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Mark Weinstein Flutist, composer and arranger

North America / United States / New York

With his heart in jazz, Weinstein contributed greatly to the development of the salsa trombone by playing and arranging

Flutist, composer and arranger, Mark Weinstein began his study of music at age six with piano lessons from the neighborhood teacher in Fort Green Projects in Brooklyn where he was raised.

Between then and age 14 when he started to play trombone in Erasmus Hall High School, he tried clarinet and drums. Playing his first professional gig on trombone at 15, he added string bass, a common double in NYC at that time.

Mark learned to play Latin bass from Salsa bandleader Larry Harlow. He experimented playing trombone with Harlow’s band and three years later, along with Barry Rogers, formed Eddie Palmieri’s first trombone section, changing the sound of salsa forever.

With his heart in jazz, Weinstein was a major contributor to the development of the salsa trombone playing and arranging. He extended jazz attitudes and techniques in his playing with salsa bands.

His arrangements broadened the harmonic base of salsa while introducing folkloric elements for authenticity and depth.

Flutist, composer and arranger, Mark Weinstein began his study of music at age six with piano lessons from the neighborhood teacher in Fort Green Projects in Brooklyn — Mark Weinstein Flutist, composer and arranger

The only horn in a Latin jazz quintet led by Larry Harlow in the jam session band at the Schenks Paramount Hotel in the Catskills

The only horn in a Latin jazz quintet led by Larry Harlow at the jam session band at Schenks Paramount Hotel in the Catskills, soloist and arranger with Charlie Palmieri in the first trumpet and trombone salsa band in NYC, arranger and featured soloist along with the great Cuban trumpet player Alfredo Chocolate Armenteros in Orchestra Harlow, and with the Panamanian giant Victer Paz in the La Playa Sextet, and with the Alegre All Stars, Mark’s playing and arranging was a major influence on Salsa trombone and brass writing in the 60s and 70s.

Mark Weinstein continued to record with Eddie Palmieri, with Cal Tjader and with Tito Puente. He toured with Herbie Mann for years, played with Maynard Ferguson, and the big bands of Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Jones and Lewis, Lionel Hampton, Duke Pearson and Kenny Dorham. In 1967 he wrote and recorded the Afro-Cuban jazz album, Cuban Roots for the legendary salsa producer Al Santiago.

It revolutionized Latin jazz; combining authentic folkloric drum ensembles with harmonically complex extended jazz solos and arrangements. Chick Corea was on piano and the rhythm section included the finest and most knowledgeable Latin drummers: Julito Collazo, Tommy Lopez Sr. and Papaito (timbalero with La Sonora Matancera).

El único cuerno en un quinteto de jazz latino liderado por Larry Harlow en la banda de jam session del Hotel Schenks Paramount en los Catskills, solista y arreglista con Charlie Palmieri en la primera banda de salsa de trompeta y trombón en NYC, arreglista y solista junto con el gran trompetista cubano Alfredo Chocolate Armenteros en Orchestra Harlow, y con el gigante panameño Victer Paz en el Sexteto de la Playa, y con los Alegre All Stars, el hecho de que Mark tocara y arreglara fue una gran influencia en la escritura del trombón de salsa y los metales en los años 60 y 70.

Mark Weinstein continuó grabando con Eddie Palmieri, con Cal Tjader y con Tito Puente. Hizo giras con Herbie Mann durante años, tocó con Maynard Ferguson y con las grandes bandas de Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Jones y Lewis, Lionel Hampton, Duke Pearson y Kenny Dorham. En 1967 escribió y grabó el álbum de jazz afrocubano Cuban Roots para el legendario productor de salsa Al Santiago.

Revolucionó el jazz latino, combinando auténticos conjuntos de tambores folclóricos con solos y arreglos de jazz extendido armónicamente complejos.

Chick Corea tocaba el piano y la sección rítmica incluía a los mejores y más conocedores bateristas latinos: Julito Collazo, Tommy López Sr. y Papaito (timbalero de la Sonora Matancera).

A principios de los 70 Mark se tomó un tiempo libre de la música para obtener un doctorado en filosofía con una especialización en lógica matemática.

Se convirtió en un profesor universitario y sigue siéndolo hasta el día de hoy. Cuando regresó a la escena musical en 1978 tocando la flauta, escribió produjo y grabó las Suites de los Orishas con la cantante Olympia Alfara, el gran pianista de jazz colombiano Eddy Martínez y los percusionistas Steve Berrios, Julito Collazo, Papaito y Papiro junto con un coro afrocubano. Inédito hasta hace poco, la música de las Suites de los Orishas se convirtió en el tema del Sunday Salsa Show de Roger Dawson en WRVR.

