Life In Music Podcast

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.