El Canario at Chicago’s Cuban Fest

In case you missed it, Jose Alberto “El Canario” charged the crowd with electrifying salsa at this year’s Cuban Fest, which was held at Riis Park at Narragansett and Fullerton Avenue this past Saturday. Despite audio issues - none his doing, Jose Alberto inspired the crowd with his repertoire of tunes he has recorded over the years. Sound engineers found themselves struggling with feedback and other issues at show time (which is a no no). The crowd was smaller than expected due to the earlier severe storm that passed through the park. Those who stuck it out however were treated by a salsa Sonero who is a master of his trade. This was the third Cuban Fest event that was held at Riis Park that seems to be plagued by rain each year. Promoters may want to consider changing their dates to a dryer time. In their defense though, who can predict weather anyway.

Rica Obsesion

Here is an impressive Chicago salsa band that piqued our interest. I discovered this video on Youtube when I was looking for anything recent by today’s Chicago salsa bands. The name of the group is Rica Obsesion.  They have a modern exciting salsa sound that compares or exceeds the quality of salsa that has dominated the mainstream sound that was traditionally spoon fed to us by New York, Miami, Puerto Rico and Colombia. I am quite impressed and think this group will be around for a long time. The video was posted by “mambohiphop” on youtube recently and is a sampling of a couple of songs they recorded. I like where they are going with this and am asking everyone to support them. Hey Chicago, you really have something good here. Below is their bio that was posted by mambohiphop. Click on the link and enjoy…

Published on Youtube on Apr 26, 2012 by mambohiphop
Rica Obsesion (Chicago Salsa)
Performing: Soy Lluvia and Soy Quien Soy
Two brothers joined in blood and music founded Rica Obsesion. Dennis and Byron Calito from Guatemala; raised in Chicago, have the talent and ability to achieve in the music industry. They started playing music in church at a very young age, and were inspired by their older brother Victor. Both of them have had the privilege to perform and record with various local bands in Chicago. They have also performed with well-known artist such as, Gloria Estefan, Willy Torres, DLG, Eddie Santiago, Kevin Ceballo, Tony Vega, Van Lester, Yomo Toro, Alex D'Castro, Wichie Camacho, Frankie Negron and many more.
Dennis Calito (Timbales/Music Director) and Byron Calito (Congas/Vocals) have brought together some of Chicago’s finest musicians to make up Rica Obsesion. The Rica Obsesion family consists of Harley Figueroa (Saxophone/vocals) as musical composer, Alex Torres ( Lead Vocal ), Junior Rivera ( Lead Vocal ), Stuart Mindiman on Piano, Nathan Rodriguez Bass, Micah Frazier on Trumpet (R.I.P) ,Leon Q. Allen ( Trumpet ) and Joe Mende on Trombone.
Rica Obsesions passion for Salsa, which is vigorously projected through their musical selections from artist like Spanish Harlem Orquestra, the late Frankie Ruiz, and Soneros Del Barrio is undeniably strong. Rica Obsesion also performs variety of music such as Mergenues and cha cha cha by the late Tito Puente and many Latin Jazz tunes.
Rica Obsesion’s ultimate goal is to show their love for music in their performance, to see and feel the excitement of the audience on the dance floor. With a combination of great music and the best musicians in Chicago, Rica Obsesion is confident that their goals will be achieved and that they will be able to put Chicago back on the map for Salsa once again.
BAND: Dennis Calito- Timbal/Music Director
Byron Calito : Congas/Coro
Harley Figueroa: Saxophone / Coro
Micah Frazier: TrumpetJunior Rivera: Lead Vocal / Coro
Alex Torres: Lead Vocal / Coro
Joe Mende: Trombone
Stuart Mindiman: Piano
Richie Pillot: Bass
Brian Rivera: Bongo
http://www.ricaobsesion.net




Click on the following Link to see the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q435EQkK-4k

Angel Lopez

 

