Deborah Resto: her voice, her music

Latin Beat Magazine, Dec, 2003 by Louis Laffitte

Elegante y romántica ... is what I remember about her, back in 1997. She was a singer in Charanga Pasión, a group appearing at Bayamos in Greenwich Village. Today, Deborah Resto delivers beautiful vocals on her debut CD, Let Him Hear My Heart (Latin Cool Records, 2003). I formally met the sultry songstress at a recording session in which she sang lead on six out of nine compositions. Unfortunately, it's still "in the can."

She has also performed and recorded with a multitude of artists, such as Mare Anthony, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Paul Simon, Peter Cetera, Bobby Capó, Willie Colón, Boy George, Louie Ramírez, Chico O'Farrill, and more recently with the late queen of salsa, Celia Cruz. Resto was a founding member in 1996 of the all-female (except for the timbalero) Charanga Pasión.

As a proud New York-born Puerto Rican, throughout her career, Deborah Resto has immersed herself in Latin music and has assimilated the legacy of other female vocalists, such as Graciela (the "diva of Afro-Cuban Song") and Celia Cruz ("La Guarachera del Mundo"). Her admiration for jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson is evident in her music. In addition to her vocal Accomplishments, Resto has also shown her abilities in the fields of composing, arranging, and producing. Not to mention that she plays piano and currently teaches in the New York area.

Born on 112th Street in New York City's El Barrio, Deborah was raised primarily in the Bronx. She auditioned and was accepted into Music and Art High School. Her parents, Gloria and Victor Resto, were from Aibonito and Santurce, Puerto Rico, respectively.

"My father was a merchant marine; my mother worked in a factory, then studied and became a nurse. As little girl, I lived with my grandmother, who was blind, a the radio was on 24/7. Back then, it was WADO. They played the music of South America, Mexico and New York, so I was exposed to a variety of sounds as a youngster, including what my uncles were listening to: lots of jazz and salsa. In my house, we heard Nancy Wilson, Errol Garner, Tito Rodríguez and Vicentico Valdés. I Would play tunes my mother taught me from the forties. I Consider myself típica, I like trio music."

When I asked her how she actually got involved with music, she remembered a piano in the living room. Her grandmother encouraged her and she started playing piano in kindergarten. She took lessons throughout the elementary school years and eventually studied with Eduvijes Spino (one of the Palmieri's teachers), who was one of the few piano instructors that taught danzas. By the age of 15, she knew she was going to be a musician. Then I asked how she became involved with singing.

"When I was with the group 'Somos' I was their pianist. The band was led by Angel Nater (trumpeter), Pete's brother. Once in a while I would get up to sing; I had a nice voice, people liked it. What I related to the most with singing was the interaction between the performer and the audience, I just tell in love with that. I studied opera when I went to Music and Art. I had to sing in Italian, French, German and Spanish because you had to be well versed to be a vocalist in this school. I learned that the voice could expand, like vocal gymnastics; technique is so important. I did it al] up through college, where I received my masters degree at Lehman College."

Afterwards, Resto began to explore everything from jazz to gospel, and subsequently salsa, continuing to grow and challenge herself. When asked about her cousin (pianist/arranger Luis Cruz, now residing in Florida), she recalled: "In my teens he lived across the street and his father, my uncle (of Alfarona X fame) would come over for family get-togethers. There was no such thing as going to the mall or to the movies; all social activities occurred at home. People visited; you grabbed an instrument and played. Luis was playing with Ray Barretto at the time, so I was allowed to accompany him and his wife to the dances of the "Elite Hispanic Society." To see him play Cocinando with the wah-wah pedal was great. "

Around the early '70s, after performing in different bands, Deborah Resto went to Queens College, where she studied classical, jazz and even a little bit of Latin jazz. She was chosen to be on "Star Search" with Ed McMahon, where she met Michael J. Fox, Sinbad and Rosie O'Donnell. "It was an up and it was a down because from what I could see, I was the only Puerto Rican there, although it was quite an experience because forty thousand people auditioned that year and one hundred were picked. It was an honor."

During 1977, a young man whom Deborah was dating suggested that she play with Machito. "Where I was living at the time we had an outdoor amphitheater and Machito carne to play for us. It was awesome to have Machito play live in the neighborhood. Then I found out that he lived nearby and was introduced to him. He had me take the books home, so 1 could study and rehearse with them. I studied the book. It was hard (laughing), I'm not gonna lie, the stuff was pretty classic, you had to really know your technique, and practice. It was ah honor, even if it was just a little while. 1 look forward to bringing that level of playing back. Those artists really paved the way: Machito and Puente."