Salsa star Oscar D'Leon invites fans to London show

Legendary salsa singer Oscar D'Leon will perform with his full big band at London's Roundhouse on 3 November 2012 for a one-off concert that no Latin music lover should miss. As he says in this special video message to fans ahead of the show... it should be Sabroso!!
For full details of the concert and how to get tickets click here.

Salsa king Oscar D'Leon comes to London 3 November

One of the truly great legends of salsa music, Oscar D'Leon, will be bringing his swinging big band and his even bigger personality to London's Roundhouse on 3 November for a one-off concert that no Latin music lover should miss.

Organized by London-based promoters Como No!, the show features Oscar D'Leon's full Venezuelan band and will start with sets from top salsa DJs, including Javier La Rosa (Cuba), Johnny G (Colombia), Jose Luis (Venezuela), Lubi (Gallo del Norte), Dr Jim (Londres del Norte) and Rich (Londres del Sur).

Known as El Rey Leon (the Lion King), El Diablo de la Salsa (the Salsa Devil), and El Sonero Mayor (The Greatest Singer of Son) Oscar D'Leon is not only an impressive singer with a huge voice and a matching stage presence, but also a brilliant double bass player and a twinkle-toed dancer (even now as he reaches 70).

He has been setting concert halls alight across the world with blistering dance numbers and smooth boleros since he first emerged as a star in Venezuela in the 1970s.

Born in the poor barrio of Antimano, in the south of the capital city Caracas, Oscar D'Leon drove a bus before fame called with his first band Dimension Latina. Back in those days he had a massive afro to complement his equally impressive moustache.

Starting off with the gritty urban power of the trombone-heavy salsa dura that had emerged from the Latino barrios of New York in the late 60s, he went on to develop a show that included big band numbers from the golden era of 1950s Cuba - when his idol Beny More and the Sonora Matancera ruled the radio and the Mambo kings played songs of love in New York.

Nowadays, to keep up with changing tastes, he continues to add contemporary Caribbean rhythms like rap and reggaetton into the salsa-son cubano mix and his band of percussion players and brass are so well rehearsed from constant gigs around the world they can move seamlessly between old styles and rhythms.

The result is that an Oscar D'Leon gig feels like one long dance party.

This is the perfect opportunity for anybody who takes a salsa class to hear this music played by the best musicians in the business. You can always stay and home and listen to the CDs, but performing live Oscar D'Leon can fill a concert hall in the coldest part of the world with all the warmth and joy of a South American fiesta.

You also get to check out the local Latinos busting moves they don't teach you in school.

But whether you sing along at the front or shuffle along at the back, the only thing certain at an Oscar D'Leon concert is that standing still is not an option - the rollercoaster of Caribbean rhythms unleashed by the Venezuelan salsa king rumbas along to an infectious clave beat that will leave you dancing your way home.

Date: Saturday, 3 November, 8:30 pm
Venue: London's Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, Camden, NW1 8EH
Tickets: £25
For tickets: Contact the Roundhouse or Como No! or Ticket Web

Lloraras y Lloraras - Venezuelan Karaoke Part 1

To prepare you for the concert here are the words to Oscar D'Leon's most famous song "Lloraras" ("You Will Cry") so you can sing along at the gig (although as you can see in the video above Oscar loves to improvise during the chorus). As you might gather from the title, there's quite a lot of crying involved, I've translated the words into English so you get the full effect of this popular break-up song.

Lloraras (in English)
I know that you don't want me to love you,
You're always avoiding me somehow.
If I look for you over here, you pop up over there.
The only thing I want, is that you won't make me suffer anymore.

You will be sorry about your bad behavior,
My suffering will cost you dear.
You will cry and cry with no-one to console you,
And then you'll realize that when someone cheats on you it hurts.

Later on you'll come to ask for forgiveness,
But my heart won't remember you any more.
You will cry and cry with no-one to console you,
And then you'll realize that when someone cheats on you it hurts.
I swear.

You will cry, You will cry, You will cry (You will cry)
Like I suffered (You will cry)
Listen, you will cry (You will cry)
And no-one will understand you (You will cry)
All the bad things (You will cry)
Listen, you will pay (You will cry)

You will cry, You will cry (You will cry)
You will cry, You will cry (You will cry)

You made me suffer (You will cry)
Now I'm the one who's laughing (You will cry)
No, no, yes, yes (You will cry)
Now I will live (You will cry)
My life as I wish (You will cry)
I'm moving on (You will cry)
You will cry.
Take it away!!

Lloraras (in Spanish)
Se que tu no quieres, que yo a ti te quiera
siempre tu me esquivas de alguna manera
si te busco por aqui tu me sales por alla
lo unico que yo quiero es que no me hagas sufrir mas

Por tu mal comportamiento, te vas a arrepentir
muy caro tendras que pagar todo mi sufrimiemto
Lloraras y lloraras sin nadie que te consuele
y asi te daras de cuenta que si te enga?an duele

Y despues vendras a mi, pidiendome perdon
pero ya mi corazon, no se acuerda mas de ti
Lloraras y lloraras sin nadie que te consuele
y asi te daras de cuenta que si te engañan duele
Te lo juro que si!

