RICHIE RAY & BOBBY CRUZ - Also Featuring José Alberto “El Canario” & Ray Sepúlveda, Special Guest Alfredo De La Fé
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts celebrates 50 years of Salsa Bestial with an exciting performance by tropical music icons RICHIE RAY and BOBBY CRUZ on Saturday, March 9th, 2013 at 8pm. This concert will also feature JOSÉ ALBERTO “EL CANARIO” and RAY SEPÚLVEDA, with special guest ALFREDO DE LA FÉ. Produced by Lehman Center and José Raposo.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for RICHIE RAY & BOBBY CRUZ on Saturday, March 9th, 2013 at 8pm are $50, $45 and $30 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.
RICHIE RAY & BOBBY CRUZ met as teenagers and have had one of the longest partnerships in Latin music ? over 50 years. In 1966, as lead singer in Ray’s orchestra, Puerto Rican-born Cruz scored a major hit with “Mr. Trumpet Man,” and by 1968 the band was officially Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz. Ray was born in Brooklyn and was classically trained at the Julliard School of Music. His music and orchestrations combined with the lyrics written by Cruz helped to form and define the beginnings of Salsa music. They have recorded 105 albums, twelve of which have gone gold with such hits as “Agúzate,” “A Mi Manera” (My Way) and timeless masterpieces “Ya Ni Te Acuerdas” (You Don’t Even Remember Me) and “La Zafra” (The Canes). In 2006 Ray and Cruz received a Latin GRAMMY® Award for Lifetime Achievement and released Live at Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2007 Cruz won a Latin GRAMMY Award for Best Traditional Tropical Album for Románticos De Ayer, Hoy Y Siempre. The duo released 40 Aniversario en Vivo in 2008, following up with two new CDs in 2010, Regreso de los Reyes de la Salsa and Que Vuelva La Música.
JOSÉ ALBERTO is nicknamed “El Canario” (The Canary) because of his exquisite voice and amazing ability to use his melodious whistling skills as a solo instrument. Alberto started his own band in 1983 and became a major Latin star the following year with the album Noches Calientes. In 1988 he had an international smash hit with Sueño Contigo and is credited as one of the pioneers of the Salsa Romántica style of music with his 1991 album release of Dance With Me. Alberto has had a recording history of 37 years including his latest Latin Tropical hit album Intimamente Salsero: Live.
RAY SEPÚLVEDA was born in Brooklyn but spent his childhood in Puerto Rico where he started singing with several local tropical music groups. Returning to the Bronx as a young man, he joined the Sociedad 76 Orchestra and appeared on three albums. Later he sang with the Adalberto Santiago Orchestra and with Hector Lavoe. Sepúlveda’s big break came with his recording Salsa Con Chase with the Johnny Ray Orchestra that included “Mascarada,” which became one of the biggest hits in Latin music. His other hits include “Bandolera,” “You Are My Lady” and “Llegastes Tu.”
ALFREDO DE LA FÉ is a Cuban-born New York City based violinist that was classically trained in Havana and at Julliard in NYC. Credited with transforming the violin into an important sound of Salsa and Latin music, Alfredo has appeared on more than one hundred albums including those by Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Santana, José Alberto “El Canario” and Cheo Feliciano. His second solo album Alfredo was nominated for the Best Latin GRAMMY® Award.
Lehman Center is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2012-2013 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, JPMorgan Chase, and through corporations, foundations and private donations.