Techno Hub
Frankie Ruiz, one of Salsa’s premier lead singers, died Sunday, August 9, 1998, of liver failure. He had been in poor health for several years and hospitalized off and on for the past two years. Sources close to Mr. Ruiz attribute the death to complications of AIDS. Frankie Ruiz was born in Patterson, New Jersey…
A sadness that may never dissipate looms large in the souls of Latin music fans around the world. The gloom began on June 1, 2000 as people awoke to the distressing news that Tito Puente had died the night before. Ernest Anthony “Tito” Puente began experiencing shortness of breath during his last concert performance with…
Many people who love Salsa are recent converts. They may not have been exposed to prior recordings that contain some of Salsa’s best music. Folks constantly ask for suggestion of music to buy. A novice collector should begin with several compilation CDs. This provides the listener with exposure to many styles, voices, and variations in…
Salsa is extending to all regions of the globe! Orquesta de la Luz from Japan surprised us with their interpretation of Salsa. Then my girlfriend, Nidia Jiminez, in Ohio turned me on to Los Gran Daneses de la Salsa (from Denmark). Recently I received the CD Salsa Mundo featuring groups from around the world performing…
I was delighted to discover PASION, a New York-based, female Charanga band would be entertaining guests at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Convention in Kansas City, Missouri on September 26, 1998. The opportunity to see and hear this group had finally presented itself. The prospect of seeing and hearing this group was exciting…
1998 Hispanic Heritage Award Winner Recipient of the President’s Award from the National Endowment of the Arts It is virtually impossible to imagine the world of Afro-Cuban music without the dynamic presence of its reigning queen, the one-and-only, Celia Cruz. Since the late 1940’s when she emerged in her native Cuba as one of the…
Helena Santiago is a young woman embarking on a professional singing career in the male dominated Salsa industry. The year 1995 proved very significant for her. Her band opened for singing sensation Marc Anthony during a February engagement in Cleveland. To the delight of local fans she joined Marc in the duet Vivir lo Nuestro,…
Who? What? No, never heard of them. Those were some of the responses to the question, ‘Have you heard of Vocal Sampling?’ Well my dears, if you count yourselves among those answering in the negative, please pay close attention. You won’t want to forget this name. Baird Auditorium in the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum was…
MICHAEL STUART “RETRATOS” A SONERO FOR THE NEXT MILLENIUM By Angel Ortiz Angel: Michael, you now have a new CD called “Retratos”. It’s available to the public and it’s selling extremely well. Could you tell us about your latest release? Michael: Well, this is my second production and it’s called Retratos. The song that is…
