Irakere › Similar Artists

NG La Banda - 81% match to Irakere

Their name standing for ‘new generation - the band’, this Cuban group, who have helped move the island’s music away from its traditional grounding in salsa, were founded by musical director José Luis ‘Chico’ Cortés in 1988. A composer, singer and flautist, in the 70s he was previously a member of premier Cuban dance band Los Van Van, subse Read more

Cachao - 71% match to Irakere

Los Van Van - 63% match to Irakere

Songwriter/bass player Juan Formell (Havana, Cuba) formed Cuba’s enigmatic Los Van Van in 1969 after a year of tutelage under renowned band leader Elio Revé in Orquesta Revé. Often credited with the invention of ‘songo’, a new Cuban sound influenced by rock, jazz and Brazilian music, Los Van Van became one of the Cuba’s most influential and Read more

Sierra Maestra - 61% match to Irakere

Contemporary Cuban son and salsa band Sierra Maestra take their name from the mountain range to the east of the island. They formed in 1976 to play traditional son music, using the historic instrumental line-up of tres, trumpet, bongo and claves which had been all but forsaken by new generations. Playing acoustically, they depend on potent harmonies and punchy rhythms to win ov Read more

Hilton Ruiz - 57% match to Irakere

29 May 1952, New York City, New York, USA, d. 6 June 2006, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Ruiz studied piano from an early age, performing public recitals as a small child. In the mid- to late 60s he worked as a professional musician in bands playing Latin American music. In the early 70s he turned to jazz, studying with Mary Lou Williams. Later in the decade he played on nume Read more

Eddie Palmieri - 53% match to Irakere

Eduardo Palmieri, 15 December 1936, South Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, of Puerto Rican parentage. The self-avowed pioneering ‘oxygen cocktail’ of contemporary salsa, pianist, band leader, composer, arranger, producer Palmieri began playing the piano at the age of eight. He also played timbales, and wanted to specialize in the instrument, but changed his min Read more

Mongo Santamaria - 48% match to Irakere

Ramón Santamaría, 7 April 1922, Jesús María district, Havana, Cuba, d. 1 February 2003, Miami, Florida, USA. Percussionist and band leader Santamaría (nicknamed Mongo by his father) arrived in New York at the end of the 40s. There he performed with the first charanga (flute, violins, rhythm section and voices band) to be organized in the ci Read more

Poncho Sanchez - 46% match to Irakere

30 October 1951, Laredo, Texas, USA. The youngest of 11 children, Sanchez taught himself to play guitar, flute, drums and timbales before choosing the conga. He was raised in Norwalk, California, where he played with local bands although his first engagement was as a singer with an R&B band. Among the artists he listened to in these formative years were Machito, Tito Pue Read more

Charlie Palmieri - 38% match to Irakere

Carlos Manuel Palmieri Jnr., 21 November 1927, Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, d. 12 September 1988, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. Known in salsa as ‘El Gigante de Las Blancas y Las Negras’ (The Giant of the Keyboard), Palmieri’s parents, Carlos Palmieri Manuel Villaneuva and Isabel Maldonado-Palmieri, migrated from Ponce Read more

Eliades Ochoa - 38% match to Irakere

22 June 1946, Loma de La Avispa, Songo La Maya, Cuba. As a child Ochoa learned to play guitar and tres (an adapted guitar), and also began singing. In 1958 he moved to the city of Santiago and during the following decade developed a career as a professional musician. Among groups with which he played were the Oriental Quintet and the Típico Septet. For many years Ocho Read more

Maraca - 37% match to Irakere

Orlando Valle, September 1966, Havana, Cuba. Coming from a family of musicians, Valle studied the flute at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory from the age of 10. He began touring with the Bobby Carcasses Orchestra in 1987, and also became a member of Emiliano Salvador’s Nueva Vision. The following year Valle joined the legendary Cuban group Irakere, as flautist, pianist, c Read more

Arturo Sandoval - 32% match to Irakere

6 November 1949, Artemisa, Havana, Cuba. Starting out as a student of classical trumpet, Sandoval quickly turned to jazz and during the 70s attracted worldwide attention not only for the technical brilliance of his playing but also through the exhilarating Latin influence of his work. He was a founding member of the Orquestra De Música Moderna, which evolved into Irak Read more

Ray Barretto - 32% match to Irakere

29 April 1929, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, d. 17 February 2006, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA. Born to Puerto Rican parents, Barretto was raised in East Harlem and the Bronx and was a prominent Latin band leader for many decades. However, he started his professional career as a jazz recording session conga player. To escape the ghetto he joined the army at 17. Infl Read more

Bamboleo - 29% match to Irakere

Gonzalo Rubalcaba - 27% match to Irakere

27 May 1963, Havana, Cuba. Rubalcaba’s grandfather, Jacobo, was a danzon composer, and his father, Guillermo, a pianist. Playing piano from a very early age, Gonzalo took lessons from the age of eight and then studied classical music at Havana Institute of Fine Arts, where he earned a degree in music composition. He became a professional musician, forming Grupo Proyecto Read more