Life In Music Podcast Episode 17 / Interview with 4to Poder

We caught up with 4to Poder (4th Power), a great rap group from Caracas, Venezuela.

Cotur (César Velásquez), Rojo (Luís Chirinos),Psycho (Carlos Carillo), Apache (Larry Rada) y MkC (Miguel Cerdá) conforman Cuarto Poder. Cinco formas de ver la vida, cinco maneras de pensar, todas sincronizadas en pro de una obra homogénea que refleja a través de flow y letra, experiencias con la que más de uno se sentirá identificado. y en una imagen fresca, espontánea, pero a la vez enmarcada en una estética de comunión del bling bling con la juventud y la calle, con el sentimiento que salió desde los encuentros domingueros en Los Próceres, a finales de los 90´s, para derivar hoy en día en la música que hace este grupo y en la energía que demuestran en tarima. Desde el año 99 el quinteto se ha ido abriendo camino entre la escena del hip hop local, con el esfuerzo que implica incursionar en semejante género musical, o tendencia cultural, por llamarlo de alguna forma, la cual apenas empieza a hacerse campo en este país frente a la evolución que ya ha alcanzado en otros lugares del mundo. Sin embargo, de la mano de Cuarto Poder no sólo se impulsa el hip hop nacional, sino que se genera el full criollo rap. "Se trata de que las raíces criollas siempre están presentes en las letras y música de la banda", explica el Rojo. La creación del full criollo rap tuvo su proceso de evolución. En el 99, la semilla de Cuarto Poder iba de la mano de Lennin (ex integrante de la banda) y Cotur, quienes estudiaban en la Universidad Santa María. Allí dieron con Psycho y Rojo, unidos por la causa de hacer un graffiti para la tienda de Lennin. En esta fortuita reunión para promover uno de los cuatro elementos del hip hop como cultura (graffiti, mc´s, breakdance y dj´s), se hizo un campo ideal para la improvisación musical. Empezaron como cuatro, pero no son Cuarto Poder por eso sino por ser (en mayoria) estudiantes de Comunicación social consideran aquello de que los medios son el cuarto poder . Además el nombre está asociado con una cifra particular "Cuatro son los elementos del hip hop, y también los elementos de la naturaleza: agua, aire, tierra y fuego", explica Mike. El quinto integrante de la banda llegó como bailarín. Apache, junto a otro breakdancer, fue invitado a participar en un show de Cuarto Poder y terminó mostrando sus talentos para el rapeo y la improvisación. Convenció para quedarse. Y ya el último en llegar fue Mike, quien se encarga de los platos, y eventualmente de la guitarra, remplazando a su hermano en la labor de hacer pistas para que los raperos sobrepusieran sus voces. En el año 2003, Cuarto Poder sacó a la luz pública su primera producción discográfica: "La Real Academia del Flor", con la producción de Central de Música Guarisley y el respaldo de Latinworld. Temas como Poder en el Cuarto, Venezuela, Hip Hop Pintón, Matraquero, Lady Latina y Surprise se impusieron en las emisoras radiales y en el gusto de los oyentes. A finales del mismo año, la participación del quinteto en la novela Cosita Rica, como creadores e intérpretes de temas musicales asociados a distintas tramas y personajes, hicieron más fuerte el posicionamiento que la banda ha logrado frente a su público. Hasta ahora Cuarto Poder ha tenido la oportunidad de compartir tarimas con importantes artistas de talla nacional e internacional, entre ellos Gustavo Cerati, Aterciopelados, Orishas, Vico C, Don Omar, Molotov, Servando y Florentino, Oscar De León, Guerrilla Seca, Michael Roses, Tito y Héctor, La Corte, Desorden Público, Calle Ciega, 3 Dueños, The Shrine, Tego Calderón, Papashanty SaundSystem, Desorden Público, La Caution, entre otros. Además de haber recorrido casi todo el país, han tenido la oportunidad de representar a Venezuela en 2 de los festivales más importantes del Hip Hop latinoamericano como son: El festival de Hip Hop al Parque en Bogota Colombia en el año 2005 y el Festival de la Habana en el año 2002 y en el año 2006. Ya para el 2006, se encuentra en las principales discotiendas del país la segunda producción discográfica denominada "Tamos Bien"; cuyo primer sencillo "Fuerza pal Latino", logró mantenerse por largo tiempo en los primeros lugares del record report.. El Tema Arenita Playita fue escogido para ser el tema principal de una telenovela llamada Los declaro marido y mujer transmitida en el canal venezolano RCTV, ademas este tema lleva 42 semnas en el Record Report Nacional figurando entre los 40 primeros puestos. El alcance de la banda ha trascendido más allá de la música, para convertirse también en conductores del programa de radio El MegaFlow - transmitido todos los viernes de 11 a 12 pm por La Mega 107.3 Fm -. A través de estos espacios, Cuarto Poder busca crear una plataforma de reunión para los seguidores del hip hop nacional, y fortalecer este movimiento en pro del impulso de nuevos talentos, y de los que ya han logrado un lugar notable el mercado.
Show Case "Tamos Bien" 2006

