EL VIAJE’S MUSIC NOTES FOR THE FALL -WINTER 2009-2010

Well it has been a while since last we had communicated and so these are the words that flow like notes on a cord. A tune you may not choose to listen to, words you may not want to hear, but sometimes in order for the awakening to occur, the resurrection to happen, we must rattle the cage, shake the bed and do all things that will open not only your eyes, but your mind as well. And so we may make enemies and we may make friends, but on the frontline, in the crossfire where accusations fly faster than a speeding performance dance, the many opinions and truths about facts to be shared are just an eye glance away. Lace up your good shoes because it’s time to go mind dancing. Words that are revealed are those that come definitely from that of a different drummer, the rebellious timbalero who will not only challenge you to think, but challenge you to question what is as oppose to what can be. And so the line is drawn in the sand and in these music notes where another will simply stand, we dare to cross over. After all, we have the guts to write what your inner mind is already thinking and if not, then we’ll place that questioning thought there……


Chapter I - There’s only but so many slices a Tasty Kake Apple Pie can give.

A Latin night here and a Latin night there has now covered every night of the week, but when is too much too much and where do we cross the line when a Latin night is created. Back in the 1990’s when promoters (before the birth of the Latin/salsa dance studios) were hosting a Latin night there was a mutual respect as opposed to competition among all the promoters. If you were hosting a Latin night on a Friday, then another promoter would host his on a Saturday so not to compete and give that air of respect. After all, the Latin community is but so big. Cutting into the population we can see that the amount is subdivided into people that go out dancing (salsa, bachata, cumbia & merengue) and by further division you find the salsa dancing enthusiasts are the minority within the minority of the Latin dancers. So if you try to capture some of that crowd on any given week night you may harvest on an average from 100 to 150 people and that is the norm for the Philly Latin dancing community which on the weekends may average from 300 to 400(on a great night). The bottom line here is that since the total population on the average for the weekend of folks going out is about 400 and during the week is around 150 per venue then why would two vendors try to go after that same crowd on any given night? Rare has the existence of two venues on the same night been successful. The last time this happened was a few years back where for about 4 years straight both Brasils and North-By-Northwest night clubs were both successful hosting a Latin Wednesday Night, but that was a rarity for this salsa dancing community. Many vendors tried to compete against each other on one given night with one being successful and the other falling by the waste side. It is usually the vendor that has already been established that seems to survive. Case in point, Lyrics Night Club which has had its’ Latin night for many years no matter how many name changes the club has evolved through. And yet, other establishments have tried to go up against it and have fallen by the waste side. The biggest competition that Lyrics had was the Woodbine Inn in Pennsauken, NJ and that establishment was sold and changed their night for Latin Music to Fridays on which they are very successful. On Wednesdays for the longest time, Brasils night club in center city Philly and North By Northwest night club in the Germantown section of Philly co-existed and were both very successful, atlas North By Northwest does not draw the same clientele as in prior years and Brasils remains the dominant place to be for the hardcore salsa dancer on Wednesday nights. My point is this, this market is too small for anymore than one establishment to exist successfully per night on any given night for salsa dancing/Latin night so if you a future promoter and think that you can cut into the “Philly Salsa flavored Tasty Kake Pie” and come away with a big slice and stay successful…..while competing against another establishment offering the same product on the same night, well let’s just say …Not! After all, we’re talking the size of a Tasty Kake pie ….remember?

Footnote: to all the suburban venues that feature Latin nights trying to get off the ground, attempting to draw the city living salsa dancers to those places.

Please think about this: people from the suburbs come to Philly to go salsa dancing; people from Philly don’t go to the suburbs to go salsa dancing, especially on a week night. That’s like going to the suburbs to get a Philly cheese steak….duhhh! (Now what’s wrong with that…..yeah right, everything ….lol)


Extra whip cream on the pie that just went sour:

If a DJ or promoter is featuring a Latin night on a certain night of the week, it is sooooo un-cool not to mention that it is “salsa politically” wrong to have another approach that establishment or have that establishment approach another and host the same type of event on another night of the week…because first, it is bad karma and second, it will come back to haunt you in the future. It’s different to host a Latin night at another venue on the same night, (see above for my argument against that) but to do it at the same venue……where another Latin night already exist….what a no-no!


Chapter II

The sad attempt to assassinate the Philadelphia Salsa Congress and the hatred of people there in…..


