Monthly Archives: June 2010
Julio César Chávez Jr. Wins Fight Plus a New Fan
Julio César Chávez Jr. won a fourteen-round fight over Irishman John Duddy on Saturday, June 26th by unanimous decision.
The fight took place at the Alamodome and a day prior to the event, Jorge Alejandro called to invite me to come out and take some pictures of him and Patsy Torres during an afternoon sound check. Alejandro was selected to sing the Mexican National Anthem and Patsy was chosen to sing the American Anthem.
However, they would not allow the press to enter until 4:30 p.m. and I missed the sound check. This meant I would now have to go the fight and I had to give the keynote speech to the River City Academy Class of 2010 at 6 p.m. at the far northwest Restoration Center in Leon Valley.
Giving a commencement speech was a new experience, but I got through it okay and after grabbing a quick bite, I made it back to the Alamodome by 9:35 p.m. arriving at the same time as Torres. She went to her seat and I walked around the long corridor of dressing rooms coming to a stop in front of Julio César Junior’s dressing room, where I ran into a police officer I knew. As we engaged in conversation, Julio César Sr. stepped out in a sharp tuxedo wearing a black rosary over it and a red headband that had “”6-26 Chavez Jr. 10” embroidered in white thread.
I had met the most celebrated athlete in México over twenty years ago and he remembered me. He didn’t say much, but before going out into the dome, he took off his headband, gave it to me and said, “put it on and nobody will question you being back here.” Héctor Pavón took a quick picture of us, than he walked off.
This meant I had free reign as an honorary member of Team Chávez Jr. whom all sported the same headband.
The one awkward and embarrassing moment came when Alejandro sang the Mexican Anthem. Thirty seconds into the anthem people were whistling and cheering as the large overhead screens showed Julio César Jr. warming up in his dressing room. After that the monitors flashed his opponent, Irishman John Duddy doing the same thing. All of a sudden the entire audience of thousands started hissing and booing extremely loud. Meanwhile, Alejandro was not aware of the reason. His face turned white and registered sheer panic as he heard all the booing.
“I was devastated,” Alejandro said afterwards. And he did not find out that the people were booing the image of Duddy on the screens, not Alejandro’s singing and I felt super bad for him, but he was alright after several people told him what had accidentally transpired.
I am not into boxing and after he and Torres sang, I was ready to go home, but I saw an empty spot on a ringside bench, I sat down, stayed and enjoyed the fight without snapping one photo. Realizing I had complete excess, I stayed until after the press conference. I was also invited to join the entourage for an early morning at Mi Tierra Restaurant. I decided to call it a night as I walked out as a new Julio César Jr. fan.
I admit I felt silly wearing that headband, but thanks to that token, I was able to take the exclusive photographs you see on this page — all thanks to the six-time world boxing champion and Mexican icon.
Joe Posada Proves Staying Power with Five Tejano Music Awards Nominations
Classy, saxy and innovative are some adjectives that have used to describe Joe Posada, a mainstay in this city’s music scene for 44 years.
This year, the ageless, versatile musician is nominated “Best Entertainer,” “Best Vocalist” and also in the “Best Vocal Duo” category for “Si Cocinas Como Caminas” in duet with Leslie Lugo. That same tune also received a “Song of the Year” nod and “Hermosa Soñadora,” recorded in a rhythmic boss nova groove was nominated the “Crossover Song” category. Both tunes are both off Posada’s “Point of View” compact disc, his latest release.
“By the time I finished elementary school, I was already a member of D.R. and The Interiors, a group of kids from around the San Juan Courts,” Posada said during an interview at his luxurious Westside home bearing the same address where he grew up.
“D” stood for David Casas on bass and “R” was vocalist Robert Gómez. Posada, saxophone; Greg Araiza, guitar; and Raúl “Ito” Reyes, drums; made up the rest of the band.
In 1967, a then 13-year-old Posada recorded his first 45 rpm single, “Por Ultima Vez,” as the sax player of Fito Riojas and The Sensations, which consisted of Daniel “Dumbo” Saldivar, Posada, Joe “Corky” Rodriguez, Cruz “Gole” Velásquez, Raúl Jiménez, Paul “Polito” Riojas, John Gallardo, Fito and Jesse González.
