Archive by Author
Improvisation Overflows from Alfredo Rodriguez Latin Jazz Piano at Jazz Alley
Posted on 02. Sep, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
The 1st visit of Alfredo Rodriguez to Seattle will surely result in more fans for the raising Latin jazz star. Alfredo came to Seattle’s Dimitrious Jazz Alley this week, bringing along Bulgarian bassist Peter Slavov and Cuban drummer Francisco Mela. The trio of young artists clearly reflected the joy they felt playing their music for [...]
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Great Salsa Albums Have Musical Variety
Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
As I took a vacation road trip to explore Oregon, I had plenty of time to listen to various Latin music albums while driving. Among the salsa albums I listen were the latest releases from Gilberto Santa Rosa, Juan Luis Guerra, and Tito Nieves. All these albums have great music, but as they say in [...]
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Someone May Be Stealing Your Music from iTunes
Posted on 28. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
New paradigms, like everything else, bring pros and cons. I just read one of the cons in the USA Today newspaper while I was on vacation, which indicated that hackers are getting into people’s iTunes accounts and obtaining (out of your unknown generosity) gift cards codes that they can then resell at a discount openly [...]
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Alfredo Rodriguez Brings Fresh Style to Jazz
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
Its not often you come across an articulated, intelligent, and yes, master of the instrument musician that has yet to celebrate his 25th birthday. Young Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez is a true artist, one who gets inspiration from everything around him and shares it through music. Many artists do this, and Alfredo seems to not [...]
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La Raza Latina at Lincoln Center New York
Posted on 17. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
With this blog I’m introducing a new format of communicating = video blogs. This is my 1st video blog, and it shows! I made several mistakes in recording my piece and then had tons of learning issues with the video software. Yet dispite all that, I hope you find the video blog of La Raza [...]
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Victor Manuelle Salsa Singer Looks Awkward Singing Ballad in TV
Posted on 10. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
The other night I was flipping TV channels and found Salsa singer Victor Manuelle in a popular Puerto Rico TV show singing a ballad. It was so bad that I felt sorry for this great Salsa singer.
Let me clarify that although Victor Manuelle is a very popular Salsa signer and has just recently ventured into [...]
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Master Percussionist Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez comes to Seattle
Posted on 09. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
Cuban percussionist Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez is a veteran of musician who has played with the best in the music scene and collaborated in various Grammy Award-winning recordings. This is no accident, as “El Negro” comes from a musical family in Cuba, and grew up seeing groups like Irakere perform up close from backstage. It [...]
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Ruben Blades Reflects on Availability of Opportunities for Individuals
Posted on 03. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
With his ”Todos Vuelven” tour over, Ruben Blades reflected on some of our social problems and focused on examining the impact of the availability (or lack thereof) of opportunities for individuals in our societies and the degree to which these opportunities are used. Ruben Blades wrote the article for the Spainard newspaper “El Pais” and therefore, the [...]
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Poncho Sanchez Sizzles Seattle’s Jazz Alley
Posted on 01. Aug, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
When in the middle of a music show you see a bunch of people dancing between the tables, and you are singing along or clapping to the music, you know you got your money’s worth for the show. Poncho Sanchez makes sure you have a great experience in his show.
I’m glad to see (and support) [...]
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Hector Lavoe: Part 2b – His Latter Solo Career
Posted on 26. Jul, 2010 by Hector Aviles.
In the first two parts I wrote about Hector Lavoe’s work with Willie Colon, and the early part of his solo career, which in my opinion, produced his best work. In this part I’ll share with you how I see Hector’s work towards the latter part of his career. This later part of Hector Lavoe’s [...]
