Press and Publicity

Monday, May 31, 2010

Aurora & Zon del Barrio over American Latino TV

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Saturday, October 03, 2009

Yomo Toro w/ Zon del Barrio & Danza Fiesta

Article on Zon del Barrio:
http://latinmusic.about.com/b/2009/07/27/revolu-chaos-its-a-crazy-world-rihanna-video.htm

Check out Zon del Barrio's full schedule on MYSPACE:
http://www.myspace.com/zondelbarriony


Follow Zon del Barrio on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Aurorazdb

Watch live video performances over Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/aurorazdb

Official Webpage:
http://www.zondelbarrio.com

Where History Becomes Music
Zon del Barrio:
Music from the Streets of Latin N.Y

[ 31 comments ]

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Sat. Aug 15, 2009 ZDB @ the Soundview Music Festival

Zon del Barrio was a featured act of the Soundview Music Festival last Sat. August 15, 2009. Here, lead singer Sammy Rosa rips up Llego la Banda the popular Fania salsa tune that has now been discovered to be written by Peruvian Walter Fuentes and made popular by Willie Colon & Hector LaVoe....Que Bochinche. Our guitarrist Papo Gely, bassist Ruben Lopez & David all got into a rock & jazz mode during the "mambo" portion of the song making the near 90 degree weather get even hotter! And of course, Coritjo's Bochinche could not be left out. With all the political "bochinche" going on in the Bronx, this tune was very appropriate. Musical Dir. David Fernandez took the stage w/ a vengence and Aurora singing El Bochinche was a call to all our haters: "Que Sigan Hablando, que estamos guisando, aqui estoy cantando con Zon del Barrio." Our haters love that we gig the most and pay our musicians well.... ¡Que sigan hablando de Zon del Barrio!

Videographer: Efrain Gonzalez, III




As the Buddha says: "The essence of evil begins with the lack of gratitude." That's the problem w/ all haters... lack of gratitude... no matter what you do for them, get them an apt., bail them outta jail, take them overseas and pay street musicians like pros, they have no gratitude. ¡QUE SIGAN HABLANDO!

Now here's another segment featuring our sonera: Maryann Santiago-Murillo doing her rendtion of Celia Cruz's Quimbara for the more than 5,000 people that attended the Soundview Music Festival on Saturday. Our guitarrist, Papo Gely does a kick ass solo here taking the tune to another level. Great artistry here. Wonderful to work with professionals.



Some photos from the crowd @ the Soundview Music Festival



Here's another segment featuring Sammy Rosa on lead on this # called "Mi Tumbao." Sammy even does a little rap @ the end while Papo Gely takes another dynamic guitar solo. "Ya Llego Mi Tumbao."

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

article on ZDB

http://latinmusic.about.com/b/2009/07/27/revolu-chaos-its-a-crazy-world-rihanna-video.htm

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Monday, June 15, 2009

PHOTOS FROM THE PR DAY PARADE: June 14, 2009

Yes, that's right, that's the former Yankees slugger: Bernie Williams


Bernie & Aurora: Backstage @ the Parade


The SONEROS: Michael Stuart & Sammy Rosa




Zon del Barrio backed up Jose Feliciano on the main "Daily News" stage at the 52nd annual National PR Day Parade



The Soneros get interviewed by the stage







The sonero, Sammy Rosa with El Sonero de la Juventud and ZDB's musical director: David N. Fernandez

[ 270 comments ]

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Zon del Barrio in the Daily News

Click on this link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2009/06/10/2009-06-10_in_the_zon_.html

[ 1300 comments ]

Monday, May 04, 2009

Zon del Barrio REVIEW of performance for the Conn. Arts Council

Hey... even the Staples High School newspaper got involved in ZDB's performance last Thurs. April 30, 2009 for the Connecticut Arts Council. Here's a review from their newspaper:

http://www.inklingsnews.com/archives/341

FOR UPCOMING ZDB DATES: Check out our myspace calendar at:

http://www.myspace.com/zondelbarriony

[ 405 comments ]

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Revolu, Chaos, "It's a crazy world, Rihanna!"

This is an excerpt from our CD Cortijo's Tribe / La Tribu de Cortijo called Revolu about domestic violence. Let us know what you think on the contact page. You can download Revolu from itunes or buy the CD from our home page.

Un pedacito del CD La Tribu de Coritjo llamada Revolu que se trata de la violencia domestica. Sus opiniones en la pagina de contacto. Pueden obtener Revolu atraves de itunes o en nuestra pagina official en la entrada.