“I didn’t start singing until I joined Rudy Tee and the Reno Bops and Red Gonzales had me doing backup vocals on some songs,” the 56-year-old horn-man said.
A brief stint with Jesse Vallego’s Zapata followed and as Posada said, “When Joe Jama was going to quit, David Marez lobbied for me and took Óscar (Lawson) and Henry (Hernández) to listen to me. The Jesters used three-part harmony and I became one of their three voices in the ‘The Band’ album.”
In 1976, he was voted into the Mike Chávez All-Pro Band by his peers. By 1977, Marez had quit the Jesters to form People and Posada followed. One year stints with George Morín and Momentus plus Al Sturchio before Posada formed El Quinto Sol in June, 1982.
Before the year was over, he had recorded “Orale” and “Fuiste Tú,” his first single as a solo artist for Manny Guerra’s AMS Records; and “25 Corazónes” featuring “A Primer Vista” on the flipside for Bob Grever’s Cara label.
The following year, the singer-songwriter-musician won the Texas Association of Spanish Announcer’s El Zenzotli Award for “Best Tejano Group” and Posada was on his way to becoming a living legend. In 1984, he received his first Tejano Music Awards nomination for “Male Entertainer” and in ’85, his first nomination for “Male Vocalist,” not to mention countless nominations for “Single, Song and Album” plus “Duo” of the year nominations eventually winning “Best Tejano Horn Musician” and “Best Specialty Instrument” for playing the wind tone generator as he began to fuse and unify jazz, soul and polka thus making him stand out among a slew of conventional cookie-cutter groups.
“I now also play the ‘ewi’ (an electronic wind instrument),” the 2005 Tejano Roots Hall of Fame inductee added.
Along the way, Posada started carving a path jazzing up Tejano music with his innovation licks thus becoming a high-demand studio musician on recordings by Lisa Lopez, La Mafia, Mazz, La Fiebre at Eddie Alemán, Manny and Joey López’s Zaz recording studios as he simultaneously continued to churn out one Quinto Sol album after another on Cara, Capitol and EMI Latin; plus a CD with his son, Joe Posada Jr. for Fonovisa in early 1998.
“Right after that I dropped out of the scene because Tejano music was too accordion-spanked and at the time I was not using too much accordion in my music,” Posada said. “And at that time, my career was not going anywhere.”
This is when Posada turned to his first love, jazz; and for seven years he became a fixture in the Alamo City’s jazz circle as he performed and recorded with various jazz artists with a new look since he also shaved off his mustache, cut his hair a little shorter and started wearing a fedora.
“During this period, I also studied music theory, piano and basics at San Antonio College because I got the notion of being a music teacher.”
It was also during this musical seven-year itch that the world discovered Posada’s lyrical phrasing and timing with a song was comparable to Tony Bennett, who Frank Sinatra once described as a singer’s singer. This is especially evident in his “Here’s Looking at You” CD.
Another few hidden talents is that with the exception of his proficiency as a flute player, few people realize that Posada also plays accordion, piano, guitar and bongos. “In fact, I use the guitar and piano to compose many of my songs,” he said.
After EMI Latin, Discos Sony and other national labels abandoned the Tejano music genre, in 2004 and now a grandfather, Posada decided to form his own record company and produce other artists. And he named it Baby Dude Records because when his five grandchildren would come to the home, he would say, “hey, it’s the baby dudes.”
“Then and Now” was the perfect title for the first CD because he re-harmonized ten of his greatest hits and updated them with snazzy new sophisticated arrangements turning them into a multi-genre blend and making them a listener’s delight. Then he added five jazz tunes to educate and give his fans a taste of that genre. Best of all, the album garnered a coveted Grammy Award nomination.
His second album, “Amor y Fuego” received a Latin Grammy Award nomination. Then he produced “Corazon de Oro” for David Marez and that Baby Dude CD also got a Grammy Award nomination. To top it off, his third CD on his own label, “Despacito” earned a Latin Grammy nomination. This is the album which features a genie coming out of a saxophone and that was his daughter Analisa’s idea.
His “Friends and Legends” CD produced another Grammy Award nomination and “Yo Fui El Culpable” in duet with Jay Perez won the pair “Vocal Duo of the Year” at the 2008 TMA.