During the 1970s, when salsa was going full throttle, Chicago was right in the thick of it. Salsa stars were coming to Chicago on a regular basis headlining dance halls, theaters and clubs. While most of us expected these headliners to eventually make their way here very few of us gave credit to those who went through the trouble to get them here. What most of us didn’t know was all the hard work it took to book these headliners and put the event together. One of the more popular promoters of that time was Angel Lopez, a charismatic hard working man from Puerto Rico who was responsible for bringing many of the main acts to Chicago during salsa’s heyday. Angel Lopez was tireless in his efforts to promote salsa in Chicago and probably brought about 80% of the big name salsa acts to Chicago during that time. This was a good thing. You see, these promotions brought work to Chicago. Local musicians received work as warm up bands and others were hired to accompany established stars who brought their sheet music virtually forming their bands here. Halls made money, musicians made money, vendors made money and spectators got to enjoy a big name act. Some of the stars Angel brought to Chicago on a regular basis were Eddie Palmieri, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz and Sophie. During the salsa era Angel was at the top of his game. Angel Lopez even started the “Latin Connection” record label and was responsible for producing some of Chicago’s popular salsa bands. Angel, in my opinion, received very little credit for all he did to promote salsa in Chicago. At the close of the salsa era, Angel simply disappeared from the scene. I often wonder what ever happened to him. He was a true pioneer of Chicago salsa and deserved to be recognized for it. Wherever he is, I hope he is doing well. Attached is an old poster of one of his productions. If you were around during that time, you may remember it.

The 911 Mambo Orchestra – Small, Medium, or Large?

 

Angel Melendez’ 911 Mambo Orchestra is a band of many bands. Confusing? Not really.  Angel‘s band can change from a smaller 7 piece to a 20 piece orchestra as the occasion calls for. I have seen Angel do it many times before. On one occasion you will see the full size orchestra playing Tito Puente and on another see a much smaller Combo with 2 horns. Angel typically declares the theme of the night based on the size of the group he brings along for the date. One of my personal favorites is his “Tribute to Hector Lavoe.”  On Monday, May 28^th 2012, Angel brought his “Tribute to Hector Lavoe” to the Navy Pier Beer Garden for a free outdoor concert. The group was hot evidenced by the crowded dance floor. This is not unusual as Angel’s band usually attracts large numbers of salsa dancers. The stage was set at the end of the pier surrounded by beautiful scenery of clear skies and numerous boats in the water. On the pier was a healthy crowd of people enjoying an occasion of outdoor salsa.

Angel, who plays trombone partnered with Frankie Rodriguez - a Chicago salsa trombonist who is a veteran of many salsa bands over the years. Together they blended perfectly replicating the old Willie Colon sound that brought you back to the days when salsa dominated the scene. Angel and Frankie played in sync creating a musical blend that moved your soul. Dancers lip sung the words to the popular songs as they spun around tipping their partners as spectators stood by enjoying the groove. Angel’s vocalist did a tremendous job replicating the savvy lyrics that made Hector Lavoe so unique. All in all it was a great time. Angel, I tip my hat to you and this smaller group. You brought me back to a different time when bands like this were plentiful. It was a great experience.

Cabito Y Su Combo Puerto Rico – La Vieja Guardia

 

Right around the time the Salsa Explosion hit the Chicago area I began to take in as many Latin dances and events that I could. I had a bad case of “salsa fever” and hit every salsa venue I could to get my fix. At that time there were many newer youthful salsa bands starting out who were drawing in younger fans. There were also the older established bands that played the Latin scene long before they called it salsa. One of those bands was a band called “Cabito Y Su Combo Puerto Rico.”

Before salsa, many of the bands were calling themselves Combos because of the popularity of Cortijo Y Su Combo in New York. Cabito’s Combo was an orchestra of 9 musicians. The band had 3 trumpets, a piano player, a baby bass player, a conga player, timbal player, bongo player and a vocalist. “Cabito,” whose real name was Juan Rivera or “Johnny,” was the leader of the band. In his day he was an accomplished percussionist but late in his musical career was limited to playing the bongo and cowbell with a stick due to an unfortunate accident. “Cabito,” as many local musicians were, was a full time factory worker during the day who lost an arm while operating a punch press machine. His will to continue playing however prevailed when he resumed booking the band. He had a modified stand for the bongo and cowbell which he would play with a stick. He wore a prosthetic arm and continued playing until he retired. The band was very popular among the older set. To watch his band was like going back in time to the early Palladium days. He always filled the dance halls and the band members always wore tuxedo jackets. The music stands they used were older type fold out boxed-shaped stands with band name painted on the front with a large Puerto Rican Flag. Cabito, a consummate cigar smoker, always wore a round porkpie hat. His rendition of “Cachita” was one of the songs I most associated with his band. Although I don’t recall all the band member’s names, I do remember a few. They were “Cabito” leader-bongos, vocalist Johnny Melendez, Dallas on 1^st trumpet, Papo Feliciano on Congas, Julio on 2^nd trumpet, and David on timbales. There was also a female trumpet player who I believe Cabito called Margarita. The band played a nice mix of guarachas, merengues and guaguancos and was one of the top Combos in Chicago during the pre-salsa era days.

