Nicky Marrero

Last updated
Nicholas "Nicky" Marrero
Born(1950-06-17)June 17, 1950
New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, son cubano, boogaloo, pachanga
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s) Timbales, drums, percussion
Years active1967-present
Labels

Nicky Marrero (born June 17, 1950 in the Bronx, New York City) [1] is an American Latin jazz percussionist, best known as the timbale player in The Fania Allstars [2] and as a recording artist during the 1970s salsa boom in New York.

Contents

Early career

Marrero began playing professionally at the age of 15 with Orchesta Caribe. Thereafter, he was asked by Willie Colon to join his band where he recorded “Jazzy” on the "El Malo" album. [3]

From 1965 – 1971 he performed with Eddie Palmieri's band. [4] In 1968 he recorded the LP Champagne with Eddie Palmieri and His Orchestra, published by the label Tico Records. In 1970 he recorded the LP Harlem River Drive with Palmieri who brought together other Latin Jazz artists Victor Vinegas, Andy Gonzales, Ronnie Cuber along with African American Funk all-stars Jermey Jemmott and Bernard Purdie. [5] [6] "The results of this experiment [were] a deeply funky and socially conscious album, addressing issues of poverty and unemployment and general conditions of ghetto living." [7] He has also performed and recorded with the Larry Harlow's orchestra from 1971-1973.

In 1974 he was asked by Jerry Masucci to join the Fania All-Stars, replacing Orestes Vilató where he would record Fania's greatest hits and tour the world. [8]

Later career

He has performed and record with artists including,Tito Puente, Machito, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz,Celia Cruz, Orchesta Broadway, Joe Cuba, La Plata Sextet, Charanga America, Chito Velez, Ismael Miranda and Hector Lavoe, Dizzy Gillespie, [9] Manhattan Transfer, Esther Williams, Paul Simon, Spyro Gyra, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Farrell, Esther Phillips, Carlos and Jorge Santana, Jerry Gonzales, and Jorge Dalto. [10] [11] He has also performed with Nelson Gonzalez, Jimmy Bosch, Willie Rodriguez, David Amram, Steely Dan, Bill Withers, Airto and Flora Moreira, Wynton Marsalis, Chico O'Farrill, Billy Cobham, Stevie Wonder, Manu Dibango, Average White Band, George Benson, and Xavier Cugat. He was also a member of Típica 73

He has also taught Latin percussion and music theory throughout New York City and abroad. [12] During the early 1990s, he taught at The Conservatory of Rotterdam in Holland; recorded and performed with Conexion Latina and Nueva Manteca. After returning to New York, he began performing with Larry Harlow and the "Fania" Latin Legends Band. [13] In 2008 he recorded a concert called "Live at Willie's Steak House" with Willie Rodriguez, Andy Gonzalez, Roland Guerrero and Richy Mely. [14]

Discography

Filmography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salsa music</span> Latin American dance music genre

Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and American influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno, with elements of mambo, Latin jazz, bomba, plena and guaracha. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fania Records</span> American record label

Fania Records is a New York–based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from a popular luncheonette frequented by musicians in Havana, Cuba that Masucci frequented when he worked for a public relations firm there during the pre-Castro era. Fania is known for its promotion of salsa music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Barretto</span> Puerto Rican jazz musician

Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. 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.

Carlos Manuel "Charlie" Palmieri was an American bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as the "Giant of the Keyboards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Palmieri</span> American pianist, latin jazz bandleader

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheo Feliciano</span> Puerto Rican musician

Cheo Feliciano was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de la Rosa Theater" in Barranquilla, Colombia, and in 1987 he played the role of Roberto Clemente's father in the musical Clemente.

Ismael Quintana was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papo Lucca</span> Puerto Rican musician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sal Cuevas</span> Puerto Rican Latin jazz & Salsa musician

Salvador "Sal" Cuevas was an American salsa bassist known for his association with the Fania All-Stars from 1978 to 1985. Although he also played the upright bass, he was one of the most popular electric bassists in the New York salsa scene, often playing in a funk style. "He was the first to bring the slaps and funk style that he learned from R&B, Funk, and Jazz music, into Salsa music."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fania All-Stars</span> Musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records

The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Pacheco</span> American musician (1935–2021)

Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco, known as Johnny Pacheco, was an American musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New York salsa scene in the 1960s and 1970s as the founder and musical director of Fania Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez</span> Puerto Rican musician

Pedro Juan Rodríguez Ferrer, better known as Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez, was a salsa singer born in Barrio Cantera, Ponce, Puerto Rico. His son, also named Pete Rodriguez, is also a salsa and jazz musician. His daughter, Cita Rodriguez, is also an accomplished salsa singer.