Also known as La Mala, La Mala María, or Mala Rodríguez (Mala, Spanish for bad), is a Spanish hip hop singer. She was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, 13

February 1979. She moved to Seville when she was 4 and to Madrid when she was 19.

Her hip-hop songs are greatly influenced by flamenco music. Some of her lyrics talk about the problems of the outcasts of society and women.

She became well known in the Spanish hip-hop scene around 1998/1999 when she collaborated with other Sevilla groups like SFDK. However her style was a lot more rough and hardcore. Later on she crossed-over to the mainstream audience with her solo albums but she left behind most of the edge she had in her beginnings and her sound became more laid-back.

Her music has been featured of the soundtracks of the Spanish films, Lucía y el Sexo (Sex and Lucía), Yo Puta (her songs were used on the movie's television adverts and trailers), the Mexican film, Y tu Mamá También, and the French film, L'Auberge espagnole.

She was also featured on the soundtrack for the EA Sports FIFA 2005 and Scarface: The World is Yours video games.

Most recently, her single "Por la noche" was featured in the 2006 Spanish film, Yo Soy la Juani. She also features on the track "Mala Suerte con el 13" from Puerto Rican rap duo Calle 13.

We had a chance to catch up with her in person at the LAMC music conference in New York City.

While they were promoting their new record "17" in New York City, I had the chance to sit down and interview Warner Latina's Grammy nominated Mexican rock band Motel. They were the most Grammy nominated alternative rock band for the Latin Grammys in 2007.

On this episode we look into the life in music of Grammy nominated pianist Hector Martignon.

HECTOR MARTIGNON has performed, recorded, composed, produced, and arranged music in myriad styles and genres for his own projects and for top musicians around the world. In order to steal a glimpse into the musical universe of this multitalented artist, one needs only to surrender to the music of his two (and the third coming up) solo CDs, "Portrait in White and Black", "Foreign Affair" and "Refugee" They are a metaphor of the diverse musical influences that have shaped his distinctive style as a performer, composer, and arranger, from Baroque polyphony to 21st century avant-garde, Balkan folklore to afro-cuban and -brazilian idioms.
His first professional recording, completed at the age of 18, was of Mikis Theodorakis's epic orchestral work "Canto General". Since then he has appeared on hundreds of Jazz, Latin Jazz, and Pop albums in addition to recording two solo albums, with a highly anticipated third release coming out this fall. His most recent project (as performer, arranger, and producer of her upcoming solo CD) was for Warner Brothers contemporary Jazz artist Gabriela Anders.
Martignon's abilities as a pianist have always been enriched by his interest in varied musical genres. He paid for his studies of classical piano and composition at the prestigious Freiburger Musikhochschule in Germany by performing with the best Afro-Cuban and Brazilian bands of Europe, backing stars like Celia Cruz and Ismael Quintana on their European tours, and recording with Tata Güiness and Arturo Sandoval. At the same time he was attending seminars of contemporary composition with masters like Gyorgi Ligetti, Luigi Nono and Karl Heinz Stockhausen. He also performed classical music in recitals and concerts in Germany, Italy and his native Colombia, specializing in Chopin, Bach and Debussy. Living in Brazil for a one-year love affair with that country and its music, Martignon soon became a requested studio musician and worked for star producer Carlinhos Brown.
Since relocating to New York City, Martignon has been one of the most sought-after pianists on the Latin jazz scene. He's toured North and South America, Europe, and Asia with the bands of Mongo Santamaría, Gato Barbieri, Steve Turre and Don Byron, who had him record in his latest CD. He was featured pianist with the bands of Tito Puente, Mario Bauzá, Chico O'Farrill, Paquito D'Rivera, and Max Roach in his "Project America."
Most notably, Martignon was pianist for the late Ray Barretto's various ensembles. During his eight-year association with Barretto, his contributions as pianist, arranger, and composer were fundamental in shaping the sound of the now famous New World Spirit Sextet. One of his last collaborations with Barretto, "My Summertime," was a favorite nominee for a Grammy award.
Martignon's versatility has also made him extremely active in the film and television industries. Besides playing all piano parts, he arranged and produced many parts of the score for the Oscar-nominated film "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" by Ang Lee and performed the piano and keyboard parts for many movie scores (i.e., "Gloria", "Relativity"). He is composer of the original music of two feature films, one of which, "Septimo Cielo", won international prizes. He also collaborated in the production of many Broadway musicals ("Chronicle of a Death Foretold", Paul Simon's "The Capeman", "Selena Forever") as conductor, arranger, and co-composer.
In the fall of 2003 Hector visited Slovenia and Russia to collaborate with singer-songwriter Vitaly Osmsçko's first symphonic CD . The Russian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded in Moscow the orchestrations written by Hector.
As a composer, producer and arranger of TV and radio music his record is no less impressive. In 2001 he landed two spots for HBO Latino, and one for Coca Cola.