In this City of Brotherly Love where salsa dancing has sprouted wings to fly higher than ever before, and bring about a unity that supposedly exist and this unity that should have been for the support of the Philadelphia Salsa Congress, 2009 edition. Sadly the support was felt about as strong as the air conditioning in a City Cab Company taxi on a hot August afternoon. (Ever ride in one, you could fry an egg on those seats!) This breaks my heart as a life long lover of salsa music and salsa dancing, more so as I have watched it evolve over these many years/decades, passing from one century to the next, one millennium to the next. Thinking this is the time the Philadelphia Salsa scene would gain global recognition, but instead our ship has sprung a leak and is slowly sinking into the abyss of nothingness by comparison to what places such as Korea, China (yes China) and even Australia offer presenting salsa on a Congress type level. It is disheartening to see the petty bitterness that arose from before, during and in the aftermath of the very first Philly Salsa Congress that still lingers till this day. The “turning of backs” against the Congress’s promoter has been nothing short of an avalanche that had caused a rock slide that has pummeled this year’s Congress into a total disaster. Can you blame the promoter, nope, not this time, this time the blame falls on the salsa community in Philly for abandoning its’ own Congress, for passing bogus text messages which sabotaged the Congress, and for just not showing up as a whole. I don’t care whether you like, dislike or even hate the promoter of our Salsa Congress, the bottom line is the total lack of unity to support and help promote our Salsa Congress was clearly shown. This is not one person’s Salsa Congress this is the Philadelphia Salsa Congress and how successful it is depends on the entire Philadelphia Salsa Community, because if it fails, it is not one man’s failure, it is “Philadelphia’s Salsa Community’s “ failure to hold its’ own event successfully. So every Philadelphia based Salsa DJ from Jose Rodriguez to yours’ truly David Ortiz, should have supported this event either by appearance or just promoting /advertisement, and every dance instructor, studio based like Barbara Capaldi, Evelyn Figueroa, and Sonya Elmore, independent instructors like Mike Andino, George Dennis, Eli Torres, Joe Figueroa and Darlin Garcia (as examples of what are studio based and independent dance instructors are) should have done likewise. Even promoters who host events like DJ Richie Rumbero and Paul Loftland/Salsa Flava.com should support the salsa congress of our fair city. Now before anybody goes nuclear on me, I am not accusing any of the above names, fellow DJs, instructors or promoters of not supporting the Philadelphia Salsa Congress, but the above names are examples of leaders in our salsa community in the Philadelphia area that come to mind as folks who make a different and influence how tall the “salsa tree” grows in our area, and even more so, how strong it gets to be for the next generation of promoters, DJs, and dance instructors who will keep the fire burning for the future generations of salsa lovers. Support should always come from within one’s house as that is how it will stand the strongest. Again, it was truly sad to see that this year even more than in any prior year, the Philadelphia Salsa Community turned its’ back on its’ own salsa congress through lack of support and more so by not even showing up……

Now, the first ever “Philadelphia Salsafest,” will be happening in October 2009, and hopefully, the salsa community in this area will rally around the promoter and make it a success. The world is watching to see how well the Philadelphia salsa community moves to support this event. And if it does not receive the support it deserves, then there really isn’t a Philadelphia Salsa Community after all, just a bunch of dancers, promoters and DJs. Ok, Philly salsa dancers and etc…come October 2009,step up….and support Salsafest or step down and go into the shadows by comparison to the rest of the salsa world. There can be no excuses for not supporting the “Philadelphia Salsafest 2009.” Now is the annual Philadelphia Salsa Congress that occurs every summer dead? That remains to be seen, however, in this 10th year of the new millennium( do your math, it is the 10th year of the millennium) it was more that just a sniper’s bullet that hurt the congress, to me, it seemed like an all out assault of surface to surface missiles that laid it nearly to rubbles! How truly sad…as to…how non-supportive and petty people can be….indeed!


Chapter III

INTERNET RADIO –SALSA EDITION…..but is it really radio, still it grows on the internet, but again, is it really radio?