Alfredo Manuel De La Fé is a Cuban-born and New York-based violinist who lived in Colombia for more than 16 years and is responsible for transforming the violin into an important sound of Salsa and Latin music. The first solo violinist to perform with a Salsa orchestra, De La Fé has toured the world more than thirty times, appearing in concert and participating in more than one hundred albums by such top-ranked Latin artists as Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, José Alberto "El Canario", Cheo Feliciano, The Fania All-Stars, Santana and Larry Harlow. His second solo album, Alfredo, released in 1979, received a Grammy nomination as "Best Latin album".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Rogers</span> American trombonist

Barron W. "Barry" Rogers was an American jazz and salsa trombonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adalberto Santiago</span> Puerto Rican musician

Adalberto Santiago is an internationally known salsa singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alegre Records</span> American Latin music record label

Alegre Records was a New York City record label specialized in latin music. It was founded in 1956 by Al Santiago who owned a 1950s record store at 8522 Westchester Avenue in The Bronx named Casalegre and co-founded by clothing businessman Ben Perlman. It specialized in Latin music and was significant for featuring artists such as Johnny Pacheco and Tito Puente and was the first to record a series of great Latin artists, from Johnny Pacheco, Eddie Palmieri, through Willie Colón. It has been called the "Blue Note" of Latin music.

<i>Superimposition</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Eddie Palmieri

Superimposition is the twelfth studio album by American pianist Eddie Palmieri. It was released by Tico Records in 1970. The album combines modern salsa renditions of Cuban standards on side A with experimental descargas on side B. Since its release, the album has been praised by critics such as John Storm Roberts for its innovative approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Averne</span> American music producer

Harvey Averne has been described as "one of several prominent Jewish Americans in New York's bustling Latin music scene."

Edwin "Eddie" Montalvo is an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Born and raised in the Bronx, he best known for playing the Congas for Hector Lavoe, Rubén Blades as well as with the Fania All-Stars.

Jon Fausty is a multiple Grammy Award-winning sound and recording engineer best known for his work on some of the most successful Latin albums ever recorded.

References

  1. Muñoz, C. B.; Lewis, P.; Molina, E. T. (2022). A People's Guide to New York City. Jackson: University of California Press. ISBN   9780520289574.
  2. "All In The Mars Vota Familia". Drum Week Newsletter. February 18, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  3. Kusama-Hinte, Jeffery (director) (2009). Soul power (Director's Statement) (PDF) (Motion picture). USA: Mongrel Media.
  4. Flores, J. (2016). Salsa Rising: New York Latin Music of the Sixties Generation. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 221. ISBN   978-0199764907.
  5. Muhamad, Suraya (December 9, 2016). "'Harlem River Drive' Revisited With Eddie Palmieri". NPR. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  6. Ratliff, B. (May 22, 2016). "Review: Eddie Palmieri Reprises a Tantalizing 'Harlem River Drive'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  7. Njoroge, N. (2016). Chocolate Surrealism: Music, Movement, Memory, and History in the Circum-Caribbean. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 131. ISBN   9781496830777.
  8. "Latin Scene". Billboard. Vol. 86, no. 33. Los Angeles. August 17, 1974.
  9. Amram, D. (1999). Vibrations: A Memoir. New York: Routledge. p. 490. ISBN   978-1594515835.
  10. Kusama-Hinte, Jeffery (director) (2009). Soul power (Director's Statement) (PDF) (Motion picture). USA: Mongrel Media.
  11. Roberts, J.S. (1999). The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 211. ISBN   9780195121018.
  12. Benjamin, L. (2020). New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990. New York: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN   9781496831323.
  13. Steward, S. (1999). !Musica!: Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, & More: The Rhythm of Latin America. San Francisco: Diane Pub Co. p. 62. ISBN   1422364666.
  14. Kusama-Hinte, Jeffery (director) (2009). Soul power (Director's Statement) (PDF) (Motion picture). USA: Mongrel Media.