Mark Weinstein volvió al jazz con una venganza, trabajando en conciertos y grabando más de una docena de CDs desde 1997.

Seasoning, su primer CD de flauta experimentó con diferentes escenarios para la flauta, incluyendo un cuarteto con el vibrafonista Bryan Carrott y Cecil Brooks III en la batería y un trío de flauta y dos guitarras con Vic Juris y Rob Reich.

En 1998, Mark grabó Jazz World Trios con el maestro guitarrista brasileño Romero Lubambo y el premiado percusionista Cyro Baptista.

Su exploración de temas brasileños con guitarra clásica y percusión contrastaba con un trío de freebop con Santi Debriano en el bajo y Cindy Blackman en la batería.

Jean Paul Bourelly y Milton Cardone completaron el conjunto con música basada en temas de santería.

El lanzamiento de Three Deuces en 2000, emparejó a Mark con los guitarristas Vic Juris, Ed Cherry y Paul Meyers.

Mark continued to record with Eddie Palmieri, Cal Tjader and Tito Puente — With his heart in jazz, Weinstein contributed greatly to the development of the salsa trombone by playing and arranging – Mark Weinstein

Because of limited distribution and more demand that albums available, Mark rerecorded the material from the original Cuban Roots with new arrangements and the help of such giants of Cuban music as pianist Omar Sosa, percussionists Francisco Aquabella, Lazaro Galarraga, John Santos, Jose De Leon, and Nengue Hernandez. It was co-produced with his nephew, trombonist, violinist and arranger Dan Weinstein for Michael McFadin and CuBop Records.

In 2002 Mark had the incredible opportunity to go to Kiev, Ukraine, where his father was born, to record the music of the Ukrainian composer Alexey Kharchenko. Milling Time, the record that they made, stretched his playing in a number of directions, from modern classical music to smooth jazz to Ukrainian folk music.

He continued his exploration of his roots with a jazz album of Jewish music with Mike Richmond on bass, Brad Shepik on guitar and Jamey Haddad on drums and percussion.

He then turned to Brazil and the music of Hermeto Pascoal’s Calendario do Som, entitled Tudo de Bom with guitarist and vocalist Richard Boukas, Nilson Matta on bass, Paulo Braga on drums and Vanderlei Pereira on percussion.

In 2005 he began his ongoing association with Jazzheads record recording another version of Cuban Roots called Algo Más, with Jean Paul Bourelly playing electric guitar, Santi Debriano on bass, Thelonious Monk award winning percussionist and vocalist Pedrito Martinez, as well as Nani Santiago, Gene Golden and Skip Burney on congas and batá drums.

His next release on Jazzheads was O Nosso Amor with Brazilian jazz masters Romero Lubambo, Nilson Matta and Paulo Braga along with percussionists Guilherme Franco and Jorge Silva.

In the early 1970s Mark took time off from music to pursue a doctorate in philosophy with a specialization in mathematical logic. — Mark Weinstein He became a university professor and continues to be one to this day

This was followed by Con Alma, a Latin Jazz album featuring Mark Levine on piano, Santi Debriano on bass, Pedrito Martinez playing conga and drummer Mauricio Hererra.

Next a straight-ahead album, Straight No Chaser, with guitarist Dave Stryker, bassist Ron Howard and Victor Lewis on drums. A return to Brazilian music, Lua e Sol, saw Romero Lubambo and Nilson Mata joined by award winning percussionist Cyro Baptista

Mark Weinstein took time out from Jazzheads to record an album for Otá records in Berlin with Grammy nominated pianist Omar Sosa playing vibes, marimbas and piano along with Ali Keita on balafon, Mathais Ogbukoa and Aho Luc Nicaise on African percussion, bassist Stanislou Michalou and Marque Gilmore on drums. Back to Jazzheads, Mark recorded Timbasa with the percussion team of Pedrito Martinez and Mauricio Hererra, joined by Roman Diaz with the young giants Axel Laugart on piano and bassist Panagiotis Andreou. This was followed by Jazz Brasil with NEH Jazzmaster Kenny Barron on piano along with Nilson Matta and drummer Marcello Pellitteri.

His most recent album, El Cumbanchero was recorded with a string ensemble and arranged by Cuban piano virtuoso Aruán Ortiz, along with Yunior Terry on bass and percussionists Mauricio Herrera and Yusnier Bustamante.

