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Musical director of VibraSÓN Jake Jacobs is here

VibraSÓN is a musical group that makes life in the state of California, specifically in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has become one of the best options for festivals and nightclubs seeking fresh sounds in terms of salsa, swing and Latin music in general.

I was pleased to know about this great orchestra, its members and sound thanks to its work at Charley’s LG, Bar and Nightclub where Eduardo Guilarte, our editor, was working and directing everything related to the lineups and musical programming for Latin music nights, more specifically on Tuesdays.

When I made contact, the person who was kind enough to reply was musical director of VibraSÓN. Jake Jacobs, who at the same time works as a producer, percussionist and backing vocalist.

Jake Jacobs from VibraSÓN — Jake Jacobs, musical director of VibraSON

Talk with Jake Jacobs from the group VibraSÓN

Jake Jacobs comes from a very interesting background. His first contact with music took place with his father and uncle, both of whom were professional musicians, but Jake says he has always been interested in this world.

He studied classical piano and music theory at the University of Illinois and took some jazz piano lessons in his passage through the University of California. During these years, the musical director spent roughly 13 hours a day practicing with this instrument to master it as well as possible.

With time, he became interested in Latin music and dance, which also led him to take dance classes at university. With that knowledge acquired up to that moment, he went to visit New York and his trip coincided with the National Puerto Rican Day Parade (an event held annually in New York and other states to celebrate Puerto Rico and its traditions in the United States).

This event inspired Jake so much that he returned to the Bay Area with the intention to switch his dance classes to salsa classes. He became so good that he began to teach salsa dance classes himself to numerous students interested in learning these rhythms, something he has been done for over 20 years in widely recognized clubs and dance studios.

He used to provide these classes twice a week at the Cocomo Club, which was very important at the time and attracted more than 600 people every day. When bands performed live, the future leader of VibraSÓN began to know musicians, who, in turn, gave him music lessons and his first opportunities to play in bands.

Jake Jacobs with VibraSÓN — Jake Jacobs and the other members of VibraSÓN

Apprenticeships and classes with great musicians

One of the most impressive credentials that Jake can have is to have studied with some of the best musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area such as Edgardo Cambón, Karl Perazzo, Michael Spiro, Louie Romero, among others.

Evidently, all these luminaries have taught the producer much of what he knows and applies today, but he ensures that it was not easy to learn from so many ”teachers” at the same time, in both dancing and music performance.

Ensures that some of the most important things he learned have to do with technique and tips to be applied such as how to play the drums, the notes at the right times, silences and much more.

He points out that they all taught him valuable and important things, which are still very useful to this day. One of those great lessons was to practice and practice until he achieved the sounds he wanted, especially in Latin music.

VibraSÓN

Finally, in 2014, Jake decided it was time to put into practice everything he learned and create his own musical group with his own original details. This is how VibraSÓN came about.

The origin of his band’s name came from Luis Morales, one of its members. It is based on vibraphone, which is not widely used by the orchestras from the San Francisco Bay Area, but by the dancers and by this new group in their performances. As for the end of the name, it comes from ”son cubano”, a typical genre of the island Jake likes very much.

Although Club Cocomo unfortunately closed the following year, that didn’t stop VibraSÓN from making its way and becoming one of the most demanded groups in the Bay Area in recent years.

One of the things that Jake thinks makes his group unique is that there are very few people who use the vibraphone and, due to his training as a dancer, he is always looking to make the most appropriate music for that part of the audience for whom dancing is very important.

Jake Jacobs in San Francisco — Jake Jacobs performing on stage in San Francisco

How Jake and VibraSÓN read the crowd

For Jake and the rest of the band, it is very important to read the crowd and see how people react to the music they play at any time. They pay a lot of attention to the dance floor to see what works and what doesn’t with the people they play for that night.

Having played at clubs such as Charley’s, Bar Fluxus, La Peña Cultural, The Cigar Bar and Space 500, they have prepared a very generous repertoire for each performance. Just as they have written original music, they have also dedicated themselves to perform covers of the most buzzed-about artists in recent times in certain contexts, something that worked out for several orchestras when they need to draw on these resources to entertain the audience.

This wide repertoire that they now enjoy is what has allowed them to make diverse shows with lots of variety so that those present never get bored, even if they usually go to the same place.