Over the last few years as the internet highway has moved and progressed faster than the blink of an eye, so too have the many exits of the highway which lead to many a website and many branches from that website, and still even more, many tools that are utilized from that website and one such tool is internet radio…and podcasting. I have nothing against podcasting nor internet radio as it is called. My thing is when labels are formed and then mislabels are applied. First, there are just over 250,000 internet music or information- computer casted programs according to the FCC (Federal Communications Commissions) which are not sanctioned by the FCC (yet, but it is coming.) Secondly, as the Federal government is looking to monitor the internet, the FCC wants to monitor, sanction, regulate and charge all those internet radio shows/stations out there for their mere existence. Talk down in Washington DC and at the FCC is that between the next 5 to 10 years, you may be required to possess a FCC broadcasting license to own a internet radio station/program in the USA and have a FCC license before you can even say “boo” over said radio station’s microphone on the internet. Great! Why not, if you think you want to have a radio station on the internet, pay the fee to have it exist, and if you think you’re a radio DJ while on internet radio, then take the test, pass it and get yourself a FCC broadcasting license. If every DJ on commercial and public radio stations across the country had to do it, then why not a so called internet radio DJ? Not having a license to talk over any airwaves is like a pilot not having a license to fly a plane, because yes, it is that deadly. Say what you want on the internet and not get sanctioned, the government has to regulate simply to protect the general public and I am in favor of that!

Although internet radio is quite enjoyable, but is it radio, as in a real radio station? Hmm, I’d answer that question and can defend my argument at all four corners of the box.

 

Point A: Everybody who is on a real radio station over the airwaves and has that radio station broadcasting over the internet also can testify that there is nothing like the feel and response one has with real radio, from audience response by phone, mail and even email is “live” interaction. Knowing that there are anywhere from 3,500 to 350,000 people (if not more) listening to you on any given time of the day is a rush beyond comparison. Knowing that people are listening in their cars, in their homes, at their jobs or where ever they may be is a rush equaled to none. The powerful thing about a real radio station is that you know people are listening, you feel that energy all around that broadcast room/main studio.


Point B: Internet radio doesn’t give you that same feeling, because it’s internet radio. It’s hard to measure how many people are listening to you, or if they are listening to you at all. And even a counter on your website is not accurate. Plus, in order to hear internet radio, you have to be on the internet, which means that you have to have your computer turned on and handy. People by nature are on the go, headed to the store, going for a ride, or even taking a portable radio and going for a walk, having a picnic or hanging at the beach. Unfortunately, you can’t take your laptop everywhere you go to hear internet radio. (Well, you could but do you really want to risk it? And you can’t get internet radio in your car, or on your portable walkman radio.

Point C: Now who is to say what the future may hold, for one day a computer chip may make it possible to get the internet in your car or on that portable walkman if you still use that. But just like satellite radio, you would more that likely be paying a fee to hear internet radio in your car should this “George Jetson” future ever come to be a reality. I can’t imagine this as satellite radio hasn’t been the “boom” everyone thought it would be. In fact, Sirius and XFM Radio, the two big names in satellite radio had to merge companies to survive. Not everyone is willing to pay for something that has been given to the general public for free over the last 90 years and I can’t see internet radio making it to your car unless it will be for free and where is the profit in that? More so, if they make it free to you, then internet radio would have to seek advertisers to help them survive which would make them no different than commercial radio.

Point D: Here’s the downside to internet radio in my opinion.

Although it is free and available to all, it loses substance and respect if it doesn’t do what it was made to do. Explanation, well, internet radio is suppose to be the alternative to commercial and non commercial radio, but in contrary to that, it seems to mirror “real radio” and even more so, a commercial radio station. I think guys (& gals) who get on /form internet radio shows do so to hear themselves, than to attract a possible audience. I listen to internet radio and compare some shows to my commercial free show on public radio and even commercial radio and what I find is that 98% of the internet radio shows that I have heard sound just like commercial radio stations/shows in that you hear too much of the DJ/announcer and not enough of the actually “MEAT” of the show. In the example I give, is an internet salsa show which last about 90 minutes. Of the 90 minute time slot, 60 minutes is of the DJ talking and most of the time the information is incorrect anyway, so why bother. Play more music do less talking and you’ll attract a bigger audience. It is internet radio, you’ll have more to gain if you talk less and play more music, you know, like an audience! Can I write what I write and defend my statement, yep! I’ve been on non-commercial radio for just over three decades and I listen to and talk to guys on “real radio” and we all agree, first; less talking and more music, bigger audience, second; unless you have an FCC license please don’t call yourself a radio DJ or a DJ on a radio station (e.g. 365Radio on the internet is not a radio station) WDAS FM 105.3 in Philly is a radio station La Mega in NY, Tampa, Washington DC, Philly and San Juan, Puerto Rico are radio stations. WCFU in Canada is a radio station www.salsasabor.com is not a radio station. It’s an internet website. So, I’m sorry but I have defend and stand up for guys like Polito Vega, Nelson Rodriguez, DJ Gury Gury, and 1000 or so more guys who’ve paid their dues like myself, have an FCC broadcasting license, and are Radio DJs. Every October Latin Beat magazine pays homage and respect to guys like us who have been through the grindstone. Johnny come lately heard on internet radio hasn’t been through it like we have and should recognize what is real and what isn’t and give respect to the radio station DJ. Like I said, I like internet radio and I listen when I can, but there is a different, a BIG different in what you hear through your computer and what you hear through your radio: WE’RE REAL RADIO AND THEY’RE NOT! Check out internet radio, there’s some goods shows out there, and there is even an internet radio station that plays salsa from bands that are from various countries around the world, plus one that plays salsa for like 6 hours straight on Saturday afternoons so you can get your house cleaning done. This is not an attack on internet radio this is a defense of the “old guard” “la vieja guardia,” the respect, recognition that real radio stations across not only the country, but also around the globe deserve!