Next up is an album of tangos with GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominee, bassist Pablo Aslan, and featuring Latin GRAMMY winner Raul Jaurena playing the bandoneon, pianist Abel Rongatoni and guitarist Francisco Navarro. And many more surprises to come.

Mark took time from Jazzheads to record an album for Otá records in Berlin with Grammy-nominated pianist Omar Sosa — Back at Jazzheads, Mark recorded Timbasa with the percussion team of Pedrito Martinez and Mauricio Hererra, along with Roman Diaz with young giants Axel Laugart on piano and bassist Panagiotis Andreou

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Gerardo Rivas and solo single

“A derretir el hielo” is Gerardo Rivas’ first single

Puerto Rican Gerardo Rivas delights his followers with the launch of his first solo song. “A derretir el hielo” is a salsa, composed by Juan José Hernández and Victor Sanabria López, with musical production by Marcos Sánchez. A few weeks after its premiere, the video clip has almost thirty thousand views on YouTube. The work leads to mysticism and contains a refreshing proposal. The direction was the work of Giova González and was filmed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Vamos a juntar los cuerpos bella, vamos a subir al cielo, vamos a prender la vela bella, vamos a derretir el hielo” the chorus quotes.

Gerardo is starting a new adventure

After more than a decade belonging to the group NG2, Puerto Rican salsa duo Rivas decided to try it on their own.

“With great humility I present my first solo work. All my life I have been involved in music and daring to do a solo project feels very good “, declared Rivas

The singer is the son of Jerry Rivas, who belongs to “El Gran Combo”. From a very young age he has been immersed in the musical world. He was the vocalist of the group “Gerardito y los rockolos”. In addition, it has around twenty-five years of experience.

Rivas has always been a believer in salsa, bets on it and defends it in each presentation. A faithful representative of the genre!

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Los Angeles salsa and its origins

Salsa and its origins

Salsa is a musical genre of Latino origin that has become very popular around the world thanks to the enormous number of artists who have been responsible for spreading it far and wide. Neither salsa or any of the other genre remains static in time and this is because all the transformations and combinations suffered at the years begin to pass. This has given rise to a number of new styles that have also been spreading to many countries thanks to those interested in learning to dance them.

How Los Angeles Salsa Originated

Los Angeles salsa and how to dance it — Two people dancing Los Angeles salsa

One of those styles is Los Angeles salsa, which is named after the city where it was born. In Los Angeles, United States, a family of Mexican origin was directly involved in the origins of this style of salsa. Francisco Vásquez, who spent a significant part of his life in Los Angeles, was delighted with the way many of the greatest dancers of those years danced in nightclubs.

Around this time, this man began to mimic the movements made by these dancers, to perfect them and to add other Hollywood dance steps. After all this process experienced by Francisco, he gave rise to what would later be known as On1. Sometime later, Francisco would teach his brothers what he learned in these clubs, which gave origin to what would become a family business known as Los Rumberos. These brothers were real important in the expansion of this salsa style, but there were many other professional dancers and lovers of Latin culture who have created other companies focused on promoting many musical styles from Latin America.

A very important thing to say about this salsa style is that it was neither the only nor the first salsa rhythm to become famous around the world, as New York salsa has also become very popular in recent years and includes some of the sounds present in tango, jazz, among others.

The presence of Los Angeles salsa in Europe

A type of salsa that only emerged at the local level has become one of the most sought-after musical styles by European music festivals to give them a privileged place in their respective programs, which implies that Latin music has already expanded in its multiple variants to every corner of the Old Continent.

One of the most important reasons why this style has become so famous is the richness of its steps and the varied movements in relation to other typical dance forms of salsa. If Europeans were already very interested in Latin rhythms, such a diversity of rhythms and styles makes them even more curious about our musical culture.

These competitions and festivals held around Europe are very striking and prestigious, as they invite locals to learn to dance different rhythms in order to be eligible for one of the luxurious prizes offered therein. The best of all this is that these competitions include all levels, so you don’t have to be a professional dancer to have a good time and gain one or another recognition.

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Role of the Triangle Trade in the birth of Cuban rumba

What Cuban rumba is

As we all know, Latin music is a very diverse mix of a series of rhythms and musical styles from all over the world. What we know today as Latin music was the result of a whole concoction of historical facts that must come first in any story that seeks to explain the origins of any Latin rhythm that wants to be studied.

A good example of this that we have just said is the Cuban rumba, which is part of a set of cultural concepts that can be found in many parts of the world. There are certain musical rhythms that have allowed us to see that some seemingly alien places have made us discover each and every one of the common points they have, both historically and culturally.