Another thing they tend to do is add new arrangements and change genres to the covers they do so that they do not sound exactly like the originals and they can inject some of their essence, even if they are not songs written or sung by them originally. ”Even if they are covers, we always try to add our original arrangements so that the dancers enjoy them that much more” said Jake.

They have also learned to connect with the audience and know what the dancers and the general public want in order to give them exactly what they want. And they did not learn this overnight, but have observed in detail what other orchestras do to imitate what is good and useful.

Jake and VibraSÓN on stage — VibraSÓN performing on stage

Tours and future plans of VibraSÓN

At the end of the interesting talk, Jake told us that, for now, they only plan to record new music and other activities that are comfortable for all the members, since many of the musicians are in other orchestras and record for other people, so it is too complicated for them to tour with VibraSÓN. In addition to that, several of them have small children to care for, so it is impossible for them to travel for a long time.

He is so considerate because he always tries to keep the same members and preserve the unity of the group above all else. It has worked for them, as they have managed to made a name, which will continue to become popular over time.

Carlos Medrano from Sabor De Mi Cuba tells us abut his long musical history

There is a tremendous amount of Cuban artists who have had to fight against economic adversity there is in their country, but this has not prevented them from getting ahead and fulfilling their dream of making a living from their art. One of them is the bandleader of Sabor De Mi Cuba Band, Carlos Medrano, with whom we had the pleasure to talk for this report.

Carlos Medrano was born in the city of Havana, Cuba, and became interested in music when he was very young. The first instruments with which he began experimenting were the bongo and the conga, which had a huge importance in the training the artist would follow until he became the professional musician he is today. Here are some of the topics we cover in a long but pleasant conversation via Zoom.

Bandleader Carlos Medrano — Carlos Medrano, bandleader of Sabor De Mi Cuba

Topics covered with Carlos Medrano

When talking about his first experiences with music, Carlos told us he has always been surrounded by musical sounds since his childhood, which was spent in the neighborhoods of El Vedado and Old Havana.

When he lived in El Vedado, his grandfather used to make poetry and do recitations, while he accompanied him with the drum, but he was in more direct contact with the musical world in Old Havana, a place where there were many rumberos and renowned musicians who were always playing in those parts.

A very young Carlos always saw comparsas and street concerts from her home window and people always joined them making sounds with bells, pans or anything they had.

During the decade of the 90’s, Cuba saw a big boom in tourism, resulting in the appearance of numerous traditional Cuban music groups and the cafes and clubs in the area were filled with sextets with professional musicians. They were looking to play in these places to get tips from tourists and have travel and employment opportunities,” said Carlos.

I always looked at the work these artists were doing, especially tres players and bongos players. That’s how I learned to play the bongo: by watching and listening to what others were doing. I tried to imitate the sounds they made with a metal bucket or whatever I had at home to learn”, he continued.

Carlos Medrano on stage — Carlos Medrano performing on stage with his band

Professional training of Carlos Md¡edrano and and limitations found

After junior high school, he met a friend of his father who would be key in his training as an artist and his name is José Antonio Oviedo. Although his father saw no problem in this fascination of Carlos with music, he always told him not to drop out of school and to pursue a university career.

When he began taking lessons with José Antonio, the level of demand was such that he felt he was in a formal school. He taught him to read music in a way that had nothing to envy to an art institute, which Medrano will always be very grateful for.

In addition to that, near his home, there is a sector called ”Cueva De Humo” where there are excellent musicians and rumberos. It was there that Carlos got to meet Juan Ernesto Santana, Ernesto Gatel Coto from Rumberos de Cuba and many more. ”I was lucky that most people liked me and they always explained to me everything I needed to play as it should be” he added.

With all these insights, there came a point when he decided to devote himself to the world of music and put aside other ambitions he had such as studying law, which was a shock to his family at the time.

That is when his mentor José Antonio did the necessary procedure for him to present the Escuela de Superación Profesional de Arte “Felix Varela y Morales” admission exam, which he passed without major setbacks thanks to his training up to that point.

Although his admission to the institution was relatively simple, it was not long before Carlos faced another equally difficult challenge: getting the necessary resources and instruments to receive a good training.

”I didn’t have my own instruments until I started playing professionally with maestro Orlando Sánchez. I had my first bongo thanks to my father’s friends, who helped me to have my own things, but that never limited me” said the percussionist on this topic.

