NEW YORK.- Puerto Rican salcero Tito Nieves will enjoy his return to singing in New York, the city where he grew up and began his career, becoming one of the genre’s greatest exponents, and will perform at the Lehman Center next weekend. Performing Arts in the Bronx.
“Tito Nieves and Friends” is “El Pavarotti de la Salsa” with special guest Peruvian Daniela Torcourt (Lima, 1996), who sponsored and made his way in the Salsa world.
Torcourt, who began his career at age 17, is nominated for a Latin Grammy this year for his album “Catharsis,” which he released on April 20 in the “Best Salsa Album” category, and could receive his award. Festival in Seville (Spain) in November.
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Puerto Rican salsa singer Kevin Ceballos, 46, and group Rumperos del Callejan will also take the stage. Nieves returns to New York after touring several American cities with Torcourt, whom he refers to as his daughter, and gathering hundreds of Latinos for the Madrid Botanical Nights festival in July.
Where Are New York’s Latinos Going?
“I have fond memories of New York,” he tells EFE, but he feels “nostalgic” because the clubs where the bands performed and the clubs where the Latin audience came to dance on the weekends have disappeared. “Where are the Latinos going?” he asks. He says it’s one of the reasons he doesn’t come to town often, where he performed at the Barclays Center Salsa Festival in Brooklyn two years ago.
“When I’m on stage, singing classic songs like “Ti Me Enamorate,” says the Fabricando Fantasias singer, one of the main salsa singers, that’s what I get back. Since the late 1980s, it’s been responsible for introducing this style of music to the United States.
Nieves, who began his solo career in 1986 after going through several bands, noted that he would be bringing his suitcases to the Lehman Center arena with the hits his followers have come to expect “because they ain’t coming from Tito Nieves anymore. General” and included “Señora Lay,” “I Like It Like “Can’t Miss It” includes That”, “Sonambulo”, “To Yo Yo” and “Braguero”.
He highlighted the participation of Torcourt – with whom he recorded “if you dare” – and whom he would present to the New York public.
“She’s a well-made girl and I support her 100%,” he says, adding that he’s backing new talent at a time when startups have “no record labels and limited radio.”
“Everything is sold through social media. I belong to the old guard and I like record players and compact discs,” says the 64-year-old singer.
Pointing out that “we need to support the youth for this genre to continue”, he promised to “enjoy the Lehman concert”, promising that there would be “surprises”.