LEHMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS presents
“Great Farewell Concert”
PAQUITO GUZMÁN
Special Guests Raphy Leavitt and La Selecta
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is proud to host the historic celebration PAQUITO GUZMÁN “Great Farewell Concerton Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 8pm. After a long and fruitful musical career, with unforgettable hits and a loyal fan base around the world, Paquito Guzmán is retiring from the concert stage, with a farewell show at Lehman Center. Joining Guzmán for this concert are special guests direct from Puerto Rico, the legendary LA SELECTA orchestra with RAPHY LEAVITT. 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 PAQUITO GUZMÁN “Great Farewell Concert” on Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 8pm are $55, $50,and $45 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.
PAQUITO GUZMÁN, one of the greatest Salsa Romantica vocalists, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1959, at the age of twenty, he moved to the Bronx, NY, and went to work in a record shop, hoping to make connections in the music industry. Less than a year later he met Joe Quijano who hired him as the lead singer for his Caribbean pachanga band Joint Cachana, that also included Bobby Valentín on trumpet. Within three years, Joint Cachana recorded seven albums with Guzmán as vocalist including Dance to the Bossa Nova, the Mambo, the Cha Cha Cha and The World’s Most Exciting Latin American Orchestra and Revue, the latter record selling 1,000 copies in the first 6 months alone and has become a cult classic often referred to as “The Nostros Album”. Firmly established as a bolerista in the new “salsa” movement, Guzmán returned to Puerto Rico in 1962 to sing vocals with Chamaco Ramirez in the Tommy Olivencia band, recording seven albums. Mintiendo Se Gana Mas (1977) marked his first of over twenty albums as a solo artist, and during the 1980’s he was widely popular singing in the Salsa Romantica style reaching a high point in sales with his 1986 album Salsa The Best Ballads. 2008 saw the release of Guzmán’s well regarded album The Greatest Salsa Ever and his latest record, Iconos: 25 Exitos, was released in 2013.
RAPHY LEAVITT, bandleader, pianist, arranger, composer, and producer, formed his first band, Los Señoriales, in his early teens. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, he taught business at the San Agustin College in his hometown of Puerta De Tierra. In 1971, he formed LA SELECTA, whose line-up of trombones and trumpets, rhythm section and voices included lead singer Sammy Marrero. With Borinquen Records, they released ten albums between 1971 and 1979. Leavitt’s first composition, a bolero montuno called “Payaso,” was a smash hit. The single and La Selecta’s self-titled debut album both went gold. The following year the band had a huge international hit with “Jibaro Soy,” their second gold record. Leavitt’s tribute to his late trumpeter Luisito Maisonet, “La cuna blanca,” topped the charts in Latin America and the Latin charts in the USA, and he was named Puerto Rico’s Composer of The Year. In 1976, the single “El buen pastor” became another international hit and went gold. The band released three albums with TH Records from 1981 to 1983. Carlitos Ramírez joined La Selecta as co-lead singer on their tenth anniversary album. In 1987, La Selecta received the Puerto Rican music industry’s Diplo Award for Band of the Year. With over 30 albums, including five compilations, to their credit, the band’s latest release of new material is 2006’s two-DVD set 30 Aniversario: Live.
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 2013-2014 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.
For high resolution photo click this link: http://lehmancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Paquito_Guzman-Allen_Spatz_Photography.jpg
Credit: Allen Spatz Photography
For additional information, photos, interview requests, contact:
Leah Grammatica / LGPR / 212-243-6052 / [email protected]
