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Much prominence is given to singers, musicians and the visible part of the entertainment in general, but there is not enough talk of those who make it possible for the aforementioned to record what they have created for their audience. That is why we wanted to talk to Jennifer Freedman, better known as ”La Chiqui Some” and Agustin Someillan, who is known as ”El Some”.   

Singer Jennifer Freedman and trumpeter Agustin Someillan in the studio 

Jennifer and Agustin ‘’El Some’’’s first contact with music 

Jennifer started in music with percussion in 2005, but moved away from it for a few years to pursue other activities until other artists and groups called her to play with them. She was then invited to attend some rehearsals at Mam-Ax Studios, where by a twist of fate, there was a man named Someillan who already had a studio at that time. They still did not know each other at that time, but soon, one would be very important for the other’s professional life.   

In 2018, she had to go again to the same building, which is when she finally met Agustin, who tells her that she was in the wrong place and had to go to another office. Her visit to Mam-Ax was intended to participate in the recording of a single for singer Freddy Nieves, but that chance encounter would help her to learn that both she and Agustín had a partner in common, who recommended her to work together. 

After that, both accepted and began to know each other better, which led ”El Some” to advise Jennifer on her singing and other details of the business. At the same time, the girl was beginning to see music as something much more serious, since it was only a hobby for her by then. She had certain doubts because she had not jumped right into music professionally, but Agustín convinced her to try to start a career as such, to which she ended up giving in.   

The owner of the studio did not have the support of anyone at that time, so he had the great idea of partnering with Jennifer and bringing together their qualities in the same project.   

In the case of ”El Some”, he comes from a musical family and studied music in Cuba. He became a trumpet player just like his father. Back in his country of origin, he was fortunate to accompany many orchestras such as the Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, with which he was nominated for Latin Grammy in 2014.    

Having decided his country did not provide him with all the opportunities he needed as an artist at that time, he tried his luck in New Jersey, where he currently resides as does Jennifer, with whom he currently shares the Sonority Record Studios project.    

At this moment, they are creating the album ”Los Some Son” as an idea of Jennifer herself to get people know ”El Some”’s career. Among the guests of the project, we can mention former Los Van Van singer Pedrito Calvo, former Los Van Van singer Melly Cartero, Jennifer herself, singer Frankie Vazquez, pianist Arturo Ortiz, among many others.    

How Jennifer and ”El Some” created Sonority Music Studios   

Agustin has been in the studio for almost 12 years, while Jennifer has only been there for five, but that has not stopped them from getting together perfectly, of course. He has always liked to play the trumpet, but his neighbors started to complain about the constant noise coming from his house, so he decided to look for a place to make music without disturbing anyone.   

However, before that, he was already working on music at home, to the point that he produced an album for José Mangual from his own home, which he describes as ”a huge odyssey”, since he did not have the conditions to complete a job of that magnitude. That is when he decides to look for a space more conditioned to record and produce, so he acquires half of the space he currently uses and elongated it after partnering with Jennifer. 

There were implements they did not possess the knowledge to use, but little by little, they were learning on their to create the brand they have today and the prestige that they acquired in the Latin music community with so much sacrifice. 

”Although this is not a big studio, great things have happened here. There is a great vibe and we make very good music” said ”El Some” about what has been achieved with this space, which has become their musical home.   

The studio has a vacuum-sealing cabin and everything necessary for mixing, mastering, editing, recording and much more.   

Relationship between Los Some Son and Sonority Music Studios 

At the moment of expanding the studio, Agustin had already named the place ”Some Son”, but once he and Jennifer became partners, they started to think about how to market it more effectively in the United States. Since everything they did there had to do with sonority, they opted for something with that word, so the studio ended up being called Sonority Music Studios. 

Both are listed as company managers and ”El Some” focuses on the music, creation, engineering and production side. On the other hand, Jennifer is much more focused on the administrative part, contracts, bookings, among other details of this type. 

Seeing what they were achieving with the studio, they felt they could expand a little more to other facets, so both artists also engaged in founding their own band that they called ”Los Some Son” in homage to the ”El Some”’s family of trumpeters and Cuban salsa music in general.   

In conclusion, both the studio and the band are formed by the same team, so both projects go hand in hand.   

Read also: Today we talk with Susana Y Su Orquesta Adelante 

Time is the owner of the best because of what happens 

In this section of International Salsa Magazine, there have been very special characters who provided us with important lessons and wonderful anecdotes about their lives, but the luminary we are going to talk about in this opportunity simply has no comparison with the rest. We are talking about composer, musician and singer Luis Guillermo Rangel, who very kindly welcomed Augusto Felibertt and myself into his home to try to give us an overview of the highlights of his life, since he has a lot to say. 

