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Erika Muñoz official administrator of the portal “Se Armó la Rumba en México”

Through Erika Muñoz official administrator of the portal “Se Armó la Rumba en México”, www.SalsaGoogle.com International Salsa Magazine and Por La Maceta Internacional 101.1 FM present the Puerto Rican Chevy “El Pitirre De La Salsa” based in Columbus, Georgia, USA.

The singer-songwriter Jose David Flores Perez better known as Chevy El Pitirre De La Salsa, son of Puerto Rican parents (both Cidreños), so at the age of 8 years settles in Cidra, a municipality in the mountainous Central Region of the Island of Enchantment.

He had the privilege of being lulled with musical notes; his father was an amateur singer as well as his maternal grandfather and uncles, and the string instruments (guitars, Cuban tres, and Puerto Rican cuatro) were his letters of introduction and distinction.

Once he settled in Puerto Rico, and as a teenager, he participated in choral activities at his school and in troubadour competitions in his town and surrounding areas.

In 1999 he arrived in Columbus, Georgia in fulfillment of his military service and remained there until 2005. During this period of time he joined musical groups in the area of Son Tropical (Columbus), Orquesta Tamboricua and Taboga, both from Atlanta.

Back to Puerto Rico in 2006, he stayed away from the stage, except for his participation in the second edition of the contest “Buscando el Sonero de Picante” for the year 2012 held at the Marriott Hotel in Isla Verde, where Chevy managed to sneak into the finalists.

Those evenings were hosted by radio man and event promoter Nestor “El Búho Loco” of Z93, Puerto Rico’s Salsa radio station, and accompanied by the musical framework of La Sonora Sanjuanera.

He returns to Columbus in 2016 and the meeting with the musician and arranger Felix Rodriguez takes place, integrating the vocal line of the Caribbean Sound group “group that by then was in the process of formation” and that somehow would be the necessary incentive for his return to the musical stage.

In the month of February 2019 prior to the celebration of Valentine’s Day, the single titled Instrumento de Amor was released through the different social networks and could be obtained through the various platforms in music sales in digital format.

The date was selected intentionally because from the titles of the singles, the name of the production and the theme of this one, it is evident the concordance of the encounters and misunderstandings of love that happen in everyday life.

The first production “Entre el Amor y el Vacilón” contains 8 songs inspired by Chevy’s own pen that he has drawn from the depths of his heart.

Under an intense work in this 2021 El Pitirre De La Salsa presents his second production for the album titled “Enjaulado” contains 12 songs of which some are authored by Chevy.

On May 30 was the official launch of the second production of the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and is available on all digital platforms.

You can already listen to the promotional track titled “En Modo de Avión” and “Siempre en mi Mente” to mention a few that are already available on his YouTube channel.

Facebook: Chevy “El Pitirre De La Salsa

By: Erika Muñoz from “Se Armó la Rumba en México”

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With a full tank, Transition by Tito Rodriguez, Jr.

Bella Martinez, International Salsa Magazine by the hand of www.SalsaGoogle.com presents and highly recommends this formidable and exquisite production of Tito Rodriguez Jr. The firstborn of the unforgettable Pablo “Tito” Rodriguez.

Long live music!  Repeat after me: “Long live the musicians so they can keep making it”.  And I add: “Long live SALSA”.

As soon as I got my hands on it I listened to it, many times.  Not that I needed an explanation, but I could not stop listening to it and go off to take care of my duties.

So much so that I had to send the radio station of the Puerto Rican salsa singer on vacation for a few days until I finished writing the note that had chosen to write itself.  The CD cover – showing the photo of Tito Rodriguez, Jr. settled on my desk for several weeks as if it belonged to the surface in front of which I sit every day.  Until one fine day I said to myself: Today I hope to be able to understand the instrumental pairing of everything that happens in this piece.

Here I go…

In the first cut (Bailando con la más fea) there were several bars after the first minute, that transported me to my days of partying in New York during the bravo launch of that orchestra that I haven’t heard for a long time.

Of course, while that orchestra sounded bigger than it was, this one I’m examining today – Tito Rodriguez, Jr.’s – sounds bigger than it is and on steroids; among other reasons because the baritone enhances the personality of this serious sounding arrangement, albeit hand in hand with a jocular lyric.

During the second theme (El vive bien) we experience a very Cuban theme of those that sandungueando the waists of those who follow the leather beats to’ fuete.

