salsa music

Ismael Miranda, "El Nino Bonito" (the pretty boy) of Salsa, is approaching 55 years of a very illustrious career in Latin music. The phrase "lo importante no es llegar, sino mantenerse" (the important thing is not to make it, but to stay…

Salsa and Latin music legend Roberto Roena turned 80 years old this month, so here are some highlights of Mr. Bongo. The Legend of Roberto Roena Ten years ago I wrote a 2-blog series following the musical career of Roberto Roena. It was…

Salsa music icon Victor Manuelle brings us his second Christmas music album with "Memorias de Navidad". The audio-visual project takes us through a virtual memory lane of all things important for a good Puerto Rican Christmas. "Memorias de…

Mario Ortiz, Jr.'s Salsa album "Mario Ortiz All Star Band, 55 Aniversario" is one of those rare recordings where love and talent intertwine to create a musical gem. This album was recently nominated for the 2019 Latin Grammy for Best…

Cuban singers Mayito Rivera, Alexander Abreu, and Alain Perez joined forces to record a fantastic tropical music album in “A Romper el Coco”. Cuban Take on Salsa CoversIn a way, the good thing about “A Romper el Coco” is that the songs are…

When Roberto Roena decided to leave El Gran Combo 50 years ago he ended up naming his new band the Apollo Sound.

With all things working against it, Salsa music in general, and Salsa Dura in particular, still had a healthy heartbeat. Salsa artists, particularly the old-school ones, were acclaimed in major U.S. cities where competition wasn't as…

Salsa survived the Rock and Disco boom of the '80s by evolving into a more orchestrated, softer, and therefore more mainstream type of music. Salsa Romántica was the next step in that softness trend. However, for Salsa to survive through…

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…