc, but it’s a great opportunity to make new recordings again and the intention is to go to Curacao and record music in the Fortkerk in Willemstad, the place where we did a couple of concerts in 2018. That was a great experience, what a nice place and sweet audience!

– How was the process to make a living from music?

I stuck pretty firmly to the rule that you have to do what you like and not let yourself be distracted too much from that. And I look for what it takes to make it happen. From 1996 to 2012 I received an annual government subsidy to realize my projects. I am also a real musician in the sense that I have a mixed professional practice (playing, writing, teaching, producing, almost every musician has roughly that mix) which means that it is always possible to make a living out of it and we never had to worry about bread and a place to live.

Michiel Braam & Son Bent Braam Orchestra.  Foto: Marjan Smeijsters

I make music mainly because I can’t do otherwise. Music is a way to communicate; it makes you a little better… Leitmotiv in everything is that in music, I am free to do anything I want. For example, I did play Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the exquisite reed quintet Calefax, also improvising on the various songs from that opera.” Michiel Braam

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From 1940 to 1957, he was in charge of the arrangements, rehearsals, repertoire, hiring of the vocalists and that very particular sound, so imitated but never equaled that the “Dean of the Conjuntos” possessed.

All that sonority is due to this pianist, composer and arranger born in Matanzas, Cuba, on June 2, 1903.

Severino Ramos Betancourt was born on June 1, 1903 in Matanzas, Cuba. He was a composer, pianist, orchestrator and arranger, one of the great Cuban musicians, he worked as pianist and arranger in the Conjunto Sonora Matancera, later he founded the Sonora Cubana.

Since he was a child, music, musicians and instruments were his passion. In his family, grandparents and uncles, had to do with the bungas of Matanzas (a bunga was a small group that included piano, violin, clarinet and flute). As a child he met Cheo Jiménez and Eduardo Betancourt, trombonist of Miguel Failde’s orchestra.

Later he went to Havana where he worked successively as a tailor’s assistant, insurance collector, doorman in a cabaret, traveling salesman, substitute musician in theaters, radio stations, and a thousand other occupations that appeared along the way before becoming a professional musician, during that time he received lessons from Felix Covarrubias.

Sonora Matancera

Severino Ramos joined the famous Conjunto Sonora Matancera in 1942, as a pianist, after unsuccessful attempts to occupy positions in the Sexteto Mikito (later Conjunto Casino), replacing Enrique Rodriguez, and in other Havana groups.

Severino’s character does not go with the style of intense and nocturnal work of the group, presentations in radio stations, dances (preference of Rogelio Martínez its director), contracts in La Tropical, Cabaret Tropicana, regional Centers: Asturian Center, Galician Center and trips to provinces; so he decides at the request of the director of the Sonora to look for another pianist for the group and he stays to make the arrangements, rehearsals, preparation of repertoire, etc…, From that moment on, the star of the Conjunto Sonora Matancera really began to shine in the firmament of popular acceptance.

He became, in keeping with his calm character, an orchestra man performing all these tasks and some others, such as visiting radio stations, theaters and other places to obtain contracts for the group.

The fruits contributed by Severino Ramos between 1940 and 1957 are of extraordinary value, perhaps what makes his work more visible are his arrangements and the preparation of the regular and guest singers that accompanied the Sonora such as: Bienvenido Granda, Daniel Santos, Myrta Silva, Celia Cruz, Leo Marini, Bobby Capó, Nelson Pinedo, Estanislao Laíto Sureda, Carlos Argentino and Celio González, among others.

After the Sonora Matancera

The last days of Severino Ramos in favor of Cuban Music were as musical director of Radio Progreso since 1957, when he left the Sonora, simultaneously with the prolific and very important work at the head of the many record labels he created.

After 1959, in that first decade, 1960, many record labels emerged in Havana, plus those that came from before and he multiplied himself making arrangements, forming momentary groups, forming groups to accompany Orlando Contreras, Blanca Rosa Gil, Orlando Vallejo, Ñico Membiela, many more. He formed the Sonora de Severino Ramos and helped create the Conjunto Caney.

The following is a small sample of songs that were arranged by Severino Ramos for the Sonora Matancera:

El Tíbiri Tábara with Daniel Santos

Qué corto es el amor, with Mirtha Silva

Burundanga, Yerbero Moderno, Tu Voz, Luna sobre Matanzas, with Celia Cruz

Who will be? With Nelson Pinedo

Yo no soy guapo with Vicentico Valdes

Sujetate la lengua, with Bienvenido Granda

Aunque me cueste la vida, on the 19th, El negrito del Batey with Alberto Beltrán

El gallo, la gallina y el caballo with Manuel Licea

Piel Canela with Bobby Capó

Maringá, with Leo Marini

Who will it be? With Nelson Pinedo

Las Muchachas, with Carlos Argentino

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Severino Ramos died in Havana on November 2, 1969.

 

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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.

1. 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 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.