Our great friend Adalberto Santiago is one of the biggest references of Latin music despite his long career, so it is always appropriate to remember the greatest moments of his career. Today, he is experiencing some health difficulties, so we hope he enjoys this article and it makes him feel better.
Adalberto Santiago’s beginnings in music
Adalberto Santiago Berríos was always possessor of an extremely powerful and deep voice, making him a lyric tenor and one of the best performers of Afro-Cuban music in the United States. Some of his most important influences from an early young age were Miguelito Cuní and Benny Moré, who served as a source of inspiration for what was to come in his future career.
The artist began in music by lending his voice to trios and playing the guitar and bass, although he often accompanied these activities with some dance steps. In the eyes of many, this makes him one of the first singers to play, dance, and sing in the same concert. In addition, in this early stage of his career, he was nicknamed “The Latin Elvis Presley” due to his tall stature, thick hair, blue eyes, and elegant demeanor.
Turning point in his career
After having had the opportunity to play with great orchestras at the time, what really made his career take off was his joining Ray Barretto’s Orchestra, prompting him to go international with albums such as “Acid” and “Rican Struction.” These albums continue to be a reference for salsa and Latin music fans in general.
Some time later, Santiago and other members of the aforementioned orchestra created La Típica 73, but unfortunately time did not pass much when the artist and some of his colleagues split up again over religious differences with the rest of the members and founded Los Kimbos on their own. Along with this group, of which he was the lead singer, he recorded ”Los Kimbos” and ”This Big Kimbos With Adalberto Santiago” in 1977, the year in which he dared to release his first solo album called ”Adalberto”.
One interesting thing about that album is that it was produced by Ray Barretto, who contributed two of his compositions to his old pupil.
Solo career
From 1977 onwards, everything that came for Alberto was nothing more than success and recognition. One of those great successes was his famous participation in “Hommy, A Latin Opera,” a work produced and directed by Larry Harlow, which was an assured stamp of excellence. Soon after, he was asked to be one of the lead singers for “Louie Ramírez y sus Amigos.” He co-produced the song “Adalberto Featuring Popeye El Marino” with Ramírez and joined Barretto on “Rican/Struction.”
In the 1980s, Adalberto and Roberto Roena came together to release ”Super Apolo 47:50”, which included songs such as ”Yo Tenía Una Mujer” and ”Vigilándote”. Around the same time, he also co-produced the album ”Calidad” with Papo Lucca, who was also very involved in the musical direction.
Another international explosion of popularity
Another milestone in his career was his salsa version of the classic “Sex Symbol,” which has since become a cult album for fans from many countries, including Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. It turned out to be one of the most successful albums of his entire career and practically established a new style known as “salsa monga.”
The composer has also written songs for albums in which he himself has been involved as both a bandleader and singer, and his success has in no way prevented him from staying true to his Latin roots.
Adalberto Santiago’s current situation
We have learned that Adalberto Santiago was about to participate in a tour which aimed to pay tribute to him and other participants, but due to some complications with his health, this concert series will not be able to take place for the time being.
From International Salsa Magazine, we are very sorry for this situation, and the entire team hopes that this living legend of music will be able to get out of this situation and continue to give us joy with his talent.
Read also: Cache Live Music puts Miami to dance to traditional Latin music
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