Ismael Quintana (June 3, 1937 – April 16, 2016)
was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of
salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
Arts and ent ...
music.
Early years
Quintana was born in
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
.
His family moved to
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
sector of New York when he was only two weeks old;
there he went to school and while he was still in high school he formed a band with his neighborhood friends.
Conjunto La Perfecta
In 1961,
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
...
heard Quintana sing in an audition and invited him to join his newly organized
conjunto
The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...
(small band), La Perfecta.
Quintana accepted and became the lead singer of the band between 1961 and 1973.
During this time he co-wrote some of Palmieri's major hit songs.
With Palmieri, Quintana was awarded the 1966 Trophy for the "Most Popular Latin Singer of the Year", awarded at the
Palladium Ballroom
The Palladium Ballroom was a New York City night club. The US mambo craze that started in 1948 began at the Palladium Ballroom. On March 15, 1946, it opened at the northeast corner of Broadway and 53rd Street.''New York Post'', March 14, 1946; ...
in New York.
Quintana left Palmieri for a solo career and signed with Vaya Records (subsidiary of
Fania Records
Fania Records is a New York City, New York–based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964 in music, 1964. The label took its name from a popular luncheonette fre ...
).
Between 1974 and 1983, he recorded five albums as a solo artist, scoring his first major hit with "Mi Debilidad" ("My Weakness").
Tours
In addition to a solo career, Quintana also participated with the
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time.
History
Beginnings
In 1964, Fania Records was founded in New York City by Jerry Masucci, ...
and went on tour with them to Africa, Japan, France, Central and South America and the United States.
In 1976, he made an appearance in the movie ''Salsa'', with
Celia Cruz
Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...
and the
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading salsa music record label of the time.
History
Beginnings
In 1964, Fania Records was founded in New York City by Jerry Masucci, ...
.
During the 1980s, he recorded "Vamos, Háblame Ahora" ("Come On, Talk to Me Now") with
Papo Lucca.
Later years
Quintana semi-retired from the world of music because of health issues and lived with his family in New York. He moved with his family to
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
where, on April 16, 2016, he died of heart failure, at the age of 78.
Quintana was buried in Ponce, the city where he was born, at Cementerio La Piedad. He was survived by his wife Yolanda and three children: Ismael, David, and Jessica.
Recordings
Among Quintana's recordings are:
Soloist
*"Punto y Aparte" (1971);
*"Dos Imágenes" (1972);
*"Ismael Quintana" (1974);
*"Lo Que Estoy Viviendo" ("What I'm Living Through") (1976);
*"Amor, Vida y Sentimiento" ("Love, Life and Feelings") (1977);
*"Jessica" (1979) (with Ricardo Marrero and The Group);
*"Mucho Talento" (1980) (with
Papo Lucca).
With Eddie Palmieri
*"Eddie Palmieri y La Perfecta" (1961);
*"El Molestoso" (1962);
*"Lo Que Traigo Es Sabroso" (1963);
*"Echando Pa’ Lante" ("Straight Ahead") (1964);
*"Azúcar Pa' Ti" ("Sugar for You") 1965);
*"Mozambique" (1966);
*"Molasses" (1967);
*"Champagne" (1968);
*"Justicia" (1969);
*"
Superimposition
Superimposition is the placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident. Superimpositions are often related to the mathematical procedure of superposition.
Audio
Superimposition (SI) during sound recording and repro ...
" (1970);
*"Vamonos Pa'l Monte" (1971);
*"Recorded Live at
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...
, Vol. 1" (1972);
*"Recorded Live at Sing Sing, Vol. 2" (1974);
*"Sentido" (1973);
*"Timeless". Live recording;
*"Eddie Palmieri Live At The
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
" 1974);
*"Eddie Palmieri" (1981).
With Cal Tjader and Eddie Palmieri
*''
El Sonido Nuevo'' (Verve, 1967)
*"Bamboléate": Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader" (Tico, 1968)
With The Fania All-Stars
*"Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 2";
*"Fania All Stars in Japan";
*"Live in Africa";
*"Salsa: Original Motion Picture Sound Track Recording";
*"Tribute To
Tito Rodríguez
Pablo Rodríguez Lozada (January 4, 1923 – February 28, 1973), better known as Tito Rodríguez, was a Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He started his career singing under the tutelage of his brother, Johnny Rodríguez. In the 1940s, both m ...
";
*"Habana Jam";
*"Commitment";
*"Lo Que Pide La Gente";
*"Live In Puerto Rico 1994";
*"Bravo 97";
*"Viva Colombia".
With Tito Puente
*"Homenaje a Beny Moré", Vol. 1;
*"Homenaje a Beny Moré", Vol. 2.
With Vladimir Vassilief
*"Vladimir and His Orchestra: New Sound in Latin Jazz".
With Jimmy Delgado
*"Salsa con Dulzura".
With Joe Cuba Sextet
*"Songs Mama Never Taught Me".
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
*
List of people from Ponce, Puerto Rico
References
External links
Popular Culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quintana, Ismael
1937 births
2016 deaths
Burials at Cementerio La Piedad
Maracas players
Singers from New York City
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
American male composers
Musicians from the Bronx
Fania Records artists
Salsa musicians
Fania All-Stars members