And the year before, the Taurus won the “Mejor Latin Jazz Album” at Premios a La Música Latina with “Jazzano” in which his flute playing mesmerizes the listener with “The Wright Choice.” That CD includes “Brazilian Moon” and “Up and In,” two more instrumentals that translate to sheer listening pleasure.
In view of the fact that Posada did not venture far after his re-entry into the Tejano market makes the number of Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations quite an achievement.
“A Grammy would be nice, but I’m not disappointed at all,” Posada said. “Happiness is playing a living doing music. That’s the secret of success for me. Before, I was looking for success when it was right here at arm’s length.”
As to why Posada re-entered the Tejano, he said, “One day I turned on the radio and everything seemed so pre-packaged and microwavable. So I said, ‘Somebody has to put their heart and soul into it.’ And what helps me on the sales end are distributors as Chano Elizondo. He’s the mero mero.”
As this writer scanned walls plus shelves and shelves full of certificates, ribbons, medals, trophies and other forms of awards, I realized it would take at least two full pages of this e-online news-server just to list his countless accolades. I had already compiled a comprehensive biography and discography and now I had another twelve pages of notes full of information, including the fact that Posada is also the author of “Sax: Technique of Actual Return” in which he explains cyclic sequence and other music terminologies beyond normal comprehension.
What is important for RiverCityAttractions readers is that each week, they can see the multi-Grammy nominated artist perform each Tuesday at Chacho’s on Callaghan Road, each Thursday at Chacho’s at Perrin Beitel, and at the 517 Lounge in Landry’s each Friday and Saturday. On Mondays and Wednesdays, he fills up the rest of his weekly calendar doing private corporate events at the San Antonio Convention Center.
As to the passing of the torch, Laura Ann Anderson plays guitar, Joe Jr. plays drums for his father, and Analisa plays violin, piano and flute, but is a part of the film industry in Hollywood and New York. None took up the drums, which was the first instrument he initially chose to play.
Furthermore, Laura Ann and Joe Jr. have made Joe and Rosalyn, his wife of 34 years, the grandparents of perhaps five more musicians with Matthew James, Zacchaeus, Christian, Joshua and Mia.
For everything else you want to know about Joe Posada, check out www.joeposada.com, www.myspace.com/joeposada and www.myspace.com/theofficialjoeposadamyspace.
Latin Breed Resurfaces with a New Recording and Lots of Surprises
Are you ready for the re-emergence of the Latin Breed?
It was 1969 when Rudy Guerra quit playing saxophone with Sunny and the Sunliners to form Latin Breed featuring Jimmy Edward on lead vocals. A year later, the band broke up, Guerra went back to the Sunliners, and then once more, he reformed the Breed in 1972.
In 1974, Guerra and Edward were saved and gave their lives to the Lord. However, the band forged ahead under new leadership. Since then, LB has gone through a slew of front men on lead vocals — Edward, Gilbert Alba, Gary Guajardo, Adalberto Gallegos, Rubén Cubillos, Ralph Cortez, did a few gigs with the underground name of Fantasia and played musical chairs with countless musicians, but they kept on ticking. Next came Jay Pérez and when he quit to join David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, he was replaced by Roger Velásquez, who sang lead vocals from late 1989 to 1993.
The bottom line is that they kept on keeping on and in the process became a constant in Tejano music.
Former LB lead singer from 1980-82 and now in charge of marketing and public relations, Cubillos said, “The Latin Breed LIVES because of your (fans) loyal support through these first 40 years. An Army of excellent musicians have shared and graced the unmistakable sound born on the Southside of San Antonio. They all remain part of our roots and standards founded four generations back … Look for us this summer (we are ready to travel to your corner of the world) with ‘The Real Deal Tour’ as we celebrate a true milestone of 40 years on the road.”
Thanks to Cubillos, who says LB is a part of his DNA, a couple of weeks ago this writer had the unique privilege of being invited to witness the recording of the Breed’s newest single release at Blue Cat Studios with Joe Treviño at the helm of the mixing board.