Chapter IV - Medium Rare Can Be Served Well Done If You Know How To Cook It!


Salsa DJs today are look for every musical mean possible to keep that salsa edge and keep the dance floor full to the brim! Seeking that hot tune after tune is more of a challenge as dancers need enticing rhythms to move them. As salsa has gone global, no more is that classic Fania recording enough. Now, today’s DJs are reaching where they have never reached before: the vinyl LPs of rare recording that are not available (yet anyway) on CD. But can every rare recording be used to your advantage to move the dancers, well, not every, but there are some out there that will blow their minds and move them to the dance floor without hesitation. First, there are DJs doing this, playing rare recording back to back with little success. Second, because they are doing this they’re not being hired or invited to play at events like salsa congresses, and when they are then their sets are being cut short. I heard that this happened to a DJ at the 2009 DC Salsa Congress.


Rare Recording Playing DJs:


So how do you entice the dancers onto the dance floor with a rare /vintage salsa or mambo? Simply put: You blow their minds away, and hit their body with a salsa charge like a nuclear explosion. Blowing their minds is easy, because you don’t let them think about the song, you let them react to its’ immediate energy. That means that you have to hit them with a hard salsa/mambo with no slow beginning, no easing into the song’s beginning, and positively don’t let them think about the song even for a micro-second. Can it be done, you better believe it! Like I said above, dancers are reacting to a beat/clave /rhythm, and this is what is moving them. Although they believe they are reacting to a familiar song, which is wrong! They react to an in-timed beat, and that’s what makes them go! I have a radio show where within my 3 hour show I play 2 hours of vintage salsa & mambo. And how I keep my audience in tuned to music that they are not familiar with is by blowing their minds and hitting them hard without giving them time to react or to question what it is that they are listening to. It’s almost a form of brainwashing but I call it soaking them in salsa (rare & vintage flavored). So social & club DJs who dare to play vintage & rare salsa and mambo, if you follow my suggestions, it will work for you. Hard salsa in not fast salsa, hard salsa is a knock you off your feet salsa. Hard salsa is moving the dancers to the floor without taking prisoners! So there’s my little secret which I don’t mind sharing.


Chapter V – Still rocking the boat without tipping it over! A look at the night clubs that are hosting Latin Nights during various days of the week that have been in existence for over a year:


Alfies- Welsh Rd & Roosevelt Blvd. – Every Sunday night with the dynamic duo of DJ La Clave & Dance Instructor Mike Andino of Estilo Dance Studio have had Alfie’s rocking with hard core salsa, bachata and merengue for over four years straight and they still stand strong despite the attempted competition that has tried to sprout up against it.

Rating: 9 botes de salsa out of 10 (only Goya gets a 10 and you know why: Por que si es Goya….)

Savoy’s at the Woodbine -1443 Rt. 73 North @ Remington Ave, Pennsauken, New Jersey- Whether you call it the Woodbine or Savoy’s this location has always had a strong history of supporting Latin nights and this latest version is no different except that two separate rooms divide the Latin salsa, merengue & bachata portion of the music from the Latin hip hop & reggeton portion. Always a Latin party every Friday night with your host DJ Ritchie Rumbero plus many guest DJs and live bands add to the full mix of the night.

Rating: 8 Potes de Salsa- because it can be a little loud in there no matter how far back you are away from the dance floor. Free off street parking is a major plus and being only 10 minutes away from Philly always adds to the experience.


