April 03, 2015

April 03, 2015

The Queen of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful voice and electrifying rhythm garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions, multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY® awards and four Latin GRAMMY® awards, a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, a recognition from the National Endowment for the arts as well as a Doctorate in music from the universities of Yale, University of Miami and Florida International University. Her boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer, and the world's most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture.

The Queen of Salsa

April 03, 2015

Celia Cruz (born Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on October 21, 1924 – July 16, 2003) was a Havana, Cuba born salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name. She was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa".

She spent most of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries.

Celia Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music." Cruz once said in an interview "If I had a chance I wouldn't have been singing and dancing, I would be a teacher just like my dad wanted me to be".

April 03, 2015

Celia Cruz Plaza in Union City, N.J.

April 03, 2015

Celia Cruz

April 03, 2015

2013 American Music Awards - Jennifer Lopez saluted Celiz Cruz

April 03, 2015

April 03, 2015

Learn to dance the Salsa

April 03, 2015

Tito Puente

Tito Puente, Sr., (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), born Ernesto Antonio Puente, Jr., was a Latin Jazz and Mambo/Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of

Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey" (the King) of the timbales and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz

compositions that helped keep his career going for 50 years. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's 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, son, and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences. He moved into more diverse sounds, eventually settling down with a fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz

genres that became known as "salsa" (a term that he disliked).

son - Son-Cubano (mix of Cuban & African music, played with guitars)

The "King" of Latin Jazz and Salsa

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April 03, 2015

Selena

April 03, 2015

Born Selena Quintanilla on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. Selena was considered the "Queen of Tejano," a type of Mexican music

that incorporated other styles, such as country.

Selena

Selena sang in Spanish, learning the lyrics phonetically since she understood the language, but did not speak it at first. She went on to Spanish and later was a fluent

speaker.

Selena became very popular with Tejano music fans and won Best Female Vocalist of the Year and Performer of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards. Her album

Ven Conmigo (1990) was the first Tejano record to achieve gold record status, meaning it sold more than 500,000 copies. In 1992, Selena took enough of a break

from her hectic schedule to marry Chris Perez, the band's lead guitarist in April.

Her recordings continued to have strong sales, and she won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album in 1993 for her album Live. In 1994, she and the

band played numerous tour dates in New York, California, Puerto Rico, and Argentina. Amor Prohibido was released that same year and went gold.

Selena went to work on an English-language album that she hoped would put her on the top of the U.S. pop music charts. Unfortunately, she did not live to see its

success. Selena died on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after being shot by Yolanda Saldivar, the founder of the Selena fan club. Saldivar had been managing Selena's boutique in San Antonio and was about to be fired for embezzling money. Selena's murder sent shockwaves through the Latino community and her fans around the world mourned the singer's passing.

April 03, 2015

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known simply as Selena, was a Mexican 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 fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits. She was called "The Queen

of Tejano music"and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.

Tejano music or Tex-Mex Music (Mexican-Texan music) is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among

the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas.

April 03, 2015

Selena - Last "Live" concert

April 03, 2015

Carmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's All Here. She is considered the precursor of Brazil's

Tropicalismo.

The "Queen" of Samba

April 03, 2015

Carmen Miranda Square is only one of about a dozen Los Angeles city intersections named for historic performers. The square is located at the

intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive across from Grauman's Chinese Theater. The location is especially noteworthy not only since Carmen Miranda's footprints are preserved in concrete at the Chinese Theater's famous

collection, but in remembrance of an impromptu performance at a nearby Hollywood Boulevard intersection on V-J Day where she was joined by a throng

of servicemen from the nearby USO.

April 03, 2015

Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Africa. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival.

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Carlos GardelThe "King" of the Tango

April 03, 2015

Carlos Gardel (11 December 1887 or 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. His birthplace is disputed between Uruguay and France. He lived in Argentina from the age of two and acquired Argentine citizenship in 1923. He

grew up in the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He attended Pio IX Industrial high-school located in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

He died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, becoming an archetypal tragic hero mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel

embodies the soul of the tango style. He is commonly referred to as "Carlitos", "El Zorzal" (The Song Thrush), "The King of Tango", "El

Mago" (The Magician) and "El Mudo" (The Mute).

Carlos Gardel Subway Stop -Buenos Aires, Argentina

April 03, 2015

April 03, 2015

La Cumparsita

April 03, 2015

La Cumparsita"the little parade"

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FlamencoIs a form of Spanish folk music and dance from

the region of Andalusia in southern Spain. It includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing),

baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps).

April 03, 2015

April 03, 2015