The Soul of Latinos Through

Their Music

Hispanic Heritage Month2012

Culturally Icon songs

Conga – Cuban (Gloria Estefan)

Viejo San Juan – Puerto Rican

La Mananitas – Mexican (Mariachi Vargas)

Cubano Sound

Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa performer. One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" as well as "La Guarachera de Cuba.“

Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente, was a Latin jazz and salsa musician and composer. The son of native Puerto Ricans, born and lived in New York City's Spanish Harlem community, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Calle 54. He guest starred on several television shows including The Cosby Show and The Simpsons. During the 1950s, Puente was at the height of his popularity, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences

Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those in the United States alone. She has won three Grammy Awards, and 4 Latin Grammys, and is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date.

“La Vida es Un Carnaval”

Puerto Rico Sound

Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally by his stage name Marc Anthony, is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy–winner has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads. Anthony has won numerous awards and his achievements have been honored through various recognitions. He was the recipient of the 2009 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Chair's Award. He also received the "2009 CHCI Chair's Lifetime Achievement Award" on September 16, 2009. Anthony, is a minority owner/limited partner of the Miami Dolphins NFL team.

Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist in1991. Throughout his career, he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit charity organization aimed at eliminating human trafficking.In 1996 he released his Spanish-language solo album, Ricky Martin. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), which included "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 22 million copies and brought Martin international fame.On the edge of the new millennium, Martin—almost by himself—gave Latino music an international face. An acclaimed performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards launched Martin into worldwide super-stardom. Martin also co-owns a Miami restaurant, Casa Salsa, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

“Livin’ la Vida Loca”

Si Te Vas

Estilo Mexico

Jenni Rivera (born July 2, 1969) is a Mexican-American singer, better known for her work within the banda and norteña, and Mariachi (Corridos) music. She's active in the music scene since 1992, her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues, infidelity, and relationships. Her tenth studio album, Jenni in 2008, became her first number-one album in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States..

“Porque No Lo Calas”

“Somos Mas Americanos”

Los Tigres del Norte (English: The Tigers of the North) is a norteño-band of San Jose, California, and hailing from Sinaloa, Mexico. In Norteño/conjunto form (a style featuring accordion that originated along the Texas border region), Los Tigres del Norte have been able to portray "real life" in a manner that strikes a chord with people across the Americas. Many of their most popular songs consist of tales or corridos about life, love, and the struggle to survive in an imperfect world. The band has won five Latin Grammy Awards and sold 32 million records.

On January 9, 2007, Los Tigres del Norte were honored as a BMI Icon at the 14th annual BMI Latin Awards. Los Tigres, who were saluted that evening with an all-star musical tribute, were being honored as BMI Icons for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” They joined an elite list that includes such Latin music giants as Juan Luis Guerra and Carlos Santana.

They have performed before the United States Armed Forces in Japan and South Korea. In 2010, the band made headlines by joining in a massive international boycott of the US State of Arizona, in response to the state's Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.

Tex MexLittle Joe & La Familia has been one of the most popular Tex-Mex bands in the music industry.   Little Joe has been entertaining more than 40 years and has been described as the "KING OF THE BROWN SOUND".  He has also helped pioneer "Tejano" music, a mix of traditional "norteno" music and country, blues and rock styles

Freddy Fender (June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006), born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He is best known for his 1975 hits "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and the subsequent remake of his own "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights".

“Wasted Days & Wasted Nights”

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995, was an American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her 14 top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including 7 number-one hits including "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más".She was called "The Queen of Tejano music"and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna. Selena released her first album, Selena y Los Dinos, at the age of twelve. She won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards.

On April 12, 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Bros. produced Selena, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena, in 1997. In June 2006 Selena was commemorated with a life-sized bronze statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas) and a Selena museum opened there. She has sold over 60 million albums worldwide. Dreaming of You

Wooly Bully

20th CenturySam the Sham is the stage name of the American rock and roll singer Domingo “Sam” Zamudio (born 6 March 1937, Dallas, Texas). Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse with maroon velvet curtains. As the front man for The Pharaohs, he sang on several Top 40 hits in the mid-1960s, notably "Wooly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood". Zamudio, who is of Mexican American descent, made his singing debut in second grade, representing his school in a radio broadcast. Later, he took up guitar and formed a group with friends, one of whom was Trini Lopez. After graduating from high school, Zamudio joined the Navy, where he was known as "Big Sam." He lived in Panama for six years, until his discharge.

Ritchie Valens (born Richard Steven Valenzuela; May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist.

A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens' recording career lasted only eight months. During this time, however, he scored several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which was originally a Mexican folk song, transformed by Valens with a rock rhythm and beat, that became a hit in 1958, making Valens a pioneer of the Spanish-speaking rock and roll movement.