Singer/songwriter/LB owner (since 2005) Gallegos was in great form as he laid down the vocals for “Solamente un Vez” with Charlie “CR” Rodríguez, co-owner and sax player; Lee “Sparky” Thomason, trumpet; Julian Carrillo, keyboards; Steve Velásquez, guitar; Pete Nune Contreras, bass; and Steve Solís, drums.
Alternate, rotating or substitute musicians are Donald Garza and Karlos Elizondo on trumpet; Danny Pérez and Fred Soto on saxophone; Gilbert Garza, trombone; Joe Romano, guitar; plus Stanley Revillas and John López on bass.
LB is coming out of a brief hiatus and this week they return with a vengeance as they launch a new single, a new video on www.youtube.com, The Real Deal Tour and a new web site, www.thelatinbreed.com
“This is a rejuvenation of 40 years of power hits and we’re using today’s technology to turn on all the lights with the flick of one switch,” Cubillos added.
“Our whole thing is to reconnect with our core audience,” the Big Chihuahua continued.
In regard to their next full CD release, Cubillos says the group is shopping for a label and hope it’s out in time to qualify for a Grammy Award.
For more information, call Cubillos at (210) 722-1392.
Raulito Navaira Finds Unexpected Success
Raulito never rode his brother’s coattails, but for years he faithfully stood in the shadow of Emilio and now the tables have reversed.
Today, Raulito is not only standing on his own as a solo artist, but thanks to faith, prayer and perseverance, he is standing out as a singer, songwriter, product spokesperson and soon-to-be television personality.
However, the Mis Visiones recording artist hasn’t been able to do one interview without questions about his brother and the accident. So rather than rehash what has been previously beat to the ground, Raulito shared his views on why it may have actually been a Blessing and a miracle.
“I think it was a wakeup call,” Raulito said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives. “The accident was bad, but a lot of things in our lives were bad. The families weren’t getting along. Things were very hectic. So much was going on and there just had to be a stop to it, but the Lord brought us down on our knees and everyone came together and there were prayer rituals all over the United States, Mexico and the Latin Hemisphere.”
The accident also reunited the families. Then Raulito fondly recalled the teaching of his father, Emilio Jr., and his mother, María De La Luz.
“My dad was a barber. Mom was a housewife and very religious; and our grandmother was a Guadalupana, so the first thing I remember coming out of their mouth was ‘pray and give thanks.’ That’s been our belief since they instilled that in us as kids.
“I’m going back to when there was no cable, no video games and we entertained ourselves with guitars. But you know what? Even in our hey day as Emilio and Grupo Rio, we always prayed because you have to believe there’s a greater thing than just life,” Raulito continued.
“To us, the world did come to an end at the time of the accident, but by the Grace of God, we’re still here. And as for my brother, I know he’s coming back. That’s been our faith. He just sang with Clay Walker and that was a giant step.
“Myself, I feel truly blessed,” Raulito said as his eyes began to swell up with tears. “I just stare at my kids and I give thanks. I’m very lucky and sometimes I feel scared because I have it so good.”
Raulito and his wife Josie, who celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary on March 4, are also bringing up their children – Rodrigo “Rigo,” Destiny and Lauren Paz – in the Word of the Lord. So it is no small surprise that they were all Blessed with musical talent.
Rigo plays bass, has his own rock band, Speed Limit and has already been the subject of a special feature in Conexión. Lauren Paz, who turned eight on May 13, sings and just placed second in her first talent contest. Eighteen-year-old Destiny, not only sings, but is also a composer and wrote “Mi Vida.” The song, which she dedicated to God and is about the need to have God in our lives, is the second cut in Raulito’s compact disc.
Much is known about Emilio, but few people know of Raulito’s accomplishments and achievements. So here is Raulito’s story:
FROM ROADIE TO BACKUP VOCALIST TO SOLO ARTIST TO TV HOST
First of all few people realized that Raulito is the baby in a family of two brothers and one sister – Yvette Marie.
In 1980, Raulito joined the Terrell Wells Middle School Choir, the same choir of which Emilio and Ramiro “Ram” Herrera were members of five years prior. But what really amazed Raulito is, as he tells it, “when I saw and heard los pachucones malias singing the ‘Ave María.’ I mean, these were the baddest, meanest guys in school and here they were as choirboys.
