Gilberto Santa Rosa Celebrating His Long Career in Music with HBO Latino Special “40…Y Contando”

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Gilberto Santa Rosa is celebrating his long musical career with a bang…

The 56-year-old Puerto Rican singer, known as “El Caballero de la Salsa,” has partnered with HBO Latino to celebrate 40 years in music with the premiere of his special 40…Y Contando, chronicling the last concert he performed in Puerto Rico.

Gilberto Santa Rosa: 40… Y Contando will premiere on Friday, September 15 at 8:00 pm ET across all the channel’s platforms, including HBO GO, HBO NOW and free On Demand channels.

“I’m extremely honored with this invitation,” Santa Rosa tells Billboard. “When I started my career it was in an orchestra, I spent 10 years with them and the other 30 years as soloist.”

During all these years, he says has not finished learning, but the most thing he has enjoyed is having collaborated with many of his idols.

The concert, taped live at the Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a few months after Hurricane Maria, will feature many of his greatest hits, like “Conciencia,” “Que Alguien Me Diga” and “Déjate Querer,” as well as many musical guests, including Luis Enrique, Victor Manuelle, Vico C, Tito Nieves and Pirulo Y La Tribu, among others.

In addition to the concert, HBO Latino will also air a 15-minute special during which Santa Rosa shares the greatest moments of his career from the biggest salsa landmark in New York City, the Copacabana.

Gilberto Santa Rosa’s HBO Latino special will also celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts Friday. “The best thing about being Latino is that we have the ability to connect with various cultures and interpret art more easily,” said Santa Rosa.

Cardi B Makes History as Her Latest Single “I Like It” Rises to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Cardi B is making history…

The 25-year-old half-Dominican American rapper has become the first female rapper with two No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100, after her hit single “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on chart.

Cardi B first reigned with her debut single, “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” for three weeks beginning October 7, 2017.

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny and Balvin earn their first Hot 100 No. 1 each.

Cardi B passes four female rappers who previously topped the tally with one No. 1 apiece: Lauryn Hill, with “Doo Wop (That Thing),” in 1998; Lil’ Kim, with “Lady Marmalade,” with Christina Aguilera, Mya and P!nk (2001); Shawnna, as featured on Ludacris‘ “Stand Up” (2003); and, Iggy Azalea, with “Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX (2014).

Cardi B’s bilingual track reworks the venerable “I Like It Like That,” originally performed by Pete Rodriguez in 1967 and taken to No. 25 on the Hot 100 in 1997 (titled “I Like It”) by The Blackout Allstars; the latter act included Tito Nieves, who also recorded a notable solo version. (In between, the composition appeared in the 1994 film I Like It Like That and earned a synch in a 1996 Burger King commercial.)

“I Like It” is from Cardi B’s debut album, Invasion of Privacy, which launched atop the Billboard 200 chart dated on April 4 and includes “Bodak Yellow.”

Cardi B is the first artist to notch a pair of Hot 100 No. 1s from a debut album since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, whose The Heist yielded “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz and “Can’t Hold Us,” featuring Ray Dalton in 2013.

Cardi B is the first soloist with a pair Hot 100 leaders from a debut LP since Bruno Mars, whose Doo-Wops & Hooligans produced “Just the Way You Are” (2010) and “Grenade” (2011).

And, Cardi B is the first female soloist with two Hot 100 No. 1s from a debut album this decade, and the first since Lady Gaga, whose The Fame generated “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis and “Poker Face,” both in 2009.

Prior to “I Like It,” Bad Bunny reached a No. 36 Hot 100 high with “Te Bote,” with Casper Magico, Nio Garcia, Darell, Nicky Jam and Ozuna.

J Balvin notched a prior No. 3 best with “Mi Gente,” with Willy William and featuring Beyoncé, last October.

“I Like It” concurrently takes over atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where Cardi B previously led with “Bodak Yellow,” for six weeks, and “Finesse” (one). It becomes her second No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs, after “Bodak Yellow” (eight). Bad Bunny and J Balvin lead each list for the first time.

Gilberto Santa Rosa to Serve as NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade Grand Marshall

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Gilberto Santa Rosa is set to have a grand old time at this year’s NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The 54-year-old Puerto Rican singer and bandleader, known as “El Caballero de la Salsa,” will serve as the grand marshall of the annual parade on June 11.

