Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents two Latin music greats, produced by Lehman Center in collaboration with Los Canarios and West Side Beat Productions -- JOSÉ ALBERTO “El Canario,” one of the most successful and respected artists on the salsa music scene, celebrating his 35th Anniversary. The concert will feature ANDY MONTAÑÉZ, “El Godfather de la Salsa,” former lead singer of the legendary El Gran Combo. Also performing will be Master Isidro Infante, Alfredo De La Fé, Luisito Quintero, and Dance-On-2 Dance Company for one exciting evening of music on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 8pm....
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Lehman Center for the Performing Arts presents two Latin music greats, produced by Lehman Center in collaboration with Los Canarios and West Side Beat Productions -- JOSÉ ALBERTO “El Canario,” one of the most successful and respected artists on the salsa music scene, celebrating his 35th Anniversary. The concert will feature ANDY MONTAÑÉZ, “El Godfather de la Salsa,” former lead singer of the legendary El Gran Combo. Also performing will be Master Isidro Infante, Alfredo De La Fé, Luisito Quintero, and Dance-On-2 Dance Company for one exciting evening of music on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 8pm.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL CANARIO” 35th ANNIVERSARY Featuring Special Guest ANDY MONTAÑÉZ on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 8pm, are: $55, $50, $45 and $40 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718.960.8833 (Monday and Wednesday through Friday, 10am–5pm, closed on Tuesdays, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway.
José Alberto is nicknamed El Canario (The Canary) because of his exquisite voice and amazing ability to use his highly melodious whistling skills as a soloing instrument. He is one of the most successful and respected artists on the salsa music scene with a recording history spanning 35 years and 19 solo albums. José Alberto formed his own group in 1983 and recorded three albums on the Sono Max label titled Típicamente (1984); Canta Canario (1985); and Latino Style (1986). Many of the tracks from these albums were among the favorite singles of the time, including “Desesperado,” “La cinta verde” and the international hit “Rio Manzanare.” In 1987 José Alberto became the first artist to record for the newly formed RMM label and had an international smash-hit in 1988 with Sueño contigo. His glittering follow-up Mis amores (1989) was also a chart topper. El Canario didn’t slow down in the 1990s, recording and co-producing several hit albums including Dance with Me (1991) produced by grammy winner Sergio George, followed by Llegó la hora (1992) with tracks “Nada se compara contigo” and “Discúlpeme señora” also international hits. In 1994 he recorded De pueblo y con clase and, On Time (1995) features a duet with the undisputed Queen of Salsa, the immortal Celia Cruz, with whom he frequently toured. Alberto's 1997’s Tributo a Machito features guest grammy winners Tito Puente and Dave Valentín. José Alberto is currently celebrating his 35th Anniversary.
Andy Montañéz was the first-born of 17 children in the Tras Talleres area of Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He gained international popularity during his 15-year tenure as lead vocalist of the legendary salsa group El Gran Combo, producing 37 albums that included such hit songs as “Hojas blancas” (White Leaves), “Un verano en NY” (Summer in NY), “El barbero loco” (The Crazy Barber), “Julia” and “Vagabundo”. Montañéz is one of the pioneers of the genre called Salsatón, a blend of Salsa and Reggaetón, and collaborated with such rappers as Daddy Yankee and Julio Voltio. He teamed up with Salsa singer Ismael Miranda to produce a recording of boleros and Bohemian music. Montañéz, along with Pablo Milanes, won a Latin GRAMMY Award in 2006 for Best Traditional Tropical Album forAM/PM Líneas paralelas. He was part of the benefit concert “Somos Haití” to raise funds for Haiti after the 2008 Hurricane.
Isidro Infante, born in Puerto Rico, is a world-renowned pianist, composer, and arranger. After taking private piano classes, Isidro Infante studied at the local Conservatory of Music, getting a master's degree in composition and arranging at Philadelphia's Temple University in the late '70s. After signing with RMM records in 1994, Isidro Infante had the opportunity to work alongside prominent members of the Latin scene, such as Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Johnny Pacheco.
Alfredo 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 in 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", and Santana. His second solo album, Alfredo, released in 1979, received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Album.
Luisito Quintero was born in Caracas, Venezuela where his musical influences began. Cultural vibes of Afro-Venezuelan rhythm surrounded him at home where his father was a respected percussionist in his native country that tutored and encouraged Luisito on timbales through his adolescent years. Luisito continued on his musical journey, enhancing his studies at Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela (The Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela) where his timbale technique soon gained attention from his respected colleagues. Luisito soon after joined the popular music ensembles Grupo Guaco and El Trabuco Venezolano, and traveled extensively with Oscar D’León. Luisito’s live playing credits, projects and recordings are endless. His percussion style has been embraced by many world renowned artists including Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Willie Colon, and Herbie Hancock.
Lehman Center receives support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and through corporations, foundations and private donations.
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