The History Of “El Son” By Rene Lopez And Benjamin Lapidus, A

The History Of “El Son” By Rene Lopez And Benjamin Lapidus, A

The History Of “El Son” By Rene
Lopez And Benjamin Lapidus, A
SlamaNater.com Exclusive, Pt. 2
If you missed part 1, here’s the link: History of
“El Son” part 1. In part 2 of this
seminar/presentation, a Salsa Legends And Masters
Academy exclusive, musicologist, Benjamin Lapidus,
talks about some interesting and possibly
controversial findings he came across in his
research, that suggest that some significant
elements of the roots of the music we now call
Salsa, came from somewhere else in the Caribbean,
other than Cuba. You will be surprised, I guarantee
it.
Here are Ben’s credentials, which are very
impressive.
A double-degree graduate of the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music and Oberlin College, Ben
earned his Ph.D. in Music at the CUNY Graduate
Center. As a scholar, he has presented and
published a book Origins of Cuban Popular Music and
Dance: Changüí (Scarecrow 2008) as well as several
papers, articles, and book chapters on his research
at national and international conferences and in
peer-reviewed journals and books. Lapidus is an
associate professor of music at John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, CUNY and is also on the Doctoral
Faculty of the CUNY Graduate Center. In 2013 he
received an award from The National Endowment for
the Humanities to complete his current
research project and book, “The Sound of Nueva
York: How American City and it’s Residents Shaped
an International Sound from 1940-1990.” He has
taught courses in the CUNY system on world music,
popular music of the Caribbean, and Latino and
Caribbean music in New York, as well as in the Jazz
and Contemporary Music program at The New School
University.
Additionally, Benjamin Lapidus is a musician,
scholar, and educator who has performed and
recorded (Cuban tres, guitar, and Puerto Rican
cuatro) throughout the world on stage,
television, film, theater and video game
soundtracks with a who’s who of musicians in both
the jazz and Latin worlds such as Ruben Blades,
Bobby Carcassés, Paquito D’Rivera, Larry Harlow,
Típica 73, Andy and Jerry Gónzalez, Cándido Camero,
Bobby Sanabria, Ralph Irizarry, Bill Santiago, Luis
Marín, Humberto Ramírez, Juan Pablo Torres and
numerous members of the Buena Vista Social Club,
Chico Álvarez, Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, José
Fajardo, John Benítez, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Brian
Lynch, Joe McPhee, Oren Bloedow & Jennifer Charles
and Roberto Rodríguez.
Lapidus frequently gives performance masterclasses
and scholarly presentations on the history and
development of Jazz, Latin Jazz, Latin American,
and Caribbean music at the elementary, secondary,
and university levels at home and abroad. Some
distinguished presentations were under the auspices
of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert
Series, the Smithsonian Institution, El
Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, and the
Instituto de Cultura y Arte (Santiago de los
Caballeros, Dominican Republic). On
numerous occasions Lapidus served as scholar-inresidence with the Jewish Museum Cuba
Travel Program and he has also traveled to Cuba as
scholar-in-residence with the New York Center For
Jungian Studies.
Here’s the video of part 2. We welcome your
thoughts, comments and opinions. We also ask that
you share this with your friends who might be
interested to learn more about the history of this
music. Let’s keep it alive. Thanks
By Pete Nater
https://youtu.be/9MUKX0EC094
The History Of “El Son” By Rene
Lopez And Benjamin Lapidus, A
SlamaNater.com Exclusive, Pt. 1
One of my goals for Salsa Legends And Masters
Academy, is for it to be a resource where anyone
who is interested, can learn about the history and
origins of the music we now call Salsa. Although I
have been playing it for years, with many great
musicians and bands, there’s still so much I don’t
know and I’m always thirsting to know more.
Hopefully some of you are as well.
I ask a lot of questions when I’m around people who
know more than I do and have always done so,
whether it’s pertaining to music or anything else I
want to learn about. When I heard that Rene Lopez
and Benjamin Lapidus were going to be speaking
about the history of “El Son”, I made sure to
attend. I even brought my mom with me. I suppose I
am like her in that she is always in pursuit of
knowledge in things that are of interest to her.