Santa Rosa is a Grammy and Latin Grammy winner, who has been active in the music industry for approximately forty years.

But Santa Rosa isn’t the only superstar participating in this year’s parade.

Iris Chacón, the 67-year-old showgirl who came to fame in the 1970s as “the Puerto Rican bombshell” has been named godmother of the parade.

Ozuna will appear as the parade’s Rising Star, salsa singer Ismael Rivera has been named a Puerto Rican Day ambassador, and Latin alternative duo BuscaBulla will also join the parade.

This year’s Puerto Rican Day Parade marks the 60th time that “la parada” fills Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue with tropical music and Puerto Rican pride. Previous grand marshalls include Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin; Calle 13’s Rene Perez was crowned king of the parade in 2014.

Olympic gold medal gymnast Laurie Hernández, actress Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time) and 14-time MLB All-Star Iván Rodríguez will also participate in this year’s parade.

The event will also reference recent politics: it will honor former political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, who was pardoned by President Barack Obama in January after 35 years in federal prison, as National Freedom Hero. And this year’s parade coincides with 100 years since all Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship by a law enacted by President Woodrow Wilson.

“In this monumental year, we are showcasing our collective achievement and the legacy we have built by working in solidarity,” Puerto Rican Day Parade Board Chair Board Chair Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez said at a press conference. “And we will discuss key challenges that Puerto Rico is facing to help inform and engage our community. We also honor legendary figures and the next generation of stars that are already accomplished in their own right.”

Two music festivals preceding the parade will turn June 9-11 into a full throttle Puerto Rican party weekend.

The 2017 Soulfrito festival will feature a line-up of “club bangers and Latin trap” that includes urban stars Farruko, Zion y Lennox , Bad Bunny, Cosculluela and Ivy Queen starts the party in Brooklyn on Friday, June 9, at the Barclays Center.

Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri and Tito Nieves lead the incredible line-up of the 33rd New York Salsa Festival, which takes place Saturday, June 10, also at the Barclay Center. Jerry Rivera, Grupo Niche, Fruko y Sus Tesos, Tito Rojas and DLG are also among the artists scheduled to perform.

Manuel & Fellow Stars Reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums with “De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo”

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Manny Manuel is helping shine a chart-topping spotlight on Puerto Rico…

De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo, a compilation album by various Puerto Rican stars, including the 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer, leads Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.

The set, which includes Pedro Capo and Ismael Miranda, soars 39-1 in its third charting week, due to sales triggered by its accompanying annual television special put on by Banco Popular, which aired on December 4 on Telemundo.

Sales following the broadcast grew more than 1,000 percent, to 2,000 copies sold in the week ending December 8.

The album features a mixture of party-ready tunes, holiday selections and patriotic songs that are popular at traditional Puerto Rican Christmas celebrations. They include remakes of Tito Nieves‘ “I Like It Like That” (performed by La Tribu de Abrante featuring Jeimy Osorio) and Vico C‘s “Bomba Para Afincar” (performed by Jowell & Randy), along with the ever-popular “Feliz Navidad” (performed by Manny Manuel featuring Mozart la Para).

Original “Feliz Navidad” singer Jose Feliciano is also featured on the star-studded festive collection. He lends his talents on the patriotic “En Mi Lindo San Juan.”

Nieves Starring in the Latino-Themed Off-Broadway Musical “I Like It Like That”

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Tito Nieves likes it like that…

The 58-year-old Puerto Rican salsa singer is starring in the new off-Broadway musical I Like It Like That.

“We didn’t have politicians or other idols to look up to [in those days],” explains David Maldonado, producer and co-writer of the new musical. “There were not many Latino athletes around. The idols became Eddie Palmieri and Hector Lavoe…. Music artists were the most important figures. Music became like the religion of the masses.”

The show, now playing at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in New York, includes songs from the repertoire of Palmieri and Lavoe, Ruben Blades, Willie Colon, Joe Cuba, Tito Puente, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, La Lupe and more.

I Like It Like That takes its title from the song that was a Billboard chart hit for Pete Rodriguez in 1967. Thirty years later, the bugalú cornerstone was revived in a hit cover by Nieves, who stars as family patriarch Roberto Rodriguez in the new musical.

Featuring a seven-piece band, the theater production is a “historical musical journey” that Maldonado describes as a social chronicle of New York in the ’70s, as well as a sing-and-dance-along showcase for the great music of the period that came out of the city’s Latino neighborhoods. The play chronicles life in the barrio in those decadent days in New York.