In a time of so many shortages, it was clearly not easy to study, but Carlos was always looking for ways to fulfill his activities, whether it was raising money, borrowing instruments, practicing with other similar implements, sharing school instruments with his classmates, among other things.

Carlos Medrano paying the drums — Carlos Medrano playing the drums on stage

Great inspirations and mentors

One of his biggest inspirations was his cousin Stanley, who was a professional percussionist. He always advised Carlos to never classify himself in one instrument, but to always learn to play a little bit of everything to become a needed man, so that bands would always consider him for their tours and projects.

Another of the great mentors he had has been Ignacio Jarabe, who has taught him many of the best ”tricks” a percussionist may need when playing one of these instruments. ”I still have solo sheet music that he wrote and some of his book manuscripts, which I don’t know if they were ever published, but they are still important reference sources for me”, said Carlos about Jarabe.

We cannot forget to mention percussionist Eliel Lazo, with whom Carlos had amazing chemistry from the beginning. Lazo had contact with the best AfroCuban jazz musicians of the time and came to travel to many places thanks to his training in percussion instruments, which inspired Medrano to follow in his footsteps. After about one year of studying with this great musician, he was able to perform at La Fiesta Del Tambor and went on to be a finalist in several categories.

Once he started plating professionally, the first person to call him was the maestro Orlando Sanchez, who in addition to offering him his first formal opportunity in this field, taught Carlos many other things which he had not learned so far. He has him up on a pedestal and thanks him for everything he has learned.

Another person to whom the artist is very grateful is José Luis Quintana, better known as Changuito, who told him that ”the good conga player has to listen to the orchestra. You have to be able to hear the piano, the bass and the other instruments. You have to look for your space between the rest of the musicians”.

Another important figure who cannot be left out is Yaroldy Abreu, a mmusician who spent hours rehearsing with Carlos at his house. They focused a lot on technical and creative resources during these classes. Medrano considers him one of the best percussionists and musicians in the world due to his extensive knowledge in every field of music.

Carlos recording at home — Carlos Medrano recording music at home

Sabor De Mi Cuba

It all started with a contest called ”Joyas” which specializes in promoting young Cuban talents who present their art to a qualifying jury and seek to carve a name for themselves in the industry.

Carlos was fortunate that one of the judges told him and drummer Pablo Calzado ”you two shall go along with me”. The artist spent some time working with this person, who took him to play in other orchestras so that he could learn from the best until developing his own style.

This happened after he moved to the United States and was still acquiring experience with other musical groups. That is when he realized he wanted to do things in a different way and get involved in other genres and rhythms that he had not tried before.

There came a day when a bass player friend of his told him that if he wanted to come up with his original ideas, he had to embody them himself and not wait for others to do it. Carlos never saw himself creating his own band, but he decided to began composing his own music and he succeeded.

Then, he started writing usic, contacting great arranger friends of his who helped him reassemble the idea of what he wanted to do. Once he had a repertoire, they advised him to record an album and give life to everything he had done, which gave birth to his first album ”Sabor De Mi Cuba”.

The first song he wrote in his life was called ”La Habana” and was basically inspired by everything Carlos lived in his country and the longing he feels for not being able to be in his country, walk its streets, party with his friends, visit its special places, among other things. What he relates there is his life in the city where he was born and his desire to be able to go back there.

His main motivation to make the album was the possibility of doing something different from anything he saw in the music scene around him at the time.

Carlos does not think of himself as a professional composer, far from it, as he feels he still has a lot to learn in that field, but he hopes to reach the level of the artists who inspired him in his youth.

Roberto Rodríguez was a Cuban trumpet player and composer, author of Ray Barreto’s hit song “Que viva la Música” (Long Live Music)

Roberto Reimundo Rodríguez (Cienfuegos, January 23, 1936 – April 18, 1988), was a Cuban trumpeter and composer, who belonged to Ray Barreto’s orchestra, which he would later leave to belong to Fania All-Stars, as lead trumpet player.

Roberto is the author of Ray Barreto’s hit “Que viva la música”.

Roberto was born in 1938, in Cienfuegos (Cuba). He began his musical career at the age of 12, in his native province; cradle of the world famous Orquesta Aragón.

From an early age he participated in “Las Comparsas de Cuba” and with the orchestra “La Unión Fraternal de Cienfuegos”.

In 1955, he emigrated to the United States and in 1957 he married Nancy Zayas, with whom he had three sons: Roberto Jr., William and Richard.