The seminar/presentation we attended on September
5th, was part of the Caribbean Cultural Center
African Diaspora Institute’s 10th Annual
International Latin/Tropical Music Collectors
Festival In Collaboration with El Barrio Music
Center & Augusto Records, celebrating Salsa,
Montuno & Guaguanco, at Taino Towers in NYC. Always
a great event. Google it for more info on past
events. Thanks to Rene, Ben and CCCADI for allowing
me to video record the presentation, so I could
share it with you, the followers of Salsa Legends
And Masters Academy.
To my understanding, the the music we know as
Salsa, is relatively young in comparison to many
other musics from around the world that have been
in existence for hundreds or even thousands of
years. There are some institutions of higher
learning that offer courses on the history, but I
honestly don’t know what the qualifications might
be for one to be considered “an expert” and
qualified to teach on the subject offered by those
institutions or the validity of their sources of
information. They may be great. I just don’t know.
What I do know is, that many or the veteran
musicians that I know and respect, consider Rene
Lopez to be and expert on the history of this
music. I was told that Rene’s uncle, Catalino
Rondon, was instrumental in bringing many of Cuba’s
most talented and important musicians, performers
and bands to the U.S., years ago.
Rene was always around back then, and got to know
those people and the music they played. He’s also
was a collector of many old and rare recordings,
both on and off market. For many years, he’s
travelled often to Cuba and sought out and learned
from many respected musicians and bands.
It’s my understanding that Rene was responsible for
bringing groups like Los Papines and Los Muñequitos
de Matanzas to the U.S.. Additionally, he was one
of the main producers of the recordings of Grupo
Folklórico Experímental Nuevayorquíno, among other
important recordings. That being said, I believe
he’s the real deal.
Benjamin Lapidus, the other presenter at the
September 5th event also has impressive
credentials. I will elaborate more on him and share
his presentation in the next post. Their combined
presentation was pretty long, i split it into 2
separate posts. I’ll be sharing part 2 soon.
Enjoy this video, part 1 of 2, please share it and
feel free to comment. Thanks.
By Pete Nater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9xtntRuLgM
Cita Rodriguez: Exclusive
Interview for SlamaNater.com
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to
share a meal with and interview this extremely
talented and charismatic artist who I’m fortunate
to have as a friend and colleague, as we are both
members of The Mambo Legends Orchestra. She also
has her oen band and travels around the world as a
solo artist.
Although Cita is the daughter of one of Salsa most
beloved departed legends, Pete “El Conde”
Rodriguez, she has established herself as a great
performer and crowd pleaser herself. She’s also
acting and singing in a musical play, “El Conde Y
La Condesa”, an off Broadway show about her
recollections of growing up as the daughter of a
legends and what that was like. I saw the show in
it’s 1st iteration and I loved it. It mostly a
monologue. It’s funny and sad and musically uplifting. She’s captivating in her performance!
There will be 2 more shows next week. There’s a
link below for more info and to get tickets.
In this video interview, Cita shares with you, the
followers of Salsa Legends And Master Academy,
about her beginnings and what she’s done since then
and a little about what she has coming up in the
near future. Enjoy and don’t forget to share with
your Salsero friends. Thanks
By Pete Nater
Get Tickets for El Conde Y La
Condesa here
Cita’s interview
https://youtu.be/O0083B3zumU
Here’s a bonus video of our performance in St.
Petersburg Russia a couple of years ago. Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOwmmvpwfdE
Orlando Poleo, Una de las
personas más importante en la
escena de Salsa en Francia
Orlando Poleo es un músico Venezolano, y
percusionista virtuoso, que ha estado viviendo en
París por más de 20 años. Mientras ha vivido allí,
el ha tocado con todos mejores y mas conocidos
artistas de Salsa y tambien de jazz latino,
domesticos y de afuera, y también ha formado su
propia banda de Salsa & Latin Jazz, Orlando Poleo y
su Chaworo. Él tiene varias de sus propias
grabaciones con algunos de los artistas mas
conocidos de Salsa y de jazz latino. Gente como
Oscar D’León y muchos mas. Sus seguidores de
Venezuela están muy orgullosos de él, como deben
ser.