“The way the choir director recruited them is by approaching them individually and asking them, ‘what kind of music do you like? And ‘Do you want to sing it?’ He made it fun to be in choir because we all initially like rock. But through his influence, he slowly moved us into classical. So Emilio, Ram and I did operas. I did the part of a prince in ‘Boris Gudioff’ and I remember how proud and happy my dad felt hanging around, as he said, ‘more refined people’ because this was a far cry from the José Alfredo Jiménez and Pedro Infante songs we were brought up on.”
Raulito was a cute thirteen year old when he soloed on “Special Lady” at a school assembly and had all the school girls screaming for him. “That’s when I got the performing bug,” he added with a laugh.
In 1984, when Emilio replaced Ram as the lead singer for David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Raulito joined the group as a roadie. Two years later, he worked his way up to sound engineer and he started to sing two or three tunes in duet with his brother. That gig ended on December 31, 1988 and two months later, Grupo Rio was born.
This time Raulito came on board as the sound engineer, but four months later, the band sensed something was missing and that was the fact that nobody knew how to sing backup, so Emilio brought his brother up onstage as backup vocalist and Raulito remained alongside Emilio including their one-year tour with Clay Walker in the country-and-western market until the time of the accident.
The first thing Raulito did was to bounce three responsibilities. The first was to honor all of their artistic commitments.
“After the accident, we did the tour as a family with my kids and Emilio’s kid, but promoters didn’t want that because the kids were too young. So with the help of my cousins, jointly known as Massizo, who backed me up and we were able to honor all our previous commitments,” Raulito explained.
The second responsibility was to drive his mother, back and forth to Houston. “I had 32,000 miles on my car when we made our first trip and by the end of a nine-month period, I had logged up to 160,000,” the Alamo Hats spokesperson continued.
His third responsibility was to take care of his wife and children and this is when Little Joe and his son Ivan came to the rescue by booking Raulito in El Paso followed by a couple of venues in Arizona.
“Little Joe, Los Palominos and several other grupos me hecharon la mando and now the phones are ringing more often, thanks to them. I’m so grateful I can’t thank them enough for restarting my career.
The next turning point came last year when Raulito and Orlando Salazar formed Mis Visiones Records. “The label’s name represents the visions I have of my daughter (Destiny) as a new act, my vision to bring la onda back and the youth back to Tejano music.”
The label’s first release was “Simplemente Raulito — Por Mientras.” In it he pays tribute to his brother in the opening song, “Bajo De Tu Sombra,” as he sings that under his brother’s shadow he learned to live and had a very happy life.
“I was always under his shadow although I casted a bigger one than him,” Raulito quipped.
“Emilio IV and I came up with the idea for ‘Tu Amigo.’ He thought of the concept and I wrote it in Spanish,” Raulito said as he started to offer an explanation for the rest of the album.
“I wrote ‘Chiquita’ for my son because I wanted this album to be my kids, but Rodrigo was ready for it so I recorded it myself.
“When Emilio recorded ‘Contenta Mi Alma’ with David Lee Garza, my father said it came out okay, but it would have been better if it had been done slower,” Raulito continued. “I remember those words from my dad and he wrote the son, so I thought I would honor him by recording it his way.”
“Lo Que Hicimos Juntos” is the most catchy and most commercial tune in this album and with the right promotion, could launch Raulito to international fame as a solo artist.
“For ‘Señorita’ I pictured myself in Poteet, Texas at the Kicker Palace and you want to ask a girl if she wants to dance. She tells him she’s too good for him, but nonetheless, she dances with him”
Of “Regresé,” the 42-year-old vocalist said, “This song is about a boy and girl who grew up as playmates and are now adults. In it, he tells her, ‘I always followed in your footsteps, but you never saw me. Now yesterday’s little child is gone. I’m now a man and I’m back to conquer you.’
“And I did ‘Open Up Your Heart’ because all my heroes have done it and because that was one of the songs we would always sing,” Raulito said as he finished describing all the tunes.
“The album has that old Emilio feel to it because with the exception of one song we did with keyboards, the rest of the album is all the accordion and saxophone. So we went back to basics, with is the old style plus the new emphasis that my nephews put into it.”
