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Plus:
Every night after the
competition the after parties
will
feature an exciting theme night
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Friday, December 14
New York Night remembering the
Palladium Nights. Tribute to
Tito Puente, Machito and Tito
Rodriguez. Come dressed to
impress and live those great
moments with us. We will tape
social dance performances will
be on TV!
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Saturday, December 15
Tribute
to the Fania All Stars
Special performance by Roberto
Rohena (Edwin Rivera) from
el Cantante, the Movie)
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To learn
more about El Gran Combo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El Gran Combo de
Puerto Rico,
commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a
Puerto Rican
Salsa music
orchestra. It is
Puerto Rico's most successful
musical group, and one of Salsa's most
famous groups across
Latin America. Since many of the
genre's legendary singers have been
members of the orchestra, the band has
been given the moniker La Universidad
de la Salsa (The University of
Salsa)
El Gran Combo was
founded by
Rafael Ithier in May 1962. Ithier is
still,
as of 2006, the orchestra's pianist
and musical director. The group is
currently promoting their latest album
titled
Arroz con Habichuela (Rice
and Beans) and they continuously
tour around the world.
History
The Birth of
El Gran Combo
Rafael Ithier had been a
member of
Rafael Cortijo's "Combo" orchestra,
travelling to the eastern
United States before forming El Gran
Combo. For their first gig, the
orchestra was signed by the legendary
Cuban comedian, writer and
businessman
Alvarez Guedes, who hired them to
support
Dominican singer
Joseito
Mateo on one of his
albums for his record company
Gema Records.
It was Alvarez Guedes himself who
baptized them with the name of El
Gran Combo.
The members that met for
this first incarnation were Ithier,
Eddie Perez, Hector Santos, Rogelio "Kito"
Velez, Martín Quiñones, Miguel Cruz and
Roberto Roena. That first album was
titled
Menéame Los
Mangos, El Gran Combo con
Joseito Mateo (Shake My Handles,
or Shake My Mangoes, depending on the
double meaning of the word Mango).
The group met again to
define the foundations of the orchestra
and they chose singers Daniel Vázquez,
Pellín Rodríguez and
Chiqui
García. On
May 21, 1962, El Gran Combo was
heard for the first time on Puerto Rican
radio. Later on, they became the
on-studio musicians of the live
television show, "La Taberna India",
sponsored by
India Beer.
After their live debut
at
Hotel La
Concha in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Chiqui García
left the orchestra.
Sammy Ayala,
who had also played with Ithier in the
Cortijo orchestra, recommended the
hiring of
Andy Montañez.
Felipe Rodríguez, another legendary
Salsa singer, also followed the group's
career closely, sometimes even making
suggestions to Ithier.
First Albums
On
November 20,
1963, El Gran Combo released their
first group album,
Acángana,
with Rodríguez and Montañez as leading
voices. The album became a number one
hit in
New York,
Panama and
Puerto Rico. Their success opened
doors for them in many
Latin American markets and they
gained an exclusivity spot in
Puerto Rican television show
El Show de las 12. The album
also reached gold status.
On
1964, musician
Elías López
joined the orchestra. However, the
excess of exposure helped their demands
to decline. Still, in 1967, their album
Boogaloo con
el Gran Combo also
reached gold status. In 1969, Roena and
López left the orchestra to form the
Apollo Sound together. Despite all
this, that same year the group is
awarded with an Agüeybana de Oro
Award in Puerto Rico.
Near death
experience
On
February 15,
1970, the members of El Gran
Combo shared a near death
experience. They were returning to
Puerto Rico from
Curaçao, and had to stop at
Las Américas International Airport
in
Santo Domingo. One of the band's
members had a bad feeling about the
flight they were about to embark on, and
the orchestra decided not to take that
flight, which would turn out to be
the Dominicana Airlines DC-9 that
crashed off the Caribbean coast.
The 1970s
In 1970, their contract
with Gema Records wasn't renewed.
Despite offers from the renowned
Motown label, El Gran Combo decided
to produce their own albums. Their first
album under their label, EGC, is titled
Estamos
Primeros.
In 1971, El Gran Combo
introduced the
trombone to their list of
instruments. The trombone was played by
Fanny
Ceballos. Soon after, their
production named
De Punta a
Punta (slang for "From
Coast to Coast") was released. In 1973,
Pellín Rodriguez left the group to
continue on with a solo career.
Legendary Salsa musician
Jerry
Concepción and the well known
sportscaster
Rafael Bracero, friends of Ithier,
recommended Ithier to replace Rodríguez
with
Charlie
Aponte.
In 1973, El Gran Combo
sang in front of 50,000 fans at the
famous
Yankee Stadium in
New York City as the opening act for
the
Fania All Stars' sold out concert.
