Miami, Apr 13 (EFE).- Cuban salsa singer Rey Ruiz told EFE that with his new album “Insuperable”, recorded with a backing “big band”, he became “a daring musician” by changing the format and the sound to well-known themes worldwide.
“The intention was not only to find the songs, but to change the style,” says Ruiz in an interview in Miami, the city where he settled more than two decades ago.
Produced by Ruiz himself together with the Colombian arranger and trumpeter José Aguirre, director of the famous group Niche, “Insuperable” brings together international music hits such as “Corazón, Corazón”, “El amor es libre”, “Quién” and “Smile”. , by world-renowned composers such as José Alfredo Jiménez, Charles Aznavour and Nat King Cole.
NEW VERSIONS WITH CHANGE OF STYLE
“I love big bands first because I listened to (Frank) Sinatra and then Michael Bublé, but in reality the idea came from an invitation that José Aguirre gave me to participate in a project with international artists. I was one of them, ”explains the Cuban about his work with the Cali Big Band, in 2021.
He recorded “I can’t take my eyes off you” (Can’t Take My Eyes Off You), because he didn’t know if he could record a whole album and when he heard it he said “’I’d love to make an album like that”, recalls Ruiz.
“Insuperable”, available on digital platforms, includes eight songs and starts with “Si me comprendieras”, a song by Cuban José Antonio Méndez, which was unknown in Colombia.
“In Colombia they know all the Cuban music, but that song was never promoted there. José (Aguirre) makes the arrangement and I was impressed by how well done it was, ”he explains about the version of a song originally from the Cuban “filing” movement.
“I love that version and it makes me look daring in music,” he says about this well-known song originally sung by Méndez based on guitar.
“The intention was not only to find the songs but to change the style, which is why it was important to find a methodology for the repertoire,” says Ruiz.
This album, number 17 in his career, shows very different versions of “Noche de Ronda” (Agustín Lara), “El amor es libre” (Ricardo Ceratto), “Corazón Corazón” (José Alfredo Jiménez) and “Smile”, by Nat “King” Cole, a song that the salsa singer sings in a duet with his daughter, Laura Ruiz.
“’Corazón Corazón,’ which is a ranchera, I turned it into a chachachá, without the violins and flute of the charanga format. ‘Uno’, which is a tango, we turned it into a danzón, and ‘El amor es libre’, a ballad that Luis Gardey sang, I turned it into a guajira”, he recounts.
“’Smile’ everyone knows her. I wanted to dare to change the format and the sound ”to all these already famous songs, she confesses.
In “Insuperable” there are six songs with the sound of a big band and two, among them “Luna negra”, backed by the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, conducted by Juan José Aguirre, son of José Aguirre.
“We went song by song with the strategy of looking for well-known countries and songs,” he qualifies about this project, which he now wants to “materialize” on stage.
“It won’t be a symphony that has a lot of people, but it can be a chamber orchestra with strings”, about 24 musicians in total, and 12 of them in brass, he anticipated his upcoming live performances.
The first, he announced, will be in June in Panama, followed by another on August 11 at the National Auditorium in Mexico.
“SINGING THE ACCENTS ARE NOT NOTICED”
Known as “El bonbon de salsa,” “a compliment that became a nickname,” Ruiz is aware that many people believe he is of Puerto Rican origin.
“Singing you don’t notice the accents. The romantic sauce is between New York, Puerto Rico and Colombia. Venezuela comes first with Óscar de León. But Puerto Rico had a specialization in that ”, says the interpreter of“ My half half ”, a song by Gustavo Márquez that is among the best known in his repertoire.
“Whoever hires me is Sony. People were very afraid to put Cuban songs and artists on the radio because they didn’t work. In 1992 my first album came out and the label transferred me to Puerto Rico, where I lived for seven years”, recalls the salsa singer.
In Cuba, he regrets, he has not acted again since he left the island.
“It seems that they are afraid that one with a microphone could say something that they do not like, but if one day they invite me I will say yes. I really want to sing to the Cuban public,” she confessed.
Jorge I. Perez