While growing as an artist, Roberto co-founded the orchestra “Los Jóvenes Estrellas de Cuba” with his long-time friend Ernie Stairs. He later moved on to Wilfredo Figueroa’s orchestra and “Ritmo Swing”.

In 1965, Roberto was recommended to Ray Barreto by Eddie Martinez. Eddie was a pianist for both the TataVazquez and Ray Barretto orchestras.

After listening to Roberto, Ray Barretto recognized that he was in contract with Vivar, one of his former colleagues and musicians, and brought him on board. Roberto remained in Ray’s orchestra for 11 years.

His performance as first trumpet soloist was extraordinary. While in Ray’s orchestra, Roberto composed several famous songs such as: “Yo Soy La Candela”, “Fuego y Pa’Lante”, “Invitación al Son”, “Cienfuegos, Perla del Sur”, “Se Traba”, “El Tiempo lo Dirá”, “O’Elefante”, and the worldwide hit: “Que Viva la Música”.

In 1972, Roberto became a member of the Fania All-Stars as first trumpet and soloist. The documentary “Our Latin Thing” launched Roberto along with the other members of the All-Stars to international fame.

Our Latin Thing

On August 26, 1971 New York City gave birth to a sound that would change Latin music forever. That night at the renowned Cheetah nightclub, the Fania All Stars took the stage with their unique sound that echoed across all borders and reached every country. Fania Records re-releases “Our Latin Thing” on DVD, the film that sparked the salsa movement of the seventies.

From the concert came a double LP entitled “Live At The Cheetah” and the historic film “Our Latin Thing”. Its director, Leon Gast, documented the events at the Cheetah with the addition of footage of the musicians in the recording studio and scenes of New York’s Spanish Harlem.

The 40th anniversary edition of “Our Latin Thing” includes a DVD with the remastered film, and two CDs with the music from the film and some additional tracks, which can be purchased on the label’s official website.

In 1975, Ray decided to take a turn towards a new musical facet and Roberto became part of the group “Los Kimbos”.

Two years later, in 1977, Roberto joined the charanga band “Orquesta Broadway”. In this group he not only excelled as a trumpet soloist but also as a vocalist. Here he composed new hits, including: “No Se Va a Poder” and “Como Nueva York no Hay”.

In 1982, Roberto decided to assist his sons in their desire to continue their musical journey and produced the album: “Roberto Rodríguez Presenta a Los Rodríguez”, under the “Combo Records” label.

In 1983, Roberto joined the “Los Rodriguez” Orchestra, to perform with his sons Roberto Jr (trumpet player) and Willie (bass player).

His health deteriorated in early 1988, and he finally passed away in April of that year, victim of skin cancer. His son Roberto Rodriguez Jr. followed in his footsteps and has excelled in salsa orchestras in New York.

Roberto Rodríguez was a Cuban trumpet player and composer

Sony Music’s new talent, Luis Figueroa, is unstoppable…And, he is a salsa singer

The singer and songwriter of Puerto Rican descent, Luis Figueroa, is one of Sony Music’s most recent acquisitions. Most recently… La Luz is now available on all digital platforms. Listen to it HERE.

Imparable el nuevo talento de Sony Music, Luis Figueroa

He is not new to the music scene. He brings experience from other sounds and has been nominated twice for a Latin Grammy. For Luis Figueroa, the recently signed Sony Music talent, success in the salsa sound is already assured.

Proof of this is that he has already performed on the most important salsa stage in the world, during the 39th edition of the National Salsa Day at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The salsa public is betting on him, and Sony Music seems to know it.

He says he has not come to the salsa scene to change anything. He claims “to have come to make a new chapter in what salsa is and to leave my essence within what inspired me and motivated me to be a salsa artist…Learning from the pioneers, who also had resistance in their time. In spite of that, salsa erotica and salsa romántica came to stay.”

He started early on and decided to combine his academic and artistic work. From his academic application, he approached music as a business, which is very encouraging for the tropical genres.

El cantante y compositor de ascendencia boricua, Luis Figueroa

Luis confesses that it was always clear to him that he “was not going to be just another one of the horrendous stories that have been heard about the contractual environment”.

For the singer and composer it was “extremely important to know the business side of the music business, to know the contractual aspect and to protect my copyrights”.

Luis is an artist with his sights set high and his feet on the ground. He is a humanistic and transparent person, allowing the positive in every story to prevail. He has been very judicious in applying the advice that more experienced artists offer him in good faith.