After having picked us up on a busy street in the city of Caracas and arrived at the beautiful and comfortable home of Mr. Rangel and his family in the Las Mercedes area, we have become fascinated with his living room, which houses an impressive collection of instruments of all kinds, microphones, CDs and vinyl records, showing that the place is a reflection of what the artist is most passionate about. So much so that as soon as we entered the house, the first thing he told us was ”this is my life” as it was more than evident when appreciating the room.  

Mr. Rangel’s beginnings in music  

The first thing we wanted to know about the central figure in this story is obviously his beginnings in the musical world, to which he responded that it all started when he was only a child, since God gave him the opportunity to have parents who liked music very much. His father was a guitarist and his mother sang. 

Although Mr. Rangel lost his mother at a very young age, she gave him with a love of music deeply anchored in his heart. At that time, it was very easy to play in family homes, so his was no exception. 

”We came from El Cementerio, Avenida Los Carmenes 24 and that was a very familiar block. Every weekend, my home was filled with music and my mother loved parties, gatherings and friends. In one of these meetings, I met Alfredo Sadel, but he was not the only one. I also met Rubén Osuna and Sergio Mexicano in that context. My musical career as such began when I was seven or eight years old with a cuatro that dad bought”, he said about the subject.  

Time in Coche 

It was not long before the artist told us that he went to live in Coche with his family and it is in that same area that he met Cherry Navarro, José Luis Rodríguez ”El Puma”, Fran Acevedo and many other young people who would become his great friends thanks to his passion for music. He also made reference to a very famous group of that time called Los Zeppys and consisting of ”El Puma”, Estelita del LLano, Agustín Calzadilla, Alberto Lewis and Nicolas Alvarado.   

‘’We formed the first Venezuelan music group there in Coche and the harpist was Frank Acevedo, who lived in Los Valles del Tuy, but it was not an impediment for us to have the strength to form the ensemble. Nilson Díaz, who lived in El Valle, was our maraquero and ended up being the musical director of Yolanda Moreno’s group until he passed away recently” Mr. Rangel remembered about his time in Coche.  

Friendship with Cherry and Carlos Navarro 

His friendship with Carlos and Cherry Navarro comes from that Mr. Rangel was about 11 or 12 years old when he lived in the block eight letter D, while the Navarro brothers lived in letter C. They always met in the sports courts of the area to play basketball or rubber ball, but the time gathered also led them to become interested in other hobbies and one of them was music. 

One day, we were all invited to a birthday party and Cherry, who was the fastest of all of us, proposed us to give a small performance to the birthday boy, since we had no money to buy him anything. That’s how we started in this world” said Mr. Rangel keeping with his story. 

He continued his story saying that ”I met Chelique Sarabia at the Industrial Technical School while he was studying oil and I was studying electricity. We became great friends and he invited me to play with his band, with which I was for 26 years. We recorded very beautiful songs with Cherry, José Luis, Chucho Avellanet, Javier Solís and many other great talents. Such was the level we achieved that we even accompanied Placido Domingo at the Teatro Teresa Carreño in 1991 and 1992”. 

Precisely because of the large number of artists he has managed to meet in the music scene, he wants to compile all this information in a book that includes so many anecdotes that no one even heards about before. At the moment, he has a page known as ”Mi Personaje de Hoy” which currently has 21,000 followers and always has interesting things to tell.  

What does it mean to have met and shared with so many national and international luminaries? 

Mr. Rangel ensures that the environment around him is very important to him. He thinks that the principles and values of every human being are determined by the people who accompany him in life. In the case of the Navarro family, he deeply values what each and every one of its members has done for him on a personal and musical level. 

”I was very fond of Cherry in life and, today, I have a beautiful friendship with Carlos. The same thing happened with José Luis Rodríguez, although he went international in a way that made it difficult for him to return to the country, and many other friends with whom I still maintain contact because I never forget my friends” Mr. Rangel emphasized on the issue. 

He also remembered singer-songwriter Rudy Márquez, who sadly passed away on October 9 this year. The artist grew up with Márquez in La Florida long before he went to live in Coche, a time when they used to play ball and cards. As adults, they met again on Radio Caracas Television and played in the extinct show ”Club Musical”, after which they went for lunch, had a coffee or shared any other plan to have a good time.  

The family for Mr. Rangel 

For Mr. Rangel, family is the backbone of growth and maturity. Fortunately, his was always very close, so he and his 11 siblings always stuck together and were in touch even after they became adults. Of course, that was until the older ones passed away. 

