Latino Music Cafe - Latin music blog with articles, reviews, and interviews.

I love to see that the tradition of the Tres Reyes Magos is still alive even in the diaspora, and although it has lost a bit of its importance in terms of gifts, this tradition reinforces our culture. I also use it as a metaphor for…

During the Christmas season, many Puerto Rican churches transform their hymns into jíbaro rhythms. We owe this modality of the Misa Jíbara to the late professor and folklorist Pedro Escabí. When in the early 1960s the Vatican Council II…

Parrandas are a source of inspiration for many of José Nogueras' songs. In our conversation with the singer-songwriter, producer, and author, we talked about the fact that although the tradition of the "parrandas" is in decline, it will…

We had the pleasure of visiting Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Nogueras in his studio to talk about his career, Christmas, his album"A Gozar la Fiesta", Parrandas, Tite Curet Alonso, Cheo Feliciano, and so many other things.…

The first song I heard by Pablo Milanés was "Eternamente Yolanda" performed by the Puerto Rican "nueva trova" group Haciendo Punto en Otro Son. It was because of that song that I decided to buy that record. I originally thought the song…

Ismael Miranda finished the '80s with four Christmas albums (Part 3) and starts the '90s by jumping into the Salsa Romántica craze. He extends that romanticism into a series of Bolero albums with Andy Montañez and finishes the decade with…

As this week Puerto Rico commemorates its "discovery" by Columbus (November 19) in 1493, our folk rhythm of "Plena" is still going strong over a century after its origin. Note: this blog was originally published in 2010, when this rhythm…

Ismael Miranda has many reasons to feel better today after the "Puerto Rico Saluda a Ismael Miranda" concert. Although still recovering from his 2021 stroke, Ismael enjoyed a concert where various Salsa and pop music stars paid homage to…

After a strong finish to his first decade as a solo artist (as we covered in Part 2), Ismael Miranda continued producing good Salsa albums towards the end of the Fania Records era. He even resurrected the Orquesta Revelación. But as the 80s…