Orquesta Tabaco Y Ron: the evolution of a salsa band

Latin Beat Magazine, Dec, 2003 by Rudy Mangual

Héctor Manuel Rivera, who started playing the piano during his junior high school days in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, currently leads Orquesta Tabaco y Ron, one of the top Los Angeles salsa bands, featuring the vocal talents of Martín Padilla. The following is ah interview with both of these talented musicians.

Rudy Mangual: Héctor Manuel, where are you originally from? Héctor Manuel Rivera: I was born and raised in the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico.

RM: How did you first discover your love and calling for music?

HMR: Around the age of nine, I started getting interested in music. First, it was the pop sounds of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder that caught my attention, and they were followed by the salsa sounds of Sonora Ponceña with Papo Lucca on the piano.

RM: So the piano attracted you to music?

HMR: Yes, the piano playing of Papo Lucca greatly impressed me and influenced me. There was a piano at home, but it was mainly for decoration, a piece of furniture. Once I discovered salsa music and became mesmerized by the piano talents of Lucca and other greats of the instrument, I claimed the piano as my own and began to learn all I could about it. I would listen to salsa music on radio, and then try to figure out the piano parts of the songs (mainly the montunos) on my own. For my ninth grade school graduation party, the band scheduled to perform was missing their pianist and wouldn't go on. I approached the band and told them that I played a bit and perhaps could help them until their pianist arrived. Desperately, they agreed and 1 played the piano all night. Their pianist never did show up. The next day, the bandleader called me to thank me and ask me to join the band. That band was from the city of Cataño (next to San Juan) and was called "Salsa Jet." I joined them and learned their music book as well as a whole lot about salsa music. I even recorded a single with them.

After that experience, I played with several other groups on and off until finally forming my own band in high school, "Innovación Latina." I was the founder and president of the school's "Combo Club," which provided all the music entertainment for the school's activities and sports events. We played at the basketball games and school dances. After graduation, I kept the band performing throughout the San Juan metropolitan area for several years before finally relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 1980.

RM: Why did you relocate to Los Angeles?

HMR: Originally, it was simply to vacation and visit my uncle Rubén Rodríguez, who was establishing a chain of Mexican food restaurants (The Green Burrito). He asked me to give him a hand during my summer college break. Soon after I arrived in L.A., I attended the "Día de San Juan" celebration at Cabrillo Beach. To my surprise, there was a salsa band performing at the celebration, and immediately I connected with the musicians and within a week, I was already performing with Benny Lugo's Band.

They worked at least four to five nights per week and paid well. For a 20-year-old salsa pianist in Los Angeles it was the perfect gig. I decided to extend my stay in L.A. until the Christmas holidays. Just before the holidays though, bandleader Johnny Martínez offered me the piano chair in his orchestra. This was the hottest band in Southern California, working seven nights a week. Martínez convinced me stay in L.A. as a member of his orchestra, and that relationship lasted nine years. It was another great learning experience as a musician because Martínez has an extensive music book, which requires good reading skills.

RM: When did you form you own band?

HMR: About a year or so altar leaving Johnny Martínez, in 1989. Feeling in need of a change, I went to Miami and worked with Cuban bandleader Jesús "El Niño" Pérez for about eight months. When I returned to L.A., I found myself unemployed for the first time. Martínez was happy with his new pianist and there wasn't much more happening elsewhere in the city. So for practical purposes I formed my own band. With the aid of my sister Maria and her husband Hank Bojorques, as managers/producers, we formed the band "Latin Fusion" in 1991. I am very grateful to both of them, especially to Hank, who believed in my muscle and my dream. Nor only did he help the band financially but he was also the executive producer of our first CD. Latin Fusion toured throughout the West Coast extensively for many years. We also traveled to Puerto Rico, Korea and Costa Rica. By the mid-nineties, it was considered one of the top salsa bands in the West Coast, working regularly throughout Southern California.

RM: How long did Latin Fusion remain together?

HMR: Nine years, until 2000. By this time, Latin Fusion had positioned itself as the houseband of the popular "Mayan" nightclub in downtown L.A. One night, Nissim Baly (President of Latin Music Entertainment and Dímelo Records) approached me to propose a special recording concept. He had been checking out the band tot quite some time and liked its sound, style and energy. His concept was to make a disc of classic salsa tunas with modern arrangements, with salsa dancers in mind, and call it Tabaco y Ron. He wasn't interested in recording Latin Fusion; it was to be a recording under my musical direction for Dímelo Records. So I agreed to do the project and Nissim and I selected a repertoire of ten classic salsa scores. I arranged the tracks according to my musical taste and style, and basically used most of the same musicians from Latin Fusion, starting with the singer Martín Padilla, although Tabaco y Ron was truly a new band or at least a rejuvenated band with a new purpose. After completing the CD, Nissim was so happy with the final product that he suggested, "Why not produce the concept as a band rather than just a recording?" and so we did. From that point on, we became Orquesta Tabaco y Ron.