Revolu is Spanish for chaos, and this song was inspired by the court case of Gladys Ricart and the subsequent Brides March against domestic violence. Many of the images were taken from the internet. Thanks to the East Harlem Preservation website for their brides march photos. Domestic Violence affects everyone, especially the children. It is not your fault and it is NOT a secret!

Revolu is performed as a "bomba," a native rhythm from Puerto Rico brought to the Island by enslaved Africans and later banned as it was considered a music of resistence. "Revolu" can be found in the CD Cortijo's Tribe by Aurora & Zon del Barrio. www.zondelbarrio.com or download it through itunes.

Distributed over Universal // created at http://animoto.com

[ 1546 comments ]

Friday, March 27, 2009

Manny Oquendo: 1931 - 2009

The complete one hour video "Conversations with the Masters" is posted below. Here Manny discusses the first time he met Tito Rodriguez, playing with Tito Puente, the Palmieri Years and much more. Andy Gonzalez co-directs the interview from behind. Interview was done during Salsa Sunday presented by the Raices Latin Music Museum Project in October of 2005 at Boy's & Girl's Harbor. Interview moderated by Latin music writer, historian and bandleader, Aurora Flores.




MANNY OQUENDO
January 1, 1931 – March 25, 2009

Aurora Flores

Bandleader, percussionist Manny Oquendo passed away March 25, 2009 of a heart attack. A self-taught musician, Oquendo was a senior statesman of the Latin percussion instruments of timbales and bongos before founding and co-directing the critically acclaimed Latin music band, Conjunto Libre for more than 35 years.

A member of the seminal recording “Grupo Folklorico Experimental Nuevayorquino” Parts I & II, Manny Oquendo was known for his understated yet aggressive solo improvisations on both the timbal and bongos. His was not a race as to who could play the fastest, or who could do the most paradiddles, excessive drum rolls or “contra-clave,” Manny Oquendo’s style was a school in and of itself. “The Timbalero must always keep the beat,” he emphasized in interviews. “Never overplay,” was his most consistent rule.

His style was found in the roots of Cuban orchestras such as Arcaño’s or Orquesta Aragon, never flashy, never overstated. For influence and inspiration he looked to the drummers of the vintage Cuban bands such as bongocero, Ramón Castro, who played with the Orquesta Casino de la Playa and later with Pérez Prado or Conjunto Casino’s Yeyito Iglesias or Papa Kila (Antolín Suárez) who played with Arsenio Rodríguez or Sonora Matancera’s Manteca (José Rosario Chávez). Manny Oquendo was known by what he said on the timbal, not how many things he could do to it.

For more than 60 years, Manny Oquendo said many things through his percussive strength and musical vision. His profound yet understated sounds were part of the Latin New York music scene from the ‘40s until today.

Born José Manuel Oquendo on South Fourth St. Brooklyn, he was called "Manolo" before he became "Manny" in his teens. The family later moved to East Harlem in 1939 where Oquendo was captivated by the sounds of music. “Music was everywhere,” he recalled.

East Barrio’s first Latin music record store “Almacenes Hernandez” (originally located at 1600 Madison Avenue and opened in 1927) was just one flight down from the Oquendo family's apartment. The swinging big bands of Machito, Jose Fajardo and Orquesta Aragon became the soundtrack of his childhood. "There was music constantly coming out of that store, and that was my education," he recalled.

His first set of drums were a pair of “tom toms” with the skin on both ends. Played with sticks from a wooden hanger, Manny played along to records from his parents’ victrola. Spanish language radio stations were always on in his home. Later, when Oquendo visited his parent’s roots in Ponce, he discovered the cuatro through his grandfather.

After the “tom toms,” Oquendo got a pair of wooden timbales and began playing with Sexteto Sanabria but not before taking a few drum lessons at a school on 125th Street at 25 cents per lesson. Later on, he studied privately with Sam Ulano, a well-known percussion teacher. Jazz drummer Max Roach also studied with Ulano alongside Manny. Whenever they’d run into each other they’d reminisce on their school days. Oquendo always kept his set of trap drums.

By the 1940s, the Oquendos moved to Kelly Street in the South Bronx unknowingly joining a community of likeminded musicians. Pianist, Noro Morales lived down the street from Manny on Stebbins Ave.; Joe Loco was by Horseshoe Park; Tito Rodríguez was on Rogers Place; Tito Puente on 163rd Street, while Arsenio Rodríguez and Ray Coén both lived on Kelly Street.