This is the first promo for Life In Music v-blog

Music producers Roman Rojas and Analia Garcia take you through their on personal journey in the business of making music. Interviews with musicians, producers, the movers and shakers of the business of selling music, and much more.

Coming in January 2008, stay tuned!

Credits:

Roman Rojas: camera, editing, music, and sound design.

We are moving to the video format. We'll feature interviews with artists, musicians, the movers and shakers of the music industry, and more. The hosts of the show will be music producers Roman Rojas and Analia Garcia.
We'll keep on doing the audio podcasts for those of you that listen to the podcast on your drive to work, or if you don't have a video player just yet.

If you are in a band, an artist, or a musician and you are interested in collaborating with us please don't hesitate to contact us.

Thanks!

Roman

From left to right: Roman Rojas (producer/artist), Juan Carlos Barguil (CFO Arc Music)

On this episode I went to the offices of Arc Music Group in NYC, there I talked to Arc's CFO Juan Carlos Barguil.

The Arc Music Group administers and represents the Jewel Music Conrad, Sunflower, Regent catalogues worldwide. Some of the greatest classic rock and roll, R & B, gospel, big band, jazz and surf music, including much of the timeless material from the Chess and Vee Jay records labels.
 
Some of the writers represented in these catalogues are Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim and Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, etc.

Please note that this is the spanish version of the interview.

Luisito Quintero was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where he was surrounded by Afro-Venezuelan and Afro-Cuban rhythm and music. His father, a respected percussionist in his native country, tutored and encouraged Luisito on timbales through his adolescent years. Luisito comes from a long line of outstanding musicians which includes his Uncle, Carlos Nene Quintero and cousin Robert Quintero. Luisito studied at the respected Orquesta Simfonica de Venezuela (The Symphonic Orchestra of Venezuela), and his percussion technique soon garnered attention from his colleagues. He joined the popular music ensembles Grupo Guaco and Oscar D'Leon, where he enjoyed widespread worldwide exposure. Besides being known for his skillful timbale work, Luisito also plays congas, bongos, drum set, djembe, dundun and a wide variety of assorted percussion instruments. His technique on all of these instruments is masterful and unparalleled. Luisito has worked with , Jack De Johnette, David Sanborn, George Benson ,Joe Sampler, Bill Cosby, the late Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Richard Bona, Ravi Coltrane, Claudia Acuna, Giovanni Hidalgo, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Willie Colon and countless other high-profile music acts. Quintero is comfortable working in any genre of music from Symphonic to Jazz and from Latin to House. One of his most recent projects finds him as musical director for Louie Vega and the Elements of Life Band as well as extensive work with Jack DeJohnettes Latin Project. He is also co-musical director and percussionist for Kevin Jones and Tenth World. He is one of the most sought after percussionist in the country at this time and will continue to build his legend as time goes on. Luisito is also a skilled clinician who shares his limitless knowledge of music to younger percussionists around the world. Today, he is an established and respected musician, teacher, band director, and master.

www.myspace.com/luisitoquintero

Dan Dzula is a Grammy nominated engineer/composer working at the famed music house Elias Arts in New York City. He was nominated for a Latin Grammy for recording "Morena Mia" (duet with Julieta Venegas) from the Miguel Bose record "Papito". The song was produced by Andres Levin.