On February 3, 1959, on what has become known as "The Day the Music Died", Valens was killed in a small-plane crash in Iowa, a tragedy that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. Valens was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

La Bamba

The Chicano Movement

“Hay Unos Ojos” from the album “Canciones de mi Padres”

Linda Marie Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden Globe nominations. A singer, songwriter, and record producer, she is recognized as a definitive interpreter of songs. Being one of music's most versatile and commercially successful female singers in U.S. history, she is recognized for her many public stages of self-reinvention and incarnations.With a one-time standing as the Queen of Rock, where she was bestowed the title of "highest paid woman in rock“, and known as the First Lady of Rock, she has more recently emerged as music matriarch, international arts advocate and human rights advocate. In total, she has released over 30 solo albums and 15 greatest hits albums. Ronstadt charted 38 Billboard Hot 100 singles with 21 reaching the top 40, ten to the top 10, three to No. 2, and "You're No Good" to No. 1. In the UK, her single "Blue Bayou" reached the UK Top 40 and the duet with Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much", peaked at No. 2 in December 1989. In addition, she has charted 36albums, 10 Top 10 albums, and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard Pop Album Charts. At the end of 1987,

Ronstadt released an album of traditional Mexican folk songs, or what she describes as "world class songs", titled Canciones de Mi Padre. Keeping with the Ronstadt history theme, her cover art was dramatic, bold, and colorful. For Canciones De Mi Padre, Ronstadt was in full Mexican regalia, and her musical arranger was famed Mariachi musician Rubén Fuentes. Ronstadt has credited Mexican singer Lola Beltrán as an influence in her own singing style, and she recalls how a frequent guest to the Ronstadt home, Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero, father of Chicano music, would often serenade her as a child.

This album won Ronstadt a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. The real achievement, however, is the disc's Recording Industry Association of America double-platinum(over 2 million U.S. copies sold) certification—making it the biggest-selling non-English language album in U.S. music history.

The Chicano MovementChicano Rock 1976 El Chicano is an American Chicano rock and brown-eyed soul group from Los

Angeles, California, whose style incorporates various modern music genres including rock, funk, soul, blues, jazz, and salsa. The group's name is from the word Chicano, a term for United States citizens of typically Mexican American descent El Chicano, originally formed under the name VIP, arose during a period of increasing Chicano consciousness in America. Their initial hit, Viva Tirado, was a jazzy soul rock rendition of Gerald Wilson's original song about a bullfighter. The song did very well on Los Angeles radio and remained #1 for thirteen straight weeks. Other notable tracks recorded by El Chicano are the Tell Her She's Lovely as well as a cover of Van Morrison's 1967 hit, Brown Eyed Girl.

Carlos Augusto Alves Santana was born, on July 20 1947 in Autlan de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico.   Carlos Santana first became famous in the 1960′s and 70′s with his band “Santana”.  Santana pioneered a combination of Salsa, Rock and Jazz Fusion.   His style of playing is heavily based in the blues and the music of Santana usually features Latin percussion.    Carlos found himself in the spotlight again in the late 1990′s.   He was named number 15 out of the 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Carlos Santana is the first and only musician to have reached the top 10 in the Billboard 200 for four straight decades with non-compilation albums.  

“Sabor a Mi”

“Black Magic Woman”

Latino Hip Hop/Rap

“Grito Mundial 119”

Daddy Yankee, born Raymond Ayala, Feb. 3, 1977 in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico, started getting involved in the Puerto Rican underground scene with DJ Playero. One of his first achievements was getting a song called "Posición" on the "One Tough Cop" movie soundtrack . “ In addition to Latin Hip-Hop he also performed rhythms such as salsa and merengue, joining Grupomania on "The Dynasty". However, he became mostly known as a Latin rap and Reggaetón artist. Later Universal Latino decided to include his "Gata Gangster" recorded along with Don Omar in a compilation. His breakthrough came with "Barrio Fino", featuring the catchy "Gasolina". In December, 2005 Daddy Yankee returns with "Barrio Fino En Directo". In 2007 "El Cartel: The Big Boss" is released, followed in 2008 by "Talento De Barrio", "Mundial" in 2010 and "Prestige" in 2012.

East Coast Style

A Lighter Shade of Brown (LSOB) was a Mexican American hip hop duo from Riverside, California best known for their 1990 hit single "On a Sunday Afternoon", a success in the U.S. LSOB was formed in 1990 by Robert Gutierrez and Bobby Ramirez. Their debut album, 1990's "Brown and Proud," brought the group their lone Top 40 single in the U.S. with "On A Sunday Afternoon,“ The song also went to #1 for 2 weeks in New Zealand.

West Coast Style

“On a Sunday Afternoon”

El FinVicente Fernández Gómez (born February 17, 1940) is Mexican singer, producer and actor. Known as Chente or El rey de la canción ranchera(The king of ranchera music) throughout the Latin world, Vicente Fernández, who started his career singing for tips on the street, has become a cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to many movies.

Although less well known to English-speaking audiences, he has consistently filled stadiums and venues throughout his 35-plus years of performing. His repertoire is pure ranchera, a style described by the Miami Herald as representing "the Mexico of old – a way of life romanticized by rural ranches, revolution, and philandering caballeros". He has sold over 65 million copies worldwide.

“Volver, Volver”