Lloraras lloraras lloraras (Lloraras)
Como lo sufri yo (Lloraras)
Oye tu lloraras (Lloraras)
Nadie te comprendera (Lloraras)
Todo lo malo que hiciste (Lloraras)
Oye mira lo pagaras (Lloraras)
Lloraras Lloraras (Lloraras)
Lloraras Lloraras (Lloraras)
Tu me hiciste sufrir (Lloraras)
Ahora el que rie soy yo (Lloraras)
que no, que no, que si, que si (Lloraras)
Ahora yo voy a vivir (Lloraras)
Mi vida como yo quiero (Lloraras)
Echa palante ya me voy (Lloraras)
Lloraras
Llevatela!!

Oscar D'Leon - Ni Frio, Ni Calor

Oscar D'Leon didn't win a gong at the recent Latin Grammy Awards for his latest album "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo", but it's still a triumphant return to top form.

The video shows the first single off the album "Ni Frio, Ni Calor" ("Not cold, Not Hot").

Tranquilamente... Tranquilo
Track Listing:
1. Ni Frío Ni Calor
2. Hasta Que Vuelvas
3. Tienes Uno, Tengo Otra
4. El Papelito
5. Tranquilamente...Tranquilo
6. Esta Ausencia
7. Quiéreme
8. Yo Me Siento Como En Casa
9. La Cocaleca

To hear tracks from "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo" click here:



Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon performing "Lloraras" in Cali:

Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon and Wladimir Lozano performing "Que Cosa Tan Linda" back in the days of the Salsa Mayor:

Click here for a video of Oscar D'Leon and Zona 7 performing "Mirala":

Oscar D'Leon, Amigos Invisibles at Latin Grammys

UPDATE: Los Amigos Invisibles win their first Latin Grammy

Three important Venezuelan music legends have been nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards this year: Salsa king Oscar D'Leon, Latin pop-rockers Los Amigos invisibles and balladeer Franco de Vita.

Oscar D'Leon is competing in the category for Best Salsa Album with his latest CD "Tranquilamente... Tranquilo", a triumphant return to top form.

Oscar will be going to head to head in the Salsa category with Cuban salsero Isaac Delgado and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Los Amigos Invisibles are nominated for Best Alternative Music Album with their latest CD "Comercial" - featuring the single "Mentiras", a massive hit for the band across Latin America and the USA.

The Invisible Friends face stiff competion from the Peruvian electro-folk group Novalima and Argentine rockers Babasonicos.

Veteran balladeer Franco de Vita's CD "Simplemente La Verdad", meanwhile, is up for Best Singer-Songwriter Album, alongside the Guatemalan singer Ricardo Arjona and the Brazilian Caetano Veloso.

The 10th annual Latin Grammy Awards will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on 5 November, and fireworks are expected as the top talents from Latin American and the USA take to the stage.

Leading the list of nominations are Puerto Rico hip-hop group Calle 13 with five nods, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Urban Music Album, Best Alternative Song and Best Short Form Music Video for "La Perla", which features salsa legend Ruben Blades.

A special Person of the Year award will be presented to the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.

The event will be broadcast live on the Hispanic channel Univision.

CD Review: The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music

A Rough and Ready Primer of some Classic Venezuelan Tracks
At last a compilation of that is broad enough to give some sense of the incredible diversity of Venezuelan music.

Obviously there are omissions, not least the current crop of bands such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Desorden Publico, Tres Duenos, Babylon Motorhome and all the new young bands making great music now. But with useful sleevenotes and mini-biographies of the artists, this is a good primer.

Given the constraints of a 19-track CD, compiler Dan Rosenberg has done a commendable job of stitching together music from many different Venezuelan genres, most of which are unknown outside the country.

The old-school salsa sound of Oscar D'Leon's first band Dimension Latina will sound familiar to anybody who's heard any of the Fania Allstar artists, such as Willie Colon or Hector Lavoe, although Venezuelan salseros were always closer to the original sounds of Cuba, adding a New York twist to the traditional son montuno with upfront trombones in the style of Eddie Palmieri.

Oscar D'Leon also appears on two tracks as a soloist, unusually, with two tracks by the Dominican band leader Luis Maria "Billo" Frometa, who became a dance hall legend in Venezuela with his Billos Caracas Boys in the 1950s and 1960s.

But for those who are new to Venezuela, the folk music will be the biggest revelation. The African drums of Tambor Urbano and Raices de Chuspa give a flavour of the frenetic Afro-Venezuelan music of the coast, known as tambores, with its call and response vocals and syncopated beats.

Guaco and Maracaibo 15, meanwhile, give two good examples of gaitas, a musical style that originally came from state of Zulia and the city of Maracaibo but has over time become the official sound of Christmas in Venezuela.

Also well served is the joropo, played on harp, a small four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas.

It is known generically as musica llanera because it comes from the vast open prairies of the Orinoco flood plain, or Llanos region.

Simon Diaz's oft-recorded "Caballo Viejo" ("Old Horse") is a classic of the genre, while tracks by Cheo Hurtado and Anselmo Lopez display the full range of the cuatro and the bandola, similar to the lute.