Dan is also putting the finishing touches on a children's album called "Jukebox Radio".

I had the pleasure of catching up with my good friend and great musician Dominic Kanza. Here is a part of his bio.

The multi-cultural Kanza has performed with a wide and diverse variety of artists, such as Zairean pop idol Papa Wemba, and Jazz legends Pharaoh Sanders, Michael Brecker and Bill Laswell. He has also worked extensively with singer-songwriter Paul Simon, with whom he has collaborated on events such as President Bill Clinton's inaugural ball and Simon's annual "Back at the ranch" concert series, sharing the stage with performers such as Billy Joel, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jose Feliciano and others.

Dominic Kanza has also recorded with friend/composer Bob Telson (Bagdad Cafe), and has worked with him on numerous projects, including the Broadway musical "Chronicle of a Death Foretold".

As a composer, Dominic has been active in television, writing the score for a National Geographic TV documentary film, "Zaire River". He has recorded numerous jingles and also wrote one of the theme songs for the "Oprah Winfrey Show".

Dominic toured and performed with the singer Harry Belafonte, appearing in a PBS television concert entitled "An evening with Harry Belafonte and friends", which was released on video and CD.

In 1993, Dominic received the Award of Excellence from the United Nations Writers Association. He was one of only 25 recipients worldwide, a group which included Mikhail Gorbachev and Vanessa Redgrave.

Most recently he performed at the "Blues" concert at Radio City Music Hall with artists as diverse as BBKing , Buddy Guy, Aerosmith and The Neville Brothers. He is pictured at the event in the August issue of "Vanity Fair" in the "Room Full Of Blues" section.

Dominic's debut album "All these years" reflects his multi-cultural experience. Into a stew of Soukous, he throws in spices of his international experience to produce a rich and exciting musical hybrid. A Southhampton critic writing an exuberant review concluded: "The only people with regrets Sunday morning about Saturday night's concert were the people who heard about the show and had to kick themselves for missing it ".

http://www.dominickanza.net/

Robert G. Rose is the CEO of AIM Tell-A-Vision Group, a division of Artist and Idea Management, Ltd. and Executive Producer of all AIM TV programming. A media veteran, Rose’s career in the industry spans over 15 years and includes a combination of success in general market and Latino-targeted television.

In 1996, after a successful career in English-language television, Rose moved to New York from his native Tennessee and joined Univision Television Group, the nation’s premiere Spanish-language network. While at Univision, Rose played a vital role in convincing many Fortune 500 and “general market" advertisers to effectively reach out to the growing and untapped U.S. Latino market. Also while at Univision, Rose recognized the opportunity for advertisers to reach the “larger half” of the Latino market, U.S.-born Latinos, via English-language television. Rose officially began Artist and Idea Management, Ltd. in February 2000.

“Simply put, reaching young U.S.-born Latinos is not a language issue but a cultural relevance issue. What’s relevant programming to Latinos who are born elsewhere and migrate here is just not relevant to their sons and daughters, who were born in the U.S. and now make up the majority of the U.S. Hispanic market. These are two distinct markets and should be treated as such,” says Rose.

In 2001, Rose and company brought to life and independently produced the first successful English-language, weekly syndicated television program targeted to Latinos, Urban Latino TV (ULTV). The historic program began as a local cable show in New York then went on to air nationally for two successful seasons. The show won critical acclaim and won back to back Imagen Awards in 2003 and 2004 for “Best National Informational Program,” beating out programming from networks, such as Univision, HBO, Telemundo, Fox Sports and more.

In 2003, Rose formed television production banner, Maximas Productions with Renzo Devia, the Senior Producer of Urban Latino TV. In addition to having produced ULTV, the award-winning production team of Rose and Devia currently produce American Latino TV (2005 Imagen Award Winner), a culture and lifestyle program celebrating Latin culture in America; LatiNation (2004 Telly Award Winner), the first English-language program to target young Latin males; Sonidos, a quarterly series of music specials, The American Latino Presents specials and Play More TV (Fall 2006).