Llegue a conocer a Orlando a través de Johnny
“Dandy” Rodríguez. Le mencione a Johnny que iba a
París y le pregunté quién debo conocer y buscar
mientras yo este allí. De inmediato respondió,
Orlando Poleo. Me acerqué a Orlando a través de
Facebook, ya que nunca lo había conocido, mencioné
que era un amigo de Johnny y que tcaba con el y que
yo iba a Paris y de repente, él me invitó a tocar
con su grupo, mientras mi visita en Paris, en un
barco/club super chevere, L’improviste/Péniche Jazz
. Compruébelo usted mismo si vas a París !! Incluso
me agrego al volante del concierto y hasta pudo
arreglar que me pagaran algo por participar.
Gracias a el y tambien al dueño del club por eso, y
la comida fantastica que me brindaron
En esta entrevista en video Orlando comparte sobre
su carrera musical. Yo estoy super impresionado con
todo lo que ha hecho y su musicalidad. A pesar de
su talento y sus impresionantes logros musicales ,
el es una persona muy humilde, amable y generoso.
Recuerda su nombre y buscalo si vas a Francia.
Usted no se arrepentira. Aquí hay algunos enlaces a
sus grabaciones:
Orlando Poleo: Curate!
Orlando Poleo : Lo Bueno de la Vida
Orlando Poleo: Buen Camino
Orlando Poleo: Sangre Negra
Por Pete Nater
Entrevista con Orlando
https://youtu.be/d-TC3KEQFFI
Los integrantes del grupo esa noche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATAtr0jpzCc
Part 2: The Slow And Painful
Death Of “Live” Salsa In New
York City.
If you missed part one, here’s the
link: http://slamanater.com/slow-painful-death-live
-salsa-new-york-city-part-one/.
So, those of you who were around on the 70’s, 80’s
and 90’s, in the NY Salsa scene, let’s reminisce.
Help me with the names of clubs and other venues
that had “Live” Salsa. Whether it was once a week,
once a month, church dances, hotels, catering
halls, after hours, Villas, etc., with “live”
bands. Let’s educate the newer and/or younger
Salseros as to how the scene was back then. Then
after, we can talk about why it’s changed, how it’s
changed and what, if anything can be done to
preserve or even revitalize the NY Salsa scene.
During those years I also played with Casanova Y
Montuno, Grupo Fascinacion, Harlow (after 10 years
in the penalty box for leaving in 1980) Junior
Gonzalez, Frankie Ruizan and others as a steady
member, but I also subbed with many many other
bands.
Let’s go
remember
the best
comments
down memory lane. Some of the places I
playing at are, and honestly, I don’t have
memory, so please help me out with
and photos if you have any, below, thanks:
El Corso
Barney Googles
Casino 14
Hipo Campo
Cabo Rojeno
Bronx Casino
Ipanema
Club Broadway
Club Broadway II
Elite
Trocadero
Stardust Ballroom
The Cheetah
Ochentas
New York Casino
Club 2000
Voices
Epoca
Night Tracks
Chez Sensual
Chez Jose
St George Hotel
Town Hill II
Pan American
Pozo’s
Elegante
Wednesdays
Tapestry
Garden of Roses
Luigi’s
Colgate Gardens
Hunts Point Palace
Juan Pachanga
Aretama
Village Gate
Red Garter
Boombamacao
Jasmine’s
Christopher”s
Salsa Disco
Wild Palm
Side Street
Cork And Bottle
Mr. Mario’s
Latin Palace
Arian Manor
Castle Gate
See what I’m saying? I know there where many many
more places, but I could use some help. Thanks
Please, name some bands too from those decades too.
Your comments and sharing are very important, so
please, chime in, even if it’s just one club name
or band name. Thanks.
Please read comments from part one, especially the
one from Richie Blondet, who I respect for his vast
knowledge about this music.
To be continued…….
By Pete Nater