Creating a CD that covers the whole musical tradition of a country as rich in music as Venezuela is clearly an impossible task, but if you want a flavour of what's on offer, this is not a bad place to start.

Track Listing:
1. Caracas, Caracas - Un Solo Pueblo
2. Madrugada Llanera - Mario Suarez con La Rondalla Venezolana
3. Deshonestidad - Guaco
4. Gavilan - Dimension Latina
5. Ariel - Oscar D'Leon
6. La Paloma - Quinto Criollo
7. Mosaico Tradicional - Tambor Urbano
8. Las Tres Damas - Anselmo Lopez and Saul Vera
9. Malembe - Raices de Chuspa
10. Moliendo Cafe - Hugo Blanco
11. Caballo Viejo - Simon Diaz
12. Viva Venezuela - Un Solo Pueblo
13. Palo Palo - Maracaibo 15
14. Cadetes - Oscar D'Leon
15. Calipso de El Callao - Alberto Naranjo
16. Meneito - Grupo Barlovento
17. Julio Moreno/Linda Mañana - Vasallos del Sol
18. Pajarillo Revuelto - Cheo Hurtado y Bandolas de Venezuela
19. Pajarillo Verde - Soledad Bravo

To find out more about the CD "The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music" click here:

CD Review - Percussion Maddness - Luisito Quintero

Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero might not be a household name, but in the small world of New York's Latin music fraternity he's regarded as one of the hottest timbaleros in town.

After starting out in the Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela and a stint with salsa singer La India, Quintero learnt the finer points of Afro-Cuban drumming by playing alongside a string of Latin music legends, including Oscar D'Leon and Eddie Palmieri.

But while Quintero pays homage to his mentors on some banging tracks dedicated to the late Tito Puente and Ray Barreto, the CD as a whole carries the stamp of house DJ and producer "Li'l" Louie Vega, one half of New York duo Masters at Work.

The deep-house, acid jazz and silky bossa grooves are very much in the vein of Louie Vega's albums Nuyorican Soul and Elements of Life, both of which Quintero played on.

Vega is sometimes accused of over-producing tracks to the point of emasculation and the breathy vocal on "Our Love" by Cape Verdian singer Anane - Lil' Louie's latest squeeze - is so smooth it comes close to muzak.

But lightweight? I don't think so. A Fela Kuti number with Cameroonian singer-guitarist Francis Mbappe hits all the right Afrobeat buttons and a faithful reproduction of Ray Barreto's seminal track "Acid" is a fitting tribute.

Overall, the sheer quality of the guest turns by pianist Hilton Ruiz, flautist Nestor Torres and Venezuelan guitarist Aquiles Baez make this a treat for music fans seeking more than the typical salsa descargas on offer from many Latin combos at the moment.

Track listing:
1. Percussion Maddness
2. Tumbao
3. M'Bongi
4. Gbagada, Gbagada, Gbogodo, Gbogodo (feat. Francis Mbappe)
5. Aquilas Coisas Todas
6. Our Love (feat. Anane)
7. Quintero's Jam (feat. Hilton Ruiz)
8. EOL Intro (Clap Your Hands)
9. Acid
10. Four Beat Mambo
11. Son Montuno
12. Oshagriña (feat. Milton Cardona and The Aranla Chorus)
13. Love Remains The Same

To buy the album click here:



Video: Percussion Maddness - Luisito Quintero

Oscar D'Leon - Lloraras

Salsa star Oscar D'Leon is a true rags-to-riches story. He came from the poor Caracas barrio of Antimano and worked as a driver of a por puesto minibus before carving out a career as one of the greatest "soneros" of all time - up there with Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades and his role model, Beny More.

He's still making hit records. His most recent album "Fuzionando", featuring collaborations with Puerto Rican reggaeton pioneer Tego Calderon and Calle 13, won the 2007 Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Tropical Album.

In this video clip from a concert in Cali, Colombia, Oscar joins a full orchestra of top musicians from Puerto Rico and Venezuela to sing his signature tune "Lloraras". As you might gather from the title, there's quite a lot of crying involved.

Shame about Oscar's dodgy pyjamas, pero cartelua la musica!

Check out the lyrics in English:

I know that you don't want me to love you, you're always avoiding me somehow.
If I look for you over here, you pop up over there.
The only thing I want now is that you won't torture me anymore.

You will be sorry about your bad behavior, and my suffering will cost you dear.
You will cry and cry and no one will console you, and then you'll realize that it hurts when you're cheated on.

Later on you'll come asking for forgiveness, but my heart won't remember you any more.
You will cry and cry with no-one to console you, and then you'll realize that it hurts when you're cheated on.

You will cry, like I suffered, listen, you will cry, and no-one will understand you. Every bad thing you did to me, listen you will pay for it.

You will cry.

You made me suffer, now I'm the one who's laughing, now I will live my life as I wish.

I'm moving on.

You will cry.

Oscar D' Leon - Mirala

Oscar D' Leon, the Lion King of Venezuelan salsa, teams up with local boy band Zona 7 to update his sound for a new generation of reggaeton fans.

He may have lost the 'fro but he can still swing.