How Cuban rumba starts

Cuban rumba and the Triangle Trade — Some people dancing rumba and and playing drums

One of the most important historical events that marked the birth of the Cuban rumba was the triangular trade carried out between Africa, America and Europe. This fact was the emergence of a large number of musical genres that were resulting from the mixture of rhythms and styles from all the aforementioned continents.

After the Discovery of America, Europe saw in the New World a useful territory for many of the economic activities that were not possible in their respective countries. In the case of labor, many African chiefdoms offered for sale to part of their inhabitants, something that was seen with very good eyes by the powerful Europeans of the time. This is how what historically would be known as triangular trade began.

This activity consisted of sending low-quality materials to be exchanged by African slaves to work with African and American resources in terrible living conditions. Once in America, some African ethnic groups were in charge of introducing the rumba in the Antilles, although the origins of the groups that brought these rhythms continue to be controversial among many scholars of the subject.

Although the slaves worked very hard during the day, they continued to practice their traditional rituals and rites at night. These practices were entirely based on their traditional music and religious customs to stay united with their Mother Earth despite the remoteness and the circumstances. Over time, these rites and percussion instruments were banned, so the new inhabitants of America had to adapt to the instruments allowed by the Spanish Crown. This made these sounds unknown to the Africans together with their forbidden dances in this land were merging until resulting in what we know today as rumba.

Rumba today

Cuban rumba and the role of the slaves — People dressed in white to enjoy Cuban Rumba on the streets

The characteristics of the rumba vary enormously from one place to another, since there are many variations and changes from one continent to another. In Africa, many see this genre as similar to zouk or benga, while Europeans refer to it as flamenco or Catalan rumba. There have been many artists who have taken on the task of making this genre their own and making it evolve to unsuspected levels to make it what it is today.

Today, we can appreciate a good number of subgenres that have their origin in the same parrones rhythms from which rumba derives in its different versions.

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Salsa as a reflect of social inequality

Salsa is more than a musical genre

Salsa is only viewed as a musical genre of Latin American origin that relates to Spain in the wrong way for many people, but it is much more than this. In the same way, we can talk about salsa as a set of Caribbean rhythms and styles amongst which we can find mambo, rumba, guaracha, among others. Nowadays, both definitions are now known to encompass everything salsa means in terms of culture in the Latin world.

Well, turns out salsa went far beyond serving as a type of music to become a cultural and even political phenomenon that played a very important role at momentous points in public life in many Latin countries.

How salsa social movement began

Salsa as a social movement ans its artists — Willie Colon playing the trumpet

As soon as the Cuban Revolution was concrete, the island was gradually isolating itself from the rest of the world in many of the areas of life, especially the artsy one. This resulted in that many local artists were forced to leave their country and relocate to New York, United States. It was there that all these exponents of the aforementioned genre began to work in innovative ways and give new life to this music, thus leading to a number of changes that would transform salsa forever.

One of the most important changes was the fact that music was no longer confined to smart ball-rooms. Now it does too in the corners where you can see the misery in which a significant percentage of the population lives. At these times, the aim was not only to achieve the greatest number of attendees possible, but to achieve those who needed to feel connected to these rhythms.

That audience was composed of Latino neighborhood residents, who were desperate to find any artistic expression capable of reflecting their everyday problems. In this sense, salsa has become a powerful tool of protest against the very poor economic, political and social situation for which Latinos were going through. One of its greatest exponents has been Ruben Blades with songs such as Prohibido Olvidar, Pueblo Latino, and Tiburon. These musical themes are an open critic to governments of all ideological tendencies reneged on promises to the people.

Salsa culture and salsa as part of Latin American identity

Salsa and social inequality — A couple dancing salsa

When we analyze thoroughly the origins of salsa and the most famous artists of this genre, it is not difficult to understand why it has been so successful in the greater share of Latin America. These artistic expressions of this type are the ones that can put into words the feelings experienced by those who wish to create an identity and bring about solid political thoughts. We mention the word identity because it refers to the way we perceive ourselves and we see our traditions and the story behind us.

A large part of the story is related by salsa, which has become a popular life expression as an unambigous reflection of the typical traditions and customs of the Caribbean countries. In the same way, this genre lets us view the experiences, happiness and sadness of those who identify with its lyrics.

Salsa is a clear demonstration that arts are not always disconnected from the feelings of the majority but, on the contrary, it can be a true reflection of what people dream, think and feel from each chapter of history.

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