Lyrics- Roosevelt Blvd @ Harbinson Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa is another one that has changed its’ name from Shooters to Metro to Lyrics, and yet still has maintained a strong support on its’ Latin Thursday Night. DJ Miguel Lebron has been the host and continues to cause a landslide of salsa, merengue, bachata and so much more to crash down on you for a night of total dancing fun.


Club Adesso & Club Vango are new to the scene (1 year old or less so we can’t rate them until we know they have reached the two year mark of existence)

Rating: 9 Potes de Salsa – free parking right on a secured off street parking lot a blink away from the entrance to the club plus all the fun that you could handle on a Thursday night.


Brasils Salsa Wednesdays with DJ Rockswell – 112 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. has moved the hardcore salsa dancers for 10 years straight. It’s it where all the great salsa dancers in our area first wet their feet and continue to swim like sharks now on the dance floor.

Rating: It’s the daddy of the hot spots so we’ll give it 9 ½ potes de salsa!

 

Chapter VI - Diary of an angry Salsa Musician/Band Leader who was shunned by Fania Record way back when….or to quote Rodney Dangerfield “I get no respect, no respect at all!”


From an email that I received from Jerry Hernandez, band leader of the New Orquesta Dee Jay:

 

“I've written to Mr. Paniagua (_ralph@rpaniagua.net_
(mailto:ralph@rpaniagua.net) ) the promoter  myself but he doesn't even respond. I hope you didn't waste your time!
Yesterday I spent an hour chatting with a DJ from Australia, last  Sunday I received a phone call from DJ Ricardo in the UK, DJ Gury Gury from  Canada and someone else from Spain, I can't remember all the foreign  DJ's I speak to. I came to the conclusion last night that ODJ is known world over yet
promoters here in NY don't even know what they have in their own back yards. They are not doing their research. Yes some promoters Like Mike Pena, LVG, Westgate Lounge, SOB's, Gonzalez y Gonzalez and Al B have hired us but I'm
not getting the gigs I deserve. Ask any of them and they will tell  you ODJ has lots of energy (as old as I am LOL) and the crowd responds overwhelmingly. Promoters in foreign countries don't have the money but want us out there. Then you have those promoters here who are in their own world, ignorant
to what's out here locally. They can't see the forest for the trees. I am in the middle, yes ODJ is a new band out here now but in actuality we are also a legend from the 70's who have not received the notoriety due us. I don't mean any insult guys but get with the program do your research. Don't
do like they did back then when only Fania artists got any kind of notoriety when in fact a bunch of kids like ODJ got on the stages with these same Fania artists, and kicked ass.

With all due respect

Jerry Hernandez
Y La Orquesta Dee Jay

Wow!!! Anger management is needed here for sure.

Ok, let’s break it down like a worded math problem:


If “A” is Orquesta DeeJay leader Jerry Hernandez who records two LPs in his lifetime and was turned by Fania Records (the “Microsoft” of the Latin Recording Industry back in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s) after he tried to pitch his project to them then how long would it take before he leashed his anger onto the known world which he had pent up for the last 4 decades? Answer: At every opportune time known to modern man. First, as I said in prior music notes, Fania never really had all the best salsa artists during the golden age of salsa, however just like today, they had the most marketable artists (for them) on their record label, after all, it’s always about what sells and brings in the dollar. This has always been the nature of the business. Yes, they were the empire and ruled for three decades as to what and who was played on the airwaves. It was their kingdom and their decree was law! I’ve said this numerous of times and just think how the more talented musicians and artists of Puerto Rico were treated as second class citizens compared to the local “superstars” of New York on their same record labels (or sub-labels like Vaya or International.) And when Fania bought Tico and Alegre Records, the artists, on the outside remained on the outside. See how quickly Eddie Palmieri went to Mango Records and Coco Records when he felt he was treated unfairly by Fania while he was on Tico. So why many other bands were able to get recording contracts with Fania, there were many who did survive outside of Fania on the smaller labels and of course there were many who didn’t. My point is this; to hold anger against a record label that didn’t pick you up is pointless, especially when the record label really doesn’t exist anymore (it is but a shadow of its’ self today) and it happened so many decades ago. Let it go bro’ it is not worth the pent up energy you wasted on that anger. There are a lot of bands that don’t get the break and a lot of bands that do. And to state the obvious fact, Orquesta Dee Jay was given a rebirth by www.thelatinsoulshow.com who helped to unearth many of the lesser known bands from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. However, for the record collectors, the true gem of the recording by this band was that it had the great salsa singer Rafael Dejesus, who of course went on to sing with Louie Perico Ortiz & His band. And of course, you could say the same for Orquesta Cimarron with who Rafael Dejesus first recorded, or Tito Rodriguez Jr who gave Jose Alberto El Canario his first recording jump into the salsa pool. Orquesta Kaffe where Louisito Carrion first recorded, Rafael Cortijo who gave Marvin Santiago his first chance are just a few examples of so many bands that gave superstars of salsa their shot at showing their salsa singing ability. So the value of Orquesta Dee Jay for record collectors was not the recording itself, but having Rafael Dejesus in that recording. Ask any true record collector and they will tell that fact without hesitation. And a lot of people can say they are world known, but saying it and being it is on two vastly different ends of the rainbow. Tito Puente is known through out the world if not the galaxy! I use to always interview great bands from Puerto Rico during my show, and I would always ask what they felt about other bands that weren’t from the island. I remember asking Rafael Itier, leader of the world known band, El Gran Combo, how he felt about young salsa artists like Ray Sepulveda, Miles Pena and even Charlie Cruz, and his response was that if they didn’t make it/ wasn’t heard in Puerto Rico, on Puerto Rico’s radio airwaves, then they were unknown and probable wouldn’t be around very long. It was told to me back in 1977 about 7 years before that interview that if it wasn’t a success in Puerto Rico then it wouldn’t be a success anywhere. Fania knew this, that’s why Hector LaVoe was an important part of their success. Willie Colon wouldn’t have been accepted in Puerto Rico without Hector LaVoe in his band. During the 1990 RMM records knew it and signed many artists from Puerto Rico so that the entire label would be accepted there.

