As we observed the Martin Luther King, Jr. day, I reflected on two books I read recently which pointed out racism in Latin music. Is there still racism in Latin music? Note: I originally wrote this blog for Martin Luther King Jr. day in…

Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez is Salsa royalty, being a central piece of the Fania machinery. Perhaps my favorite “El Conde” album is “A Touch of Class”. Pete “El Conde” with Johnny Pacheco “El Conde” made one of the most famous pairs in…

Like most years, I like to take a moment to honor some of the artists that contributed to Latin music and departed in 2018. I listed some of them below: 1. Roberto Anglero (May): although Anglero was a percussionist and singer, I…

Instrument solos were a vital part of Salsa during its golden age of the 60s through the 80s. But by the '90s when Salsa Romantica became prominent, they were gone. In this Part 3 of the blog series, we'll discuss this phenomenon. Not…

I don't know if you've noticed, but the art of improvisation in Salsa music, performed by "soneros", is dying. These days, most Salsa singers don’t improvise much. And I have to say, this is not a new disease for the younger generation.…

Through this Latino Music Café blog series, we've examined the history of El Gran Combo through the decades. In this part of this blog series, we examine how the 2010 decade was for El Gran Combo, and what challenges await Los Mulatos…

As El Gran Combo rolls into their 5th decade of existence, they slow down to their smallest number of recordings in their history. Used to release at least a dozen albums per decade, El Gran Combo will fall way short of half a dozen…

Casa Amadeo is a piece of Latino music history as the oldest Latino music store in New York City. Actually, it's listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The owner is Puerto Rican Mike Amadeo. You might have heard his name in…

Within secular Salsa music, there are some great Salsa Cristiana songs that got through. Here are my top seven (with YouTube videos)! I've always believed that embedding some spiritual songs in secular albums is the best way to convey…