The result is that Raulito won “Revelación de Año” as a solo artist at this year’s Premios a La Música Latina.
His increasing popularity lead to being approached by Barcel, the company that makes various flavors of Toreadas chips to host an upcoming television show. The new television program, which will feature Intocable, Marc Anthony, Manu Ginobili and other internationally known Latin celebrities, young achievers plus a music act will tape their first show at the Skydome Club (formerly Planet Hollywood) on July 9 with a tentative airdate of July 11.
“This will be like a cross of ‘Jay Leno’ and ‘Don Francisco’ with plenty of audience interaction,” the singer/songwriter revealed.
Today, Raulito averages two gigs per week, but if he is back in San Antonio by 10 a.m. each Sunday, he, his kids and Emilio’s sons can be seen and heard strumming their guitars and singing their praises to our Lord and Savior during the noon Mass at St. Leonard’s Catholic Church.
In closing, Raulito broke as he said, “It’s been kind of hard to perform and I miss him (Emilio). Meanwhile, I just pretend that he’s by my side, smiling. God willing, I know he’ll be back. We’ll be singing the songs we wrote together and we’ll be making people happy.”
For more information, check out www.myspace.com/raulitonavaira.
San Antonio is Going Hollywood
“Lights! Camera! Action!
Those three little words spell money for the Alamo City’s economic and they spell magic for local movie goers who will enjoy seeing their city as the background for two films that will be shot in San Antonio in July.
These two new film productions are “Los Tres Pérez” and “Taking it.”
The first is a remake of “Los Tres García,” a Mexican musical starring Pedro Infante, Jorge Abel Salazar, Víctor Manuel Mendoza and Marga López.
López is the U.S. born blonde cutie that goes to Mexico and because of her beauty is wooed by the three García brothers whose screen grandmother is played by Sara García.
In the remake, the female lead is a brunette and comes to the United States where she is courted by the three handsome singing Pérez brothers.
All the singing parts in this production will be portrayed by Tejano singers. Among the contenders are for the female lead are Leslie Lugo, Lariza, Patsy Torres plus Cristal Martínez and Diana Treviño of Bandidas. However, there will be casting call and vocalists do not have to be recording artists.
Isaac Bazan, Ram Herrera and Javier Galván are the first two Tejano artists that have stepped up to the plate to play the García brothers. René René is a possible contender for the grandfather part and Belle Ortíz might reincarnate Sara García’s role.
The remake of this movie is the brainchild of Jorge Flores, also the executive producer. Roger Danny García, a former radio program director, is the film’s director with Roger Velásquez onboard as assistant producer.
River City Attraction’s readers that can act and sing are encouraged to audition for a part in this movie. To schedule an appointment, e-mail vdiscos@live.com. Insert “Casting Call” on the subject line and make it “Attn: Teresa.”
The casting call begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 23 and it will be held at Body Art Tattoos at 2109 Buffalo Street.
The second film to be filmed here is “Taking Over” and according to screenwriter René Salazar, “is based on personal real life experiences, plus that of his family members, friends and other people in the hood.”
“The basic plot is about an outside gang leader named “Rellick” – that’s killer spelled backward –that tries to take over the city. What he does not realize is that the small barrios, although being rivals, have stronger bonds and they join together to go up against Rellick’s large gang.
Doug Kirkman plays the intruder; and Johnny Pérez and Lyssette Maldonado head the rest of the ensemble. Theirs is a story within a story of love and redemption as they are faced with the choice of which path to follow.
This movie, which also stars noted established actors Pepe Serna and Jesse Borrego, also includes cameos by Little Joe and Rubén Ramos. Other actors in this film which Rubén Resendez co-wrote are Vince Bromo, Manny Santana, Alex Chávez and executive producer/actress Brandy López.
León Rodríguez and Jesús “Chuy” Carrera will be behind the scenes respectively serving as director and set coordinator.
Last year, “From Mexico with Love” was premiered at the Palladium and turned out to be a hit is now available at Wal Mart, Target, Blockbuster and other video outlets. And this week, shooting just wrapped up I Brownsville, Texas for “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” starring Mel Gibson playing a criminal being arrested by Mexican law officials.
Does all this mean Texas will soon be known as Hollytex or San AntoWood?