However, the artist believes that nowadays there is a great deficiency in the current family upbringing and submits that the values and principles of yesteryear are a bit lost. This is part of what has resulted in the situation facing the country at a social level, not to mention that there is no institution to protect these principles. 

Despite everything, he continues to believe in the institution of the family and thinks that the good things it brings to society can be recovered if we all play our part.  

What does music mean to Luis Guillermo Rangel? 

Mr. Rangel says that, for him, music is everything. It is the best language in the world and the language we all speak. The musician ensures that a human being can be going through any situation in life and, no matter how hard it is, accompanying it with music will automatically calm the spirit and soul almost immediately. 

He also added that ”music activates you. Psychologically, music is an element that helps you and each of its genres has a particular function. In the case of romantic music, we can use a song with this style to dedicate it to whom we like, while the ideal genres to brighten the spirit are guaracha and salsa. All this is what has made me grow and be here with you”.  

Luis Guillermo the composer 

Mr. Rangel claims to be pushing for his own achievements with songwriting, but unfortunately he has not found them yet. However, with sacrifices, he has been able to progressively become known thanks to this facet of his. 

Recently, he recorded a very original Christmas album thanks to the fact that he listened to a lot of Christmas music at home and his father was a great arranger of aguinaldos, so he took some of that essence and poured it into an album which he called ”Navidad Criolla” about eight years ago. The big problem is that he has not had the resources to market it properly and the crisis and currency devaluation have made it even more complicated.  

However, the artist does not give up and continues his campaign to get someone important to be interested in the album and promote it so that people can enjoy it.  

Payola 

Like many other Venezuelan artists, Mr. Rangel has also had to deal with the phenomenon known as payola, which consists of the payment to radio stations by the artists in order to be able to be played in those spaces.   

He told us that when his Christmas album was released, a friend told him that he could make him reach number one on every available radio station in exchange for a specific monetary value, but he absolutely refused. 

”I didn’t know what payola was and I never thought that radio stations would hurt composers, musicians and singers and keep them away from their passion due to their greed for money. I believe that payola is a profound mistake that was made and continues to be made, so I have not been able to get lucky with my songs. I made a spectacular album with La Rondalla Venezolana and I don’t know where all of it will lead” said Mr. Rangel regretfully about the situation.  

Luis Guillermo Rangel the musician 

As for his facet as a musician, Mr. Rangel defined himself in one word: ”guataca”. This means that the artist was always self-taught and did not need sheet music to do his job correctly. In this regard, he told us a very interesting anecdote, which we describe below. 

‘’One day, Chelique Sarabia got a call from Radio Caracas Televisión to ask him to lend one of her cuatristas, me among them, and when I went to the channel, the first thing these people did was to give me a score that I could not read. Then, I told Aldemaro Romero that Chelique and I have never had the need to read music to be able to play, something that surprised him a lot” said Mr. Rangel with a laugh. 

The artist ensures that he has never been ashamed to say that he does not use sheet music to play and he has his own methods to be able to play.  

His greatest musical influences 

Although the answer may seem very obvious, one of the greatest musical influences Mr. Luis Guillermo has had is his great friend Chelique Sarabia from the very moment they met at the technical school. His cuatrista retired, so he asked Mr. Rangel to fill that position and, from that moment on, they became inseparable until the death of the musician in 2022. 

He got to know Sarabia beyond the demanding artist and producer of strong character. He also got to know the romantic, passionate and noble man who always helped those who were just starting in the world of music.  

His great friend has been his biggest inspiration for what he has achieved musically.  

Luis Guillermo the friend 

Mr. Rangel describes himself as an extremely loyal friend who always tries to be consistent and never forgets his loved ones. He also revisits his friendships with Chelique Sarabia, Toco Gómez and Rudy Márquez, whom he met when he was just a 10 or 11year-old boy.   

I have a very broad concept of friendship, but very specific. A friend is not just for the good times or when you are in a good position, but for any moment. A friend can even help prevent you from saying a phrase that could be misinterpreted and lead you to serious problems” said Mr. Rangel, who also defined friendship as ”the conceptual confinement of a human being” and the importance of loving people as such.   

Luis Guillermo Rangel as a father 

Mr. Rangel has four amazing children who unfortunately are abroad due to the current situation in Venezuela, which he assures us has affected him much not to having them close to him.   

He learned the importance of keeping the family together from his own, but also from Cherry and Carlos Navarro’s family, which always faced adversity without separating from each other. For him, the Navarro family was also his family, so much so that he even remembers on one occasion their mother made a shirt and gave it to him, a gesture that he still remembers fondly.   