He recalls that when he was barely eight or nine years old, Gilberto Santa Rosa told him, “you have to keep studying because we are tired of brute singers, you know?” Luis took that statement almost as an instruction. Eventually, he managed to get accepted into Berklee College of Music, from where he graduated with a concentration in Song Writing and Music Business.

As soon as he finished college, the invitations and requests from different producers began.

He came to Sony Music through Magnus with Marc Anthony’s endorsement, but he was polishing his songwriting skills with the band Magic. He says he was not fluent in Spanish at the time. However, his mother always instilled in him the obligation he owed to himself to keep his mother tongue, Spanish, alive.

Although he learned the structure and mechanics of songwriting in Los Angeles trying to keep the focus on both languages, he didn’t feel the confidence with Spanish that he had with English.

Nevertheless, his development as a songwriter flowed. Before signing with Sony Music, in 2018, he had the opportunity to position a single with Sebastian Yatra, spreading nothing more and nothing less than the urban pop hit, Por perro, which is from his audit.

Luis Figueroa y Bella Martinez , Sony Music Latin

Today he reflects and understands that Por perro opened doors for him as a composer in both the American and Latin markets. Por perro has accumulated over 654 million views on YouTube and reached #16 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Songs chart. In addition, RIAA® certified it 4X-Platinum. And, the video went on to be nominated for Video of the Year at the 2019 HTV Heat Awards. Luis presented this single during Romeo Santos’ Golden Tour in stadiums throughout Latin America to sold-out crowds.

Says the artist, “We came to Sony at a time when we were not signed as a salsa artist. We were still finding our style, we wanted to go more on the urban pop side. We did songs for Janis and Sebastián Yatra and Manuel Turizo. I think from sharing with different songwriters on the Latin side I was able to develop more with my ideas and now I have the ability to be able to compose songs completely my own. It took me about four or five years to be able to generate that confidence to compose and to have the audacity to expose my inspiration.”

For Luis it was surprising that his interpretation of Hasta el sol de hoy was so well received. For a moment he thought he was going to hear something like: “you’re crazy, like this is not what we want you to do”, but it was precisely that song one of the bases of the bridge that managed to unite the urban aspect to salsa.

With that hit, which is already a salsa classic, Luis Figueroa made the transition that turned him into a trend. With that song he continued to be known and received massive support. With that song he gained more confidence, not only in the compositions he was creating, but also strengthened his career within the salsa sound. Luis has nourished himself from other genres, refreshing and enriching salsa.

Salsa fans have long been calling for new injections of talent and suggesting new nuances. Luis seems to have picked up on those ideas, sharing new energy gained from his time in bachata, urban, romantic and pop.

I also find it fascinating that this recent salsa convert has made the long-awaited crossover from Spanish to English in reverse; that is, the innovative route from English to Spanish. That reverse crossover gave Luis a clear understanding of the artistic route he is passionate about and which seems to be one in a continual evolutionary process.

Maybe that is the key, what made him one of the fastest growing exponents of salsa, of the so-called new generation. He attributes this growth to the audacity to continue creating, which in turn has strengthened his roots in what he does: music. He reflects and affirms that: “seeing my friends take songs of mine, seeing them grow and seeing them be so successful gave me confidence in my pencil, as a composer on the Latin side, although it took me a while. Initially, I took the easy route; doing covers and interpretations of different songs, but I set out to focus on composing and I succeeded.

Before salsa it was bachata. The Caribbean rhythm was all around it. When he was working with Romeo Santos, his life was all bachata. “I was living, sleeping, singing and speaking in the language of bachata music that inspired me a lot. That’s where my compositions began to stand out, while I was doing backing vocals for Romeo Santos and Juan Luis Guerra on certain songs. It was in that environment that he came into contact with my interpretation.”

However, his greatest inspiration is Jerry Rivera and he considers himself fortunate to have many mentors and several godfathers in salsa, including Johnny Rivera, whom he thanks for lending him a hand and his collaboration in various projects.

Artists such as Tito Allen, Marc Anthony’s musical director Angel Fernandez, Johnny Rivera and Ray Sepulveda have all been supportive. Songs like the one catapulted by the eternal daddy of salsa, Frankie Ruiz, Esta cobardía, and Borinquen -from the pen of Johnny Ortiz- in voice of Yolanda Rivera managed to tattoo themselves in his musical formation.

