5 Contemporary and Past Hispanic Musicians Who Have Influenced the Music Industry

Winding down 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month, we look at Hispanic musicians who have had an impact on the Music Industry.

Jazz Masters Talk About Life During COVID- Part 1 [Video]

And the Band Played On…

Award winning musicians Jazz Yazz Ahmed, Arturo O’Farrill, Oscar Hernandez, Michele Rosewoman, and Maria Schneider speak about how the pandemic has  affected everything, from the future of their celebrated large ensembles to their own creative practices.       

Just when big bands were making a comeback in Jazz, COVID-19  slammed the doors shut to performing in front of live audiences. Before the pandemic, Jazz lovers could find any number of innovative large ensembles making remarkable headway in this art form as they acquired new fans from around the world. Watch the Video

Part 2: And the Band Played On: The Jazz Masters COVID-19 Roundtable, Part 2 [Video] Watch the Video

Sol:  Launching an Album and Record Label During a Global Pandemic

We were riding high in 2019.  We had returned from the Staples Center in Los Angeles as Grammy® winners with Spanish Harlem Orchestra for “Best Tropical Album,” my first such award as a producer.

Back in New York, things were cooking along.  The phone was ringing for gigs and recordings and I was planning for the completion and release of my next studio album. All the while, we were all casting a wary eye toward the happenings in Wuhan, China.

Then the other shoe dropped. Read more

A Tito Puente Jr. Tribute to His Father’s Legacy [Video]

Tito opens the family music vault for a new album.

In Part 1 of this Latin Biz Today Virtual Lounge series, Tito crystallizes his father’s impact on Latin Jazz.

Tina Trevino, Latin Biz Today partner and Director of Community, moderates a Virtual Lounge tribute to Tito Puente, who passed May 31, 2000. Tito Puente Jr. is launching a new album from his father’s music library.  In parallel, a new docu-series chronicling Tito Puente’s life is set to launch as well. Watch the Video

Part 2: Tito Puente Jr. Reminisces About His Father’s Venues – Part 2 [Video] Watch the Video

Part 3: Tito Puente Jr.  –  His Father’s Spanish and More – Part 3 [Video] Watch the Video

The Music Man [Video]

Oscar Hernandez has the blustery charm of a native Nuyorican.  Even on an occasionally glitchy Zoom call, his energy, passion, and emphatic personality come through loud and clear.  Sure, he is a legendary Latin jazz pianist who has worked with all the greats—Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Ruben Blades, Ray Barretto, Gloria Estefan, Paul Simon, Juan Luis Guerra, and a constellation of Latin music stars.  He is also the founder and artistic director of the renowned Spanish Harlem Orchestra, with a mantel full of Grammys, a composer and arranger, and a teacher and mentor to up-and-coming musicians.  But, what is most engaging about this outstanding artist is his love of music, which pours out of him in two languages in the excited tones of a young man on his first world tour. Watch the Video

Oscar Hernandez-Part 2 The Genesis of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra [Video] Watch the Video

Oscar Hernandez-Part 3 On the Impact Latin Jazz Music [Video] Watch the Video

Bobby Sanabria Infuses Latin Jazz into Perennial Favorite “West Side Story”

Multi-Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria talks the business of music and “West Side Story Reimagined.”

We chatted as Bobby Sanabria was anxiously awaiting the Saturday, March 17, premiere  of “West Side Story Reimagined” at Hostos Community College in the Bronx.

Bobby is a seven-time Grammy nominee as a bandleader, drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, documentary film producer, activist, and a teacher of Latin jazz in New York City at the Manhattan School of Music (23 years) and New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (25 years).  Read more

Latin Business Today Chats with Latin Jazz Legend Eddie Palmieri [Video]

Eddie Palmieri shares his insights on small business and music just off his “Eddie at 80”world tour.

I had the distinct honor of speaking with Eddie Palmieri, the legendary salsa band leader of “La Perfecta” fame (the name of his famous “conjunto”). This guy has done it all – shared the stage with: Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Machito, his brother Charlie Palmieri and so many more. He has performed just about everywhere, from the Blue Note in Beijing to Carnegie Hall, from the Newport Jazz Festival to Madison Square Garden. Oh, and he picked up just a few Grammies (10) along the way. In fact, he was the first to receive a Grammy in the newly established Latin music category in 1975. Watch the Video

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The Power of Music [Music Video]

Oscar Hernandez-Part 3 On the Impact Latin Jazz Music [Video]

Tito Rodriguez Jr – Making His Own Legacy Part 1 [Podcast]

Tito Rodriguez Jr- Making His Own Legacy Part 2 [Podcast]