Gilberto Santa Rosa

Master percussionist Eguie Castrillo will commemorate the centenaries of Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez with the concert "The Mambo Kings - 100 Years" on April 6 at Berklee College of Music. Special guests include Gilberto Santa Rosa and…

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…

In "Colegas" Gilberto Santa Rosa achieves three goals; goes back to his roots in Salsa Dura, sings retro Salsa songs, and shares singing duties with colleagues he admires. This lengthy album was recorded over a period of two years, and…

It's very rare that Marc Anthony and Gilberto Santa Rosa miss a nomination for a Latin Grammy 2019, but that's just what happened. The way I see it, Grammy nominations are a game of music quality combined with artist reputation. That…

Legendary maestro Eddie Palmieri has delivered his second Salsa album of 2018 with “Mi Luz Mayor”. That’s after a Salsa recording hiatus of 15 years. His previous Salsa recording was “Ritmo Caliente”, which was a hybrid of…

In “En Buena Compañía” veteran Salsa icon Gilberto Santa Rosa delivers a more traditional Salsa with Victor García and his Sonora Sanjuanera. The songs are still mostly of romantic themes, all delivered with a nice contemporary swing of…

In 1929 Ignacio Pineiro wrote and recorded the song "Suavecito" with his Septeto Nacional, which included the above lines, and became a huge hit. With that, he helped to popularize what had been a marginalized genre. In 2018, there…

I established in Part 1 of this blog series that improvisation in Salsa is dying. I also mentioned a few of the best "soneros" that have passed away. Here in Part 2 I'll cover some of the best "soneros" still left today in Salsa. My Top 3…