Television is an American rock band from New York City, most notably active in the 1970s. The group was founded by Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Billy Ficca, and Richard Hell. An early fixture of CBGB and the 1970s New York rock scene, the band is considered influential in the development of punk and alternative music.
Ludichrist is an American band formed in 1984 in Long Island New York. Their musical style broke from the conventions of New York hardcore by adding aspects of rock, heavy metal and jazz, such as musical interludes and extended guitar solos. Ludichrist is regarded as one of the crossover movement's most prominent groups, alongside D.R.I. Drummer Dave Miranda saw Ludichrist as "crossing into both, punk and metal without firmly belonging into either camp." He observed that "the band was readily influenced by bands around them such as Crumbsuckers and Agnostic Front."
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters CBGB were for Country, BlueGrass, and Blues, Kristal's original vision, yet CBGB soon became a famed venue of punk rock and new wave bands like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads. From the early 1980s onward, CBGB was known for hardcore punk.
Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. was an American Latin jazz musician, known as the most successful non-Latino Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, even as he continued to perform the music of Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America.
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez, better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe is considered to be possibly the best and most important singer and interpreter in the history of salsa music because he helped to establish the popularity of this musical genre in the decades of 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His personality, style and the qualities of his voice led him to a successful artistic career in the whole field of Latin music and salsa during the 1970s and 1980s. The cleanness and brightness of his voice, coupled with impeccable diction and the ability to sing long and fast phrases with total naturalness, made him one of the favorite singers of the Latin public.
Ray Barretto was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican ancestry. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Latin jazz. His first hit, "El Watusi", was recorded by his Charanga Moderna in 1962, becoming the most successful pachanga song in the United States. In the late 1960s, Barretto became one of the leading exponents of boogaloo and what would later be known as salsa. Nonetheless, many of Barretto's recordings would remain rooted in more traditional genres such as son cubano. A master of the descarga, Barretto was a long-time member of the Fania All-Stars. His success continued into the 1970s with songs such as "Cocinando" and "Indestructible." His last album for Fania Records, Soy dichoso, was released in 1990. He then formed the New World Spirit jazz ensemble and continued to tour and record until his death in 2006.
Eddie Palmieri is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
Ismael Quintana was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa music.
Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is a Latin jazz percussionist.
Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñones better known as Papo Lucca, is a Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist best known for his pianist skills. His main musical genres are Salsa and Latin Jazz. He ranks with the late Charlie Palmieri, as one of the best piano instrumentalists in Latin Jazz and Salsa. He is the co-founder with his father Don Enrique "Quique" Lucca Caraballo of the Puerto Rican band La Sonora Ponceña. He has also played and recorded with the Fania All-Stars, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colón, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Bobby Valentín, Ismael Quintana, Gloria Estefan, Adalberto Santiago, Andy Montañez, Pablo Milanés, and Rubén Blades. He is also a well-known music arranger.
Hillel Kristal was an American club owner, manager and musician who was the owner of the iconic New York City club CBGB, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006 over a rent dispute.
Seguida is a Latin Rock Group from New York., who were winners of the 1976 Latin NY Magazine "Best Latin Rock Album" award.
Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro was a Puerto Rican left-handed guitarist and cuatro player. Known internationally as "The King of the Cuatro," Toro recorded over 150 albums throughout a 60-year career and worked extensively with Cuban legends Arsenio Rodríguez and Alfonso "El Panameño" Joseph; salsa artists Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades; and artists from other music genres including Frankie Cutlass, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt and David Byrne.
Ricanstruction was a New York City based Puerto Rican punk/hip hop/salsa/jazz/reggae fusion musical group and artist collective. When Ricanstruction first started, the band consisted of lead vocalist Not4Prophet, bassist Arturo "R2O" Rodriguez, drummer Joseph "SickFoot" Rodriguez from Harlem, and guitarist Eddie "Alsiva" Alsina. Other members of Ricanstruction through the years have included vocalist Taína Asili, percussionist Roger Vasquez, and guitarists Fidel Paulino and Steven "Albizoo" Maldonado.
Ernest AnthonyPuente Jr., commonly known as TitoPuente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that endured over a 50-year career. His most famous song is "Oye Como Va".
Havana Jam was a three-day music festival that took place at the Karl Marx Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, on 2–4 March 1979. It was sponsored by Bruce Lundvall, the president of Columbia Records, Jerry Masucci, the president of Fania Records, and the Cuban Ministry of Culture.
CBGB is a 2013 American biographical drama film about the former New York music venue CBGB. It follows the story of Hilly Kristal's New York club from its concept as a venue for Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock 'n' roll and punk. The film uses devices such as a comic book-style panels, as well as onscreen text to identify important figures in the punk movement.
Nelson González is a Puerto Rican tres player. He specialises in the Cuban tres, and only occasionally plays the Puerto Rican tres. He is a prolific session musician and has been a member of renowned salsa ensembles such as Fania All-Stars, Orchestra Harlow and Típica 73. He has authored a book on the tres guitar method published by Mel Bay. Together with Pancho Amat and Papi Oviedo he is considered one of the most influential modern tres players.
Jose Vazquez-Cofresi is an American conga drummer, bandleader, composer and producer of Puerto Rican & Italian ancestry. He is also called Manos de Hierro, literally translated ‘Iron Hands’, a name given to him by a salsa bass player. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he has played a wide variety of Latin music styles. The first composition by Vazquez-Cofresi that was featured in a movie is Sentencia, featured in the salsa movie The Big Shot Caller (2008). One of his most famous compositions is Aña Pa Mi Tambor, recorded by La Excelencia in 2009 that was featured on ZIN 33 for Zumba Fitness and So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Monday Night Football on NBC started using La Economia, another composition written by Vazquez-Cofresi for salsa dance touchdowns made by American Football star Victor Cruz while playing for the New York Giants. Vazquez-Cofresi has also been quoted and featured in various publications about the History of Salsa and his major impact in the salsa dura musical style and movement.
Angel Rafael "Papo" Vázquez is an American trombonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent who performs and records jazz, Latin and Afro-Caribbean music. He is known as one of the pioneers of the bomba jazz style and is a Grammy Award nominee.