Two of the aforementioned referents, Tito Allen and Yolanda Rivera were performing on the same stage of the 39th edition of the National Zalsa Day, which was given by Luis Figueroa. For his part, the famous Borinquen composer, Johnny Ortiz, witnessed the great concert accompanied by his most loyal fans in the front row.

Other composers who have influenced Luis are: “The composer of Hasta el sol de hoy – Gustavo Márquez – and Omar Alfano, with whom I had the opportunity to share the stage in Panama when I went to share the stage with great musicians, opening a Marc Anthony concert”.

Luis says he doesn’t mind having the same blueprint of all the others who came before him, and adds: “if you see all my songs, they have to be four or five pregones. The songs from the times before were six minutes, five interludes, they were eight minutes long.” He says he has taken the basic structure to merge it with the modern one on the urban side of salsa. He assures to have adapted because the times require agility in the processes. Having refreshed the salsa scene is one of his great achievements, and by leaps and bounds, hand in hand with Sony Music Luis Figueroa reached the National Salsa Day, the most important salsa stage in the world.

Luis made it to the finish line. Of course, he can’t afford to relax his spirits in this competitive environment. Nor can he afford to listen to criticism from detractors. His innovative spirit and the freshness of his pen make this salsa singer one of infinite possibilities and a forceful pace. From my corner, I will be supporting him, not only because of the clarity of what he is doing.

The public that follows salsa will support it because we all need salsa to do well. The coalition that we call salsa is now one of action and not complaints, because there is no Musical Productions, because there is no Fania, because everything has been changing, and now that the record companies have reduced their footprint, I affirm as a researcher, that there is nothing more true than the saying: “Nobody knows what he has until he loses it”.

I know that Luis is prepared for what is coming, and more. I know that he will continue to move forward like the snowball that continues to grow and as it moves, it becomes unstoppable. He has already reached the stage of the National Zalsa Day. He is no longer an emerging artist, nor a new artist. He arrived at the plaza by way of triumph. Luis Figueroa is a fully-fledged salsa artist. What remains is for him to continue.

What’s next… For those who continue his unstoppable rise, the question is: What’s next? Luis Figueroa arrives with the album, Voy a ti, which includes the single, Bandido. We’ll keep an eye out for the release of what is sure to be another hit.

Chronology of an evolving salsero:

Awarded at the 2016 Premios Juventud for his version of Flor Pálida, performing with Marc Anthony.

In mid-2017, after being discovered through several videos uploaded on his YouTube page, Luis signed with Magnus Media, Marc Anthony’s entertainment company. His performance of Flor Pálida won him a Premio Juventud for Best Video Cover.

Combining his musical and acting abilities, Luis had a featured role in Telemundo’s acclaimed television series Guerra de idols. Along with Pedro Capó and Christian Pagan, he performed the series’ theme song, Tequila pa’la razón, presenting it live at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, 2017.

In 2018, he accompanied Romeo Santos as a vocalist on three of his international tours, including the world tour, Golden.

In 2019, he released his first single for Sony Music Latin, La Especialista, which reached #27 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart, remaining for 8 weeks, and the pre-release single from his debut album, Te Deseo, reached #24 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart, remaining 11 weeks on Billboard. La Especialista, boldly combines acoustic guitars and melodies that complement her voice.

Pandora named Luis to its Latin Artists to Watch 2020 music discovery playlist. That same year, Luis made Billboard’s list that consolidated 17 male Latin artists to be discovered during the forties. He was also named one of Billboard’s fastest rising Latin artists.

In July 2021 Luis scored his first #1 on Billboard with Hasta El Sol De Hoy, a track that also reached the top of the Mediabase and LATIN monitor charts. His follow-up single Si Tú Me Dices Ven became his second Top 10 hit, while Billboard chose Luis as part of its Latin Artist on the Rise series. Also in 2021, he was nominated for Best Pop Artist at the HTV Heat Latin Music Awards.

In 2022, Luis released his first salsa album. The production generated three consecutive Top 10 hits on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart and earned him his first Latin GRAMMY Award nominations for “Best Salsa Album” and “Best Tropical Song”.

The album – self-titled Luis Figueroa – solidified his status as one of the salsa genre’s leading voices and rising stars. Luis was nominated for his first Premios Lo Nuestro in 2022 for Tropical Artist of the Year and Tropical Song of the Year for Hasta El Sol De Hoy.

