Salsa music

‘Salsa’ is a modern music style that uses diverse sounds and rhythms. Its very essence was born out of the mixture of those sounds, hence the name, which in English means sauce. The term came out in the 1960’s and it has its roots in the Cuban son and other related genres like the mambo, guaracha and chá-chá-chá. The heavy use of percussion instruments mixed with other elements, are what give salsa its distinctive and recognizable sound. The characteristic clave rhythm used in songs is eight beats long.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, salsa shaped the Latin music culture in New York City, where many artists recorded the songs that gave international fame to the genre. Celia Cruz and Tito Puente are two poignant and easy recognizable artists that people relate exclusively to salsa. Willie Colón, Hector Lavoe, Rubén Blades and many others became famous with their original songs and the stories told behind them. At that time, Fania became the leader record label associated with the genre. Other acts associated with the shaping of salsa are El Gran Combo and La Sonora Ponceña. The 1980’s saw the rise of Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodríguez and Gilberto Santa Rosa. In the 1990’s, Victor Manuele and Marc Anthony were two of the artists that defined this music style through out the decade. Salsa has evolved to maintain its popularity with music fans and it’s not rare to hear fusions with other current styles.

The Gentleman of Salsa

Gilberto Santa Rosa, also known as "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa).  He was born in August 21, 1962, on Carolina, Puerto Rico.  Here he received his primary and secondary education and became interested in music.

During the 1980’s, he recorded "Homenaje a Eddie Palmieri"  (Tribute to Eddie Palmieri) with the Puerto Rican All Stars.  He also recorded with various orchestras, amongst them the Tommy Olivencia Orchestra, the Willie Rosario orchestra and El Gran Combo.  Santa Rosa developed a unique style of "soneo" (improvisation) in salsa that permitted him to be successful in both the "tropical" and "romantic" styles of the music.

Santa Rosa was also the first singer of tropical salsa to carry out a concert at the Carnegie Hall Theater, in New York, where he performed as the opening number, his unique version of the salsa tune, "Represento" (I Represent), composed by Lou Briel.  This event was recorded live at the hall, and later released as an album.

In 1990, Santa Rosa joined the all star "La Puertorriqueña" project which included Andy Montañez; in the same year he was awarded the Billboard Lo Nuestro Award for Best Male Singer. In 1997, he sang with Andy Montañez in New Yorks Lincoln Center and later that year, with Olga Tañon at the Universal Studios Amphitheater in Hollywood, California. 

Santa Rosa's hits continued with the album "Expresion" which included the single "Fulana" (What's her name) and in 2001 with the album "Romántico".  He released "Viceversa" in 2002 which became a "hit" in the Latin community in the United States and in all of Latin-America.

Santa Rosa has taken on himself the task of keeping Tito Rodríguez's musical legacy alive and has acquired much of Tito's memorabilia, including articles of clothing, music and furniture from his home in Puerto Rico.  During the week of February 24, 2003 Santa Rosa organized a two-night concert at the Center of the Performing Arts in Caguas, Puerto Rico.  As an introduction to the event, he arranged for his private collection of Tito Rodríguez memorabilia to be exhibited in the lobby of the center. In 2004, he released "Auténtico".

In addition, he has long played an important role in the career of his friend and protege, Víctor Manuelle, who Santa Rosa discovered.  The two released a joint live album late in 2005, "Dos Soneros, Una Historia." In 2006, he released, "Directo Al Corazon", and in 2007 he carried out a concert acknowledged by the critics, in Plaza Colón at Santo Domingo and released “Contraste” with “Conteo Regresivo” being a major album hit.

On February 9, 2008 Santa Rosa participated in an event named "Concierto del amor" which was organized in the Madison Square Garden.  In June 2008, "Contraste" received Gold and Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.  According to the organization, the production has sold over 1,500,000 copies.  At the moment of certification, the album's first single "Conteo regresive" had been sixteen weeks in the first place among Billboard's tropical list.

On September 28, Gilberto Santa Rosa was honored by Union City, New Jersey with the key to the city and a star on the Walk of Fame at Union City's Celia Cruz Park.