Montañez left the band
in early 1977 and went to live in
Venezuela, where he receive a good
contract to replace
Oscar De
León in another orchestra,
Dimension
Latina.
Jerry Rivas
was then chosen to join the orchestra.
Both Rivas and Aponte are still members
of the orchestra to this day. The
success of this new duo was proved with
their 1977 album
International and 1978's
En Las Vegas
which reached gold record status.
In 1975, El Gran
Combo en Navidad, a
Christmas album, was released, with
Martín
Quiñones appearing as
Santa Claus in the album's cover.
After a car accident in early 1977,
Quiñones was replaced in the band by his
son, Martín Quiñones Jr. He stayed until
1979, being replaced by
Luis Díaz.
Recent years
The band continues to
receive numerous awards in all
Latin America. In 1984, they
traveled to
Alaska where they received a great
welcome. Soon after they release their
album titled
Breaking the Ice which garnered
them their first
Grammy nomination.
In 1982 they celebrated
their 20th anniversary playing at the
Madison Square Garden. They also
reached Europe that year playing in
Paris, France.
In the early
90s, they were honored in the city
of
Madrid, Spain to open the decade in
the right track. In
March 29,
1992, they celebrated a huge concert
in the
Hiram Bithorn Stadium in front of
30,000 people.
The new
millennium
In 2002, El Gran
Combo celebrated their 40th
anniversary with two sold-out concerts
at the
Ruben
Rodríguez Coliseum in
Bayamón, Puerto Rico. This
celebration spawned a renowned album
that was recognized as one of the best
of the year. A year later, they received
a
Grammy for
Best Tropical Album.
As of 2006, the orchestra has
released over 40 albums or
CD's, and it has received many
awards, including golden albums, a "Calendario
de Plata" in
Mexico, a "Golden Combo" in
Colombia, a "Paoli
Award" in their native Puerto
Rico, a honorable distinction in
Spain and countless others.
In 2006, they released
their latest album titled
Arroz con Habichuela. It has
already spawned two hit singles. The
first one titled "No Hay Manera"
("There's No Way"), and the title song.
In 2007, El Gran Combo
performed two massive concerts at the
Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum to
celebrate their 45 anniversary.
Current
members
Singers
-
Charlie Aponte
(1973–present)
-
Jerry Rivas
(1977–present)
-
Luis "Papo" Rosario
(1980–present)
Orchestra
-
Rafael Ithier -
leader, director (1962–present);
piano (1962–2004; except on live
performances)
-
Willie Sotelo
piano (2006–present}
-
Eddie Pérez -
saxophone (1962–present)
-
Freddie Miranda -
saxophone (1980–present)
-
Luis "Tati"
Maldonado -
trumpet
(1970–present)
-
Victor "Cano"
González -
trumpet(1980–present)
-
Moisés Nogueras -
trombone (1991–present)
-
Freddy Rivera -
bass guitar (1989–present)
-
Domingo "Cuqui"
Santos -
timbales
(1988–present)
-
Miguel "Pollo"
Torres -
conga
(1979–present)
-
Richie Bastar -
bongo (2001–present)
-
Jorge Torres -
sound engineer
-
David Marrero -
support personnel
Former members
Singers
Percussion
-
Milton Correa -
timbales (1962–1970)
-
Miguel Marrero -
timbales (1970–1979)
-
Edgardo Morales -
timbales (1979–1988)
-
Martín Quiñones -
conga (1962–1977)
-
Martin Quiñones, Jr.
- conga (1977)
-
Luis Díaz - conga
(1977)
Bass
Brass section
-
Mike Torres -
trumpet (1969)
-
Epifanio "Fanny"
Ceballos - trombone (1971–1991)
-
Toñito Vázquez -
trombone (1991)
Others
-
Hector Santos
(1962–1969)
-
Rogelio "Kito" Vélez
(1962–1964)
-
Roberto Roena
(1962–1969)
-
Daniel Vázquez (1962
- ????)
-
Mickey Duchesne (1962
- ????)
-
Elias Lopez
(1964–1969)
-
Edwin Cortés (1969)
-
"Baby" Serrano
(1969–1984)
-
José "Keko" Duchesne
(1969–1980)
-
Tommy Sánchez (1969
- ????)
-
Gerardo "Grillo"
Cruz (1969–1979)
-
Miguel Laboy (1984
- ????)
-
Mike Ramos
(1970–1984)
-
Edwin González
(1979)
-
Nelson Feliciano
(1979–1980)
-
Paquito Guzman (Coros;
Recording Sessions 1971–1976)
-
Elliot Romero (Coros;
Recording Sessions 1973–1977)
-
Yayo "El Indio" (Coros;
Recording Sessions 1977–1979)
See also
External links
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Gran_Combo"
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