Luis Figueroa has had a good year in 2023. In January he topped the Media Base – Tropical chart with his Latin GRAMMY® nominated song Fiesta Contigo, and was also nominated for three Premios Lo Nuestro Awards in the Tropical – Artist of the Year, Tropical – Song of the Year and Tropical – Album of the Year categories.

By: Bella Martinez

bellamartínezescribe.com

Bella Martínez
Writer, Researcher in Afro-Caribbean music.

Francisco Aguabella “El Tamborero de Cuba” Bravo and Virtuoso Percussionist of Afro-Cuban Ritual Music

Aguabella was born on October 10, 1925 and grew up in the drumming tradition of Matanzas in Cuba.

On May 8, 2010, Francisco Aguabella “El Tamborero de Cuba” passed away in Los Angeles, United States. Bravo and virtuoso percussionist of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Latin/jazz and jazz.

Of remembered links to Tito Puente’s band, Mongo Santamaría, Cachao López, Eddie Palmieri, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, Jorge Santana’s group “Malo” and his own “Latin Jazz Emsemble”.

Aguabella nació el 10 de octubre de 1925 y se crio en la tradición de los tambores de Matanzas en Cuba

In 1953 he emigrated to the United States and settled in California as an olu batá (bata drummer).

Batá drumming is a ceremonial musical style that plays an integral role in the African-derived Santeria religion practiced in Cuba, Puerto Rico and since the 1950s in the United States.

No other music of the Americas bears a more striking similarity to West African music than the batá. Its set of three double cone drums reproduces the Nigerian Yoruba drum set of the same name.

Francisco Aguabella “El Tamborero de Cuba” Bravo y Virtuoso Percusionista de la música ritual afrocubana

Many of the rhythms closely resemble their African prototypes, and the Afro-Cuban language of Lucumí, in which Aguabella sings, is clearly a derivation of Yoruba.

Prior to 1980, Aguabella and Julito Collazo were the only olu batá in the United States who had been initiated into a secret society of drummers designated to perform a very sacred type of batá known as batá fundamento .

The batá fundamento is an integral part of Santeria ceremonies in which an individual’s initiation into the religion cannot be consecrated unless he or she has been presented before this sacred ensemble.

Each year Aguabella builds a shrine for his patron saint, Santa Barbara (Changó), and plays music at a birthday party held in her honor.

Francisco Aguabella “El Tamborero de Cuba”

It’s an all-day celebration for invited friends who are primarily but, not exclusively members of the Santeria sect “Santa Barbara knows it’s her birthday,” Aguabella said, “I know how she feels.

She feels happy if I honor her, I feel bad if I don’t so on St. Barbara’s day every December 4 whatever work I am doing today I don’t do for anyone, I love this saint very much and I promised her I was going to have a party every year.

Se recuerda sus vinculaciones a la Banda de Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Cachao López, Eddie Palmieri, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra, el grupo Malo

Although Aguabella is widely respected for his sacred drumming he is also known for his virtuosity in the secular forms of Afro-Cuban music.

Choreographer Katherine Dunham was so impressed with Aguabella’s drumming that she invited him to join her company for tours of South America and Europe.

The most influential of Aguabella’s secular styles is rumba, a complex of several musical genres that evolved in Cuba in the early 20th century.

Rumba was the basis for much of the Cuban dance hall music that in turn helped shape American popular music through dance bands based throughout the United States.

However Afro-Cuban rumba bears little resemblance to the ballroom dance rumba that inspired Francisco. Rumba as Aguabella said is part of daily life for many Afro-Cubans, it doesn’t have to be a special day to play rumba, we could start a rumba here without a drum.

You could play it here or there on the wall, in Cuba rumba is 24 hours a day, we gather in a corner and have a glass of rum…. And someone says: Why don’t we play a little rumba? Some people touch the wall and someone else plays a bottle and maybe takes a cap off the bottle and ‘ca ca ca ca ca ca ca ca ca’ and the Rumba.”

Aguabella’s goal has long been to maintain the integrity of the tradition he so respects, while incorporating it into “crossover” music aimed at a wider audience.

It was his superior musical ability and commitment to tradition that led musicians such as Mongo Santamaria, Malo and Carlos Santana to bring him into their groups.

Aguabella lived in Los Angeles; where he continued to performand exert a great influence on Latin American music.

Afrontilas Music