Bottom line is this: no local band will ever get the true respect it deserves by the home town and home crowd. And even less respect by the local promoters….that has been a historical trademark/branding…in the music industry, more so in the Latin music industry. Say it ain’t so! Sorry, it is so! There are tons of musicians and artists who dwell in the past. Even more musicians who are angry because they didn’t get the break they thought they deserve, but who wouldn’t be. Still, don’t blame your non-recognition or disrespect just because you’ve been around since Nixon was president and you think all props should go to you. A band’s fame is based on longevity and and continued famed recognition…punto! Making one or two LPs don’t make you famous, it’s how many more you’ve made after that one or two that stakes your claim to fame along with the every lasting exposure and recognition that you’ve earned and deserved. Like I said prior, many artists don’t get the respect and recognition they deserve but then again, these are artists that have remained in the industry, been productive and somewhat successful. One such artist who comes to mind is salsa singer Andy Montanez who took the biggest risk of his salsa career around 1978 by leaving one of the most known bands on the planet, if not the universe, El Gran Combo of Puerto Rico for a lesser known band at that time, La Dimension Latina. Many people today would say that probable was the biggest mistake of his salsa career and for the most part, I would tend to agree because it took him out of the lime light and the magnitude of aurora that is El Gran Combo in the salsa world. I think that because of the move of leaving El Gran Combo, Andy Montanez demoted himself to a lesser degree from salsa superstar as part of El Gran Combo to just a salsa singer with Dimension Latina and that hurt his career and the recognition he truly deserved. And Andy Montanez paid his dues 20 times over throughout his career. Do you understand my point, you can’t claim fame and respect yourself, that comes from continuity, a sustained lifelong from generation to generation respect, support, and adoration from an audience who has seen and heard you throughout many years of your evolution as an artist. El Gran Combo is a perfect example of a band which has gone through more tune ups than an expensive classic car….and like an expensive classic car…they have reached and touched many generations throughout their salsa career.

Well although it has been awhile since last we’ve chatted, I hope that these words have moved your mind like a hardcore salsa song would move you to the dance floor! Don’t worry we’ll be back again with the big spoon to stir the soup while it’s cooking. We hope you catch these notes again as there is always something that will be placed to cross your mind to the other side of the street and make you wonder what is waiting around the corner.

As always, support the music in all avenues and not only just one!


La musica es parte de nuestra vida y nuestra vida es parte de la musica!


David Ortiz

 

 

Keeping it all the way real, Latino style.
LA MUSICA ES PARTE DE NUESTRA VIDA Y NUESTRA VIDA ES PARTE DE LA MUSICA�

You can contact David Ortiz davidortiz@phillySalseros.com at

Copyright � 1999 phillysalseros.com   djdavidortiz.com .  All rights reserved.

Revised; April 10, 2005