”This is my life” 

Recalling that Mr. Rangel told us ”this is my life” as soon as we saw his collection of instruments and records in the living room, we wanted him to give us an explanation of why it is, he replied that the contents of his home include the things he loves the most. His guitars, instruments, sound equipment and microphones are among the most valuable things he has because that is how people know him. 

”I want to show people that my love for others is not only sentimental, but also musical, which translates into meetings I hold at my house, where we share, sing and play music. I remember one day Chelique Sarabia, Miguel Angel Landa, Henry Salvat, Toco Gomez and I affectionately baptized our group as ‘Junta Directiva’, since we were all directors. And the one who coordinated our meetings was journalist Aquilino José Mata,” he told us.  

Transition from conservative to modern 

Mr. Rangel claims that he has a lot of respect for music in general, but that there are some modern genres that have caused him a lot of rejection and one of them is reggaeton, which he can not stand since it is strident, rude and vulgar music whose lyrics he does not like in the slightest.  

In fact, both he and Augusto agreed that the aforementioned urban genre can be defined as ”music without music” since its exponents do not know what music is. 

Luis Guillermo the collector 

One thing Augusto and I noticed was the huge amount of records and instruments he had in his home, so we wanted him to tell us a little about his facet as a collector, to which he wanted to clarify that he does not define himself that way. That is, he simply value the things according to the people who, at the time, gave them to him. In fact, each of his guitars is marked with the name of the person who sent it to him. 

The instrument that most caught our attention is the Kravik harp or lyre designed by a luthier in Africa, but unfortunately, Mr. Rangel has not yet been able to figure out how to tune it. The artist thinks that it must have some harmonic key that he has not yet been able to discover, but he supposes that it is a romantic instrument due to the sweetness of its sounds. It was a gift from the Vice Consul of Venezuela, Mauricio Portañoro, and it draws the attention of all visitors because of its peculiar appearance compared to other instruments. 

He also showed us a Chinese violin, which was also a gift from a diplomatic friend of his and only has two strings, which makes it so special and different from the rest of his collection.  

What Luis Guillermo is doing today 

Although he is very happy with the result he got, he also pointed out that the costs have made it very difficult for him to continue with the process to the point that he has not been able to get certain things done such as mastering. This has been one of the biggest obstacles he has faced in his career, although it has not stopped him from continuing to work with what he has.  

The muse for Luis Guillermo 

Every composer always requires certain conditions to be able to get inspired and write, and that is the case with Mr. Rangel, who needs to be completely relaxed prior to create music. According to his own words, ”I have to be fresh in soul, spirit, heart and mind so that everything flows better. I always prefer to be calm in any life situation and everyone close to me knows that”. 

He also told us that, because of the things he is going living, he has not been able to focus on finishing the song he has been composing for some weeks now. Calmness and lightness are fundamental for him to writing a song, verse, article or whatever comes to mind.  

From 1967 to 2024 

When asked for a summary of his life in all areas from 1967 to 2024, he wanted to give thanks for what he has been able to sustain from that year until now, especially with his health. He feels he has achieved a set of things that make him very happy and he continues to reflect on all those things. 

”I feel I have achieved what I’ve ever looked for, which is love, peace, tranquility and the possibility of creating and giving to others. I’ve tried to be the best I could be in life and I believe I’ve done it” Mr. Rangel concluded on the subject.  

 

Luis Guillermo the spiritualist 

Although Mr. Rangel can sometimes be arrogant and have a strong character in his own words, he also thinks he is a very spiritual person and, most of the time, very cheerful. That is exactly why his loved ones always want him around.  

He says when he is unable to share with friends for some reason, they always tell him how much they miss him for his smile to cheer them up. He thanks God, to whom he is always devoted, for everything, including his way of being.  

What did you think of the interview? 

We were very curious about what Mr. Rangel thought of our interview, to which he replied that it was not like any other he has given in the past.   

He told us that, throughout his career, he has given about 15 interviews, but in none of them had he felt the sensitivity, warmth and familiarity he found in us.   

Among the many well-known media outlets that have had the opportunity to speak with Luis Guillermo Rangel, International Salsa Magazine has stood out for the closeness it has had to the artist and the interest in knowing the person behind the musical and professional field. 

Therefore, the interview ends with the following words from Luis Gullermo Rangel to us: ”I want to thank Karina and Augusto for being here in my house and I hope you both feel comfortable here. I also hope they get to know my musical and instrumental side, but also my human side” And sure enough we did! 