“Cabito” eventually wrapped it up in the 1980s and moved to Florida when he retired from his day job. If there was a Chicago Salsa Hall of Fame, he would get my vote to be inducted. Just some the old salsa history I wanted to pass on.

Listen to Dimension Latina radio

In some of the early posts of this blog I mentioned that the intent of this blog is to promote Chicago salsa and to provide a forum for us to remember those who contributed to Chicago’s rich salsa history. I posted a little about some of the earlier bands and musicians who held it down back in the day and spoke a little about some of the venues, such as the clubs, dance halls and night clubs that became synonymous with Chicago salsa. Much of what I mentioned here was based on the way I remember it. What I failed to delve on was the roll that “salsa radio” played in all of this. I briefly spoke about a couple of them in earlier posts but feel it is important to remind everyone that without salsa radio to keep it alive it would not have lasted as long as it did. In that regard I wanted to thank all of those radio stations who provided support for Chicago salsa and went through the rough times when what was played was determined by who was paying advertising (this was not good for salsa fans). The reliance on advertising basically killed the market in Chicago. I guess you can’t blame them. That is the nature of the beast – everyone has to eat.

Today, I want to tell you about a local radio station that is keeping salsa alive in Chicago despite finances and is looking for your support. I want to give them a shout out and ask everyone out there to give them a listen. Unlike radio stations of the past, they do not rely on advertising. This is a station run out of Loyola University by true salsa fans. Please give them your support and log on to their site for featured artists of both past and present. I will provide a link to their site at the end of the post. Here is a little more on them:

Celebrating their 33rd Anniversary in 2012, “Dimension Latina" airs every Sunday from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. At WLUW 88.7 FM Loyola’s Radio Station and features the music of various Latin-American recording artists. The Radio Station can also be streamed live on-line at www.dimensionlatina.com & www.wluw.org As a non-commercial radio station, they cannot sell advertising time so they rely on the cooperation of various promoters, distributors and Record Labels who provide them with new releases, concert information, prizes and tickets to a number of events for our listeners.
Dimension Latina" would appreciate any information on concerts, new releases or events listeners can provide.

http://www.dimensionlatina.com/home.html 

More Marcus Persiani - or how we used to call him back in the day – Marcolino…

 

While cruising around Youtube the other day and found this video of Marcus Persiani doing his thing with Manny Oquendo and Orquesta Libre. Check out the piano solo by Marcus. This cat is the baddest. Another Chicago product showing his salsa chops. The video is provided courtesy of Plena007 who posted it on Youtube. Click on the link and Enjoy.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Io6-NkSAs

Charlie Burgos

In the days of early Chicago salsa, the band that started it all here in my opinion anyway was La Justicia. The band had a huge following and inspired many a young Chicago Hispanic musician to play salsa music. All the band members were young, talented and enthusiastic. Among the band members was multi-talented trombonist Charlie Burgos. Charlie not only played trombone, he also did occasional vocals and composed his own songs. Earlier I posted a video of a Charlie Burgos composition entitled, “That’s No Sweat,” which not only was a great crossover tune but represented many of the urban Latinos of that time who spoke little or no Spanish. His composition was a way for little Spanish speaking Hispanics to enjoy salsa and still understand the lyrics. Recently I was made aware that Charlie Burgos had passed away. This is a great loss for Chicago salsa. In his memory I am asking if anyone can tell us a little more about him. We are looking for any pictures, songs or general stories about him and his role in Chicago’s old school salsa. Any posts would be appreciated.

What Styles Are You Following Today?

This Question came to us from Orquesta Solar today - From Son Cubano to Salsa, from losing legends such as Ismael Rivera, Frankie Ruiz, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Chamaco Rivera. I would like to know from your audience what is it that they would like to hear (as far as styles, salsa romantica, guapachosa, erotica, ect)? Classics get worn out and put on the shelf, after some time the demand comes back-nostalgia imposes itself and dancers want what at one time was hot. Feel free to post your response. I will publish them as they come in.