Oquendo began playing with New York's top orchestras. He played with the Carlos Medina Orchestra, the Charlie Valero Band and Xavier Cugat’s former singer Luis del Campo before playing with the legendary Marcelino Guerra Band.

From here Oquendo played with trumpeter Frank Garcia and his vocalist, El Boy, where he met Chano Pozo who performed with Miguelito Valdes at a local show and stayed to play with the fledging timbalero. Chano remained with the small group until he got a better paying job. Oquendo moved on as well, joining pianist Jose Curbelo’s orchestra where he performed on a full array of drums owing to their diverse repertoire that included tangos, sambas and American swing music. “It gave me the feeling of being a complete drummer,” he mentioned in an interview to Frank Figueroa over Latin Beat Magazine.

From here, Manny Oquendo joined Pupi Campos’ band playing many venues on Long Island alongside Tito Puente and his Picadilly Boys. Since they were both working in the same area, Tito and Manny would ride together to their respective gigs with Manny playing in Tito’s band as he waited for his own show to begin. When Tito’s regular bongocero Chino Pozo left to tour with Katherine Dunham, Tito asked Manny to take over that chair. When Little Ray Romero took a job with Eartha Kit, it was Manny Oquendo who Tito Rodriguez called to fill his bongo chair.

Manny had his Afro-Antillian chops chiseled under the bands of Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Johnny Pacheco and others. He had hung with the legendary Chano Pozo, taking the Musician’s Union cabaret license test for him enabling Pozo to work in New York clubs during his stay between 1946 –’48.

By the 1960s, everything Cuban was forbidden. Manny listened to the Mozambique sounds of Pello El Afrokan over short wave radio and on pirated records. Back in his apartment on Kelly Street in the Bronx, he’d practice hitting the timbal with the left and playing the rhythm on the right until he nailed the Cuban genre so well he made it his own.

In 1963, Manny Oquendo joined "La Perfecta," the conjunto organized by pianist Eddie Palmieri. Alongside congüero, Tommy Lopez, Manny crystallized the Mozambique sound creating a powerhouse rhythm section alongside Palmieri’s improvisational infrastructure.

In 1974 Oquendo and bassist Andy Gonzalez left Palmieri to move in their own direction. Leaving the traditional structures behind, the duo incorporated jazz, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms while exploring alternatives. The goal was to “free” the music from restrictive content and Libre was born. During 1976 to 1981, Oquendo became a musical historian of the tipico sound he'd perfected with Palmieri. Libre's first albums included classics by composers Ignacio Pineiro,

Rafael Hernandez and Nico Saquito, as well as a traditional Puerto Rican plena by Manuel "Canario" Jimenez.

At the same time, the group attracted a creative crop of innovative young artists in Latin music. The Gonzalez brothers, Andy and Jerry Gonzalez are founding members; Alfredo de la Fe is featured on various incendiary violin solos with singer Herman Olivera making his recorded debut over a Libre recording while flautist Nestor Torres was also a featured guest. At various times, Barry Rogers, Jose Rodrigues, Angel "Papo" Vazquez, Jimmy Bosch, Reynaldo Jorge, Dan Reagan and Steve Turre held down the trombone line, while Oscar Hernandez, Joe Mannozzi, and Marc Diamond rocked the piano chair.

Last year, Puerto Rico’s Radio Station, Z93 dedicated its National Salsa Day to Manny Oquendo.

Manny Oquendo is survived by four sons and two sisters.

According to Manny Oquendo's wishes, there will not be a viewing.

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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Joe Cuba: Conversations w/the Masters

The is part of an interview done with Joe Cuba during Salsa Sunday, October, 2006 @ Presented by The Raices Latin Music Museum: Conversations with the Masters: Conducted by writer, historian & bandleader: Aurora Flores.

Joe Cuba talks about meeting Cheo Feliciano, the making of To Be With You, Crossing Clave w/his Freedom Fight Sound, Mujer Divina, Ariñañara, Bang, Bang & El Pito, royalties, publishing and who killed the Boogaloo.

The audio is low at the very beginning but then adjusts to normal volume, your patience with this minor technical difficulty at the begninng will be greatly rewarded.

Footage provided by Alfie Alvarado.

[ 26 comments ]

Zon del Barrio