Read also: Gabrielito Y La Verdad shines in Los Angeles 

Los Angeles is an inexhaustible source of Latin talent and this is proven every day with a large number of singers, musicians and groups that give all for all in each of their performances, with which they manage to earn a privileged place in the city and California’s music scene.    

On this occasion, we talked with the great Mexican percussionist Juan Karlos Jimenez, with whom we had the privilege of making contact to learn more about his career and contributions to Latin music in US territory.   

Juan Karlos’ beginnings in music   

Juan Karlos was born in Veracruz, place he describes as ”one of the most salsa-loving cities in Mexico”. The first musical influence in the artist’s life has been his own father, who played a lot of Cuban music of the time when Juan Karlos was still a child, and among his favorite groups and artists were La Orquesta Aragón and Tito Puente. 

Of his four brothers, he was the only one who devoted himself to music professionally and wanted to take salsa as a foundation, being something exceedingly rare for a Mexican, since most of the population does not usually see this genre as part of the typical music of the country. However, Juan Karlos also points out that, since Veracruz is located in the tropical part of the country, the city has a lot of Caribbean musical influence. This was one of the reasons that led the artist to become so passionate about salsa. 

In addition to music, he also studied a degree in communication and graphic design at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, Guadalajara. As for the communication part, being a 13-year-old boy, he began working at a radio station, which would be the beginning of interest he would have in the not too distant future for locution in a much more formal way. This led him to work in very prestigious places in Mexico such as Televisa Radio, giving him the necessary experience to know how to handle himself as a musician in relation to the media when he would promote his orchestra years later.   

While I was university studying, I worked in a music store and one day I had to serve to the Cuban Afro-jazz singer Rosalía de Cuba, who invited me to attend Cuban nights of which she was part of in restaurants and clubs in Guadalajara. One night, I was encouraged to go and started playing with one of the trios that performed that day and the leader of the group was so fascinated with my skills as a percussionist that he hired me permanently in exchange for 150 Mexican pesos per performance” said Juan Karlos about his time as a student.   

He also pointed out that in order to reach such a good level, he took a few classes with the late Cuban arranger, composer and bongocero Adalberto Alvarez, leader of the group Son 14, thanks to whom he was able to play percussion so efficiently.   

Today, he exercises his skills as a graphic designer with his orchestra Sangre Nueva Band, since he is the one who creates the album covers, flyers and artwork in general related to his musical project.  

Moving to the United States   

When Juan Karlos was just going to form his first band in Guadalajara, he met Maika Miller, who played for the Mexico’s Philharmonic orchestra and would be his partner for several years. Some time after they married, Milka was offered a master’s degree in Los Angeles and asked her husband to go with her, to which he gladly accepted because of the new opportunities he would have in his new home.   

A few years later, he retried creating his group in her new city of residence after 15 years of hard work. And while Juan Karlos and Milka are no longer a couple, they continue to be part of the same musical project, which they have baptized Sangre Nueva Band.   

However, in order to reach that point, he had to gain a lot of experience playing and perfecting his technique, but fortunately, many groups gave him the opportunity to make a living and be better every day at what he did, such as Conjunto Son 14, Carache, Santiago de Cuba, Rosalía de Cuba, Johnny Blas Y Afro Libre Orquesta, La Orquesta de Yari Moré, Tabaco y Ron, among others. 

His first attempt at creating an orchestra was Jazz Son, which he founded with Maika in Mexico with the idea that his music would be based on the fusion of jazz and son, but his plans were postponed with their sudden move to the United States. Finally, in 2009, he managed to found the orchestra he has today, which he called Sangre Nueva Band. 

Even so, he never stopped playing independently for other artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, Victor Manuelle, Ruben Blades, Cheo Feliciano and many more.  

Salsa Nueva Band   

One of the things that led Juan Karlos to create his own orchestra in Los Angeles was his desire to be the leader of his own project. He says he feels fortunate and grateful to be able to play with other orchestras, but in his own words ”it is better to be the head of mouse than the tail of a lion”. For the same reason, the idea of working in his own business without having to rely on other orchestras or singers was always in his head. 

When he decided it was time, he had a chance encounter with an Armenian musician who, from the street, saw his congas in the back of his car, asked him if he was a musician and invited him to play at a nightclub next Saturday. By that time, he had managed to gather six musicians playing three congas, a trumpet and a bongo. On the same day, a music entrepreneur asked him to play at another venue, so he ventured to enlarge the group and was asked to name the band, which he called ”Sangre Nueva”.  

Today, Juan Karlos is very happy with all the musicians who accompany him on this adventure and hopes that they will stay with him for a long time. 

Read also: Raúl Vargas and his flamenco rumba duo Dos Bandoleros