“We were going bankrupt,” says Maldonado, who grew up in Brooklyn. “Garbage all over the place, potholes, civil unrest…”

Maldonado describes I Like It Like That as being “about social conscience. Some people want to escape, and others want to fight for the hood, which most people called ‘the ghetto.’”

He notes that in addition to the music, the language used in the play accurately reflects the period.

“It is in Spanglish,” he says. “Mostly English. I wasn’t doing that because I was trying to get a wider audience, although I do appreciate that. It was because at that time, there was salsa, but everyone was speaking English. The music was in Spanish, but if you look at those albums, the liner notes were in English.”

Maldonado and co-writer Waddys Jáquez (who also directs the play) tell the story of the Rodriguez family in East Harlem, using salsa, bugalú and bolero classics to advance the story.

Characters were created from those described in songs like Blades’ “Paula C,” and song lyrics were used to set the action and inspire the dialog, says Maldonado. The musical also includes original songs.

I Like It Like That promises to appeal to fans of the Celia Cruz musical Celia, and Quien Mató a Hector Lavoe; both shows also produced by Maldonado, which combined social chronicle with musical tribute.

Sergio George’s Salsa Giants to Perform in Latin America Beginning in October

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Sergio George’s Salsa Giants will have you moviendo tus caderas this fall…

The 52-year-old Puerto Rican pianist and noted record producer has announced plans for his music group to perform a series of concerts later this year.

The Salsa Giants kick off concert will take place on October 4th in Lima, Peru.

Oscar D’León, Luis Enrique, Cheo Feliciano, Andy Montañez, Willy Chirino, Jose Alberto “El Canario,” Tito Nieves, vocalist Nora from Orquesta de la Luz and Charlie Zaa make up the line up of the Salsa Giants concert at Lima’s San Marcos University.

The group’s tour will continue to Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Panama, with dates still to be announced.

Marc Anthony, a featured singer on the Salsa Giants debut album, which was recorded live at the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival, will not be part of the group’s kick off concert, as he’s scheduled to play the same night at San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico José M. Agrelot, commonly referred to as el Choliseo.

Meanwhile, salsa pioneers the Fania All Stars will stage a rare reunion concert at the Choliseo on Oct. 18.

That line up will include Fania founder Johnny Pacheco, Ismael Miranda, Feliciano, Colón, Larry Harlow, Bobby Valentín and others who were present at the birth of salsa in 1960s in New York City.

The concert will include tributes to departed All Star members Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Ray Baretto and others, with a special nod to Puerto Rican cuatro player Yomo Toro, who passed away last year.

The Fania musicians will continue on a world tour in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Fania Records, according to the company’s Chief Marketing Officer Michael Rucker. No other concert dates have been announced at this time.

Anthony to Headline Mexico’s International Salsa Festival with Ruben Blades

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Marc Anthony will join Ruben Blades in giving the people of Veracruz plenty of reason to salsa…

The 44-year-old Puerto Rican singer and 64-year-old Panamanian singer will headline a salsa festival next month in the Mexican state, according to organizers.

The third edition of the International Salsa Festival is considered a must-attend function for fans of the musical genre, Anselmo Estandia – mayor of the city of Boca del Rio, where the event will be held – told Efe.

Roughly 150,000 people are expected to turn up for the series of free concerts from May 16-19.

“We’re bringing artists of the highest level, some of whom have already participated in past editions and remain very interested in participating … due to the large turnout of thousands of people,” said Estandia.

In addition to Anthony and Blades, Oscar de Leon, Alberto Barros, Tito Nieves, Grupo Niche, Porfi Balboa, N’Klave, Sonora Carruseles, India and Gerry Espinosa are among the artists scheduled to perform at the festival.

According to the mayor, 100,000 people from Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain and several South American countries attended last year’s edition.

That huge turnout translated into a $48.7 million injection into the local economy.

Although Boca del Rio is “safe,” anti-crime efforts will be bolstered due to the large number of visitors, the mayor said.

Additional state police and Mexican armed forces have been deployed in the Gulf coast state since October 2011 as part of the Safe Veracruz program, with a particular focus on the Veracruz-Boca del Rio metropolitan area.

Federal and state authorities credit that initiative with lowering the level of organized crime-related violence in the region.

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