Shortly before entering the third minute, the interplay of saxophones and twists in which the baritone and bongo play suggest to me that this song shares the flavorfulness of the pregón that says “Salsa ahí na’ma’ como me gusta a mí…” from one of the tracks on Gilberto Santa Rosa’s production Colegas (2020).  In fact, Gilberto collaborates in this production, specifically in the song Volver.

In the third cut (Ándate nena), the trumpet solo stands out within an arrangement for large orchestra and allows the performance to be sprinkled with conga, marking the nostalgia of the memory of those geniuses that the traditional big bands left us as a legacy.  The saxophones sound like those of the Palladium orchestras.

The 4th track (Volver) is an arrangement where the influence of Bobby Valentín’s inventions is evident.  The track starts like the romantic arrangements of the 1990’s, although with a heavy and dominant piano, prior to the alto saxophone playing that opens the way for the rest of the saxophones in perfect synchrony with the conga, timbal and bongo.  This cut features Gilberto Santa Rosa, although the song didn’t need Santa Rosa to shine.

Tito Rodriguez, Jr. gave way to the most prolific salsa singer in commercial salsa to perform a song that was already the polished diamond of this collection.

I found it to be a classic big band arrangement with an avant-garde touch where the saxophones give way to a touch of a musical arrangement that wants to be a sonorous orchestra.  However, the perfection of the thing doesn’t let the sonorous touch tuck in the modern big band concept.  Well, I understand myself.  “Afinca y echa pa’ lante…” said Santa Rosa.

In the fifth track (Con el tanque lleno) the orchestra starts off powerful in sound and playfulness.  The song is about a “convertible, colorado y con el tanque lleno”.  The pregón reads: “Soy soltero y con el tranque lleno” (I’m single and with a full tank).  I don’t think you will be surprised when I confess that this is my favorite song in this collection.  The lyrics are funny, but the arrangement is a smashing one.

The conga’s correspondence with the melodic trombone solo by Alex Zapata’s blows sets the stage for a masterful closing by the saxophone ensemble under the leadership of Ismael Vergara’s baritone.

The sixth track (No vale la pena) is evidence of the chameleonic capacity of Sammy Gonzalez, Jr.’s voice, which can be used to proclaim, to sound, to become the most romantic rogativo in the middle of a heavy song, all within a romantic lyric full of feeling.  Well, rarely does a man play the “victim” of a sentimental breakup.

This is one of those few times, a situation that makes the pregones both jocular and nostalgic at the same time.  The contradiction of suffering and laughing is also visited at the end of the mambo, which makes the theme one of general interest in addition to the musical interest it awakens.

The seventh track (Pa ti morena) is a very brave Cuban son.  I don’t know if this son is played in that unlikely combination of the style of Tito Puente, Machito and Tito Rodriguez knowingly or if it was pure chance.  I felt like I was reaching for heaven while listening to Sammy Gonzalez, Jr.’s vocal performance when the alto saxophone solo brought me back to reality.

The beginning of cut #8 (Para los bailadores) marks the change of tempo to an aggressive one where the bongo is the one telling where the baritone is going. When the vocalist suggests to Tito Rodriguez, Jr. to enter the mambo with an anticipatory “y nos fuimos”, no one doubts the greatness of the orchestra’s sound.

The timbal solo by Tito Rodríguez, Jr. declines when the performer requests “mambo otra vez”.  It is in this track that the distinctive sound of this orchestra is most noticeable, one inspired by the traditional big bands, although influenced by the advanced currents.  In short, this is real salsa and it is salsa to enjoy.  As promised in the lyrics, this song brings to the arena a very cool rhythm that is not to be confused with charanga.

After I finished writing this note, having already listened to the complete production, I was tempted to ask Tito for an audience and ask him “a couple of questions” according to me.  That brief call went on and on and I asked him everything I could, taking advantage of the nobility of the timbalero heir to the musicality and name of one of our greatest musical glories….

During the “cañona” that I wanted to call an organic interview, Tito confirmed that Transición is his fourth album and the first to be titled in Spanish.  Let’s go well, Tito.

This album was preceded by Curious? (1978), which featured José Alberto “El Canario” and Rubén Blades; Eclipse (1995) and The Big Three Palladium Orchestra live at the Blue Note (2004).

Why the title Transición?  I’ll tell you about it next time.  Obviously, Tito deserves another chapter in my salsa journey.  Talk to you soon and I’ll tell you about his 2009 adventure when he was in Puerto Rico fulfilling one of his musical dreams.

Tito Rodríguez, Jr. Transición

By: Bella Martinez “La Escritora Irreverente de La Salsa”

Puerto Rico

WebSite: Bella Martinez

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