Rose’s executive produced programs can be viewed weekly on English- language broadcast stations in over 100 markets across the U.S., on targeted cable networks and via DVDs available at major retailers. His programming set the standard for culturally relevant television and pioneered the model of English- language programming for U.S. Latinos by attracting major media outlets and an impressive list of Fortune 500 Advertisers.

As CEO, Rose oversees The AIM Tell-A-Vision Group, which is a vertically integrated company responsible for developing, financing and managing all aspects (distribution, production, marketing and advertising sales) of AIM TV programming. Rose serves as an industry spokesperson in presenting a more accurate portrayal on how Latinos are depicted on U.S. television and how marketers and media should better target the underserved American Latino audience.

Rose, Devia and their team at AIM Tell-A-Vision and Maximas Productions are continuously developing a slate of new projects geared towards breaking barriers and stereotypes by presenting positive and entertaining images of the melting pot that is modern-day America.

Rose has been featured presenter, panelist, and keynote speaker at many industry conferences and has been extensively quoted in the trade & consumer press for his pioneering role in reaching young U.S. Latinos.

Rose is an active member of NATPE (National Association of Television Programming Executives), NATAS (National Academy of Television Arts and Science) and IRTS (International Radio and Television Society).

On this episode I talked to my friend John Benitez about his life in music. John has played with musicians such as: Chick Korea, Willie Colon, Winston Marsalis, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ray Barreto, Eddie Palmieri, Mos Def, Tego Calderon, to name a few. Check out this podcast to get to know a little better one of the most incredible musicians in the world today.

I sat down and received an incredible music sermon from music veteran Ann Ruckert. She shared with me what it means to be a musician, and how we are able to change people’s lives and our own through music.
Ann Ruckert has produced, played and / or sung on over 3,000 commercially released recordings. Ann has worked with Michel LeGrand, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Merry Clayton, Sarah Dash, Quincy Jones. T Rex, and Strawbs. Musical coordinator / contractor for major motion pictures and TV soundtracks including Housesitter with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn; Boys on the Side with Whoopie Goldberg; and Lovesickwith Dudley Moore.
Internationally known as a musician’s musician, Ann studied orchestration and composition at Juilliard and London’s Royal Academy of Music, as well as privately with Parisian teacher Nadia Boulanger, Helen Jordan and David Sorin Collyer. She continued her studies in ethnomusicology at New York University graduate school.
She is continuing her work as an award winning studio musician, projects coordinator, and freelance A&R person.
She is also the Co-founder of theJazz Foundation of America, with pianists Dr. Billy Taylor and Herb Storfer, and Board of Directors.
Ann was also a Governor, Trustee, Vice President of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the New York chapter; Chair of Education Committee; 4-year member of TV committee for the Grammy Awards Show, from 1982-200

had a chance to talk to the CEO of As Is Entertainment Jamie Propp. Jamie produced SUBPLAY, the very first record of New York City subway musicians. He was also responsible for starting the internet department at Jive records in NYC, there he worked with acts such as Britney Spears, Brackstreet Boys, and N’Sync. Jamie’s latest project is Hatian singer Manze Dayila

Danilo Alvarez is a veteran of the advertising industry. As a creative director he has worked for Agencies such as: Accent Marketing in Miami, Bates World Wide in Miami, Disney, The Bravo Group in NYC among others. Danilo is usually the person in charge of choosing the music that’s going to be used on a TV Commercial, and throughout his career he has worked with some of the top music houses and composers of the commercial music world. On this episode he shares with us some of his experiences producing commercials and the importance of music in the advertising industry.

On this episode I talk with Cuban guitarrist Richard Padron. Richard is one of the young up and coming guitar players in the New York City scene. He is currently playing with Brazilian legend Ze Luis among other great musicians.

On this episode I had a chance to sit down and talk to pianist Jose Gallegos.  Jose is one of the most influential musicians of the New York City scene.  In the late 70’s he was part of the Tito Puente Quintet and in the 80’s owned Variety, the top Latin recording studio in New York City.  At Variety studios Jose worked with artists such as: Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Oscar D’ Leon, Mecano, Ruben Blades, to name a few.  Jose also has been producing music for advertising for many years.