Bobby Cruz

Roberto "Bobby" Cruz ( born February 26, 1941 in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico) is an American singer and composer Puerto Rican origin.

Life and work

Although born in Puerto Rico, Bobby Cruz spent his youth in New York. There he met with twelve years his friend Ricardo Ray know where he remained lifelong allegiance. Supposedly these have then been playing in the youth band of Bobby Cruz bass. 1964 It was the same the other way around: Bobby Cruz became a singer in the orchestra of Ricardo " Richie" Ray and 1968 with the song Mr. Trumpet Man lead singer. In the following ten years, the successful duo became the hallmark of salsa music. They took a total of nine albums out with gold status.

1972 produced Ray for his friend Bobby Cruz Album Canta Para Ti, the title song Ya ni te acuerdas immediately became the No. 1 in the charts.

Bobby Cruz composed and arranged many pieces in collaboration with Richie Ray. One of their most successful was 1975 La Zafra, which the duo won the first prize at the Festival of Orchestras. In collaboration with Viki Vimari the songs Cuando me digas que sí and Yo sé te amo emerged.

When Richie Ray in 1974 was converted to evangelicalism, there were tensions within the duo, but Bobby Cruz just four months later followed him as " born again Christian " after. From then on, they focused on Christian themes in their music, but kept the salsa music as a medium for preaching. They adopted jointly by the secular music with her song Adiós a la salsa (1987 ), the last under Fania Records - and could never solve all of the salsa.

From the 1990s, their ways parted increasingly, Cruz took over the management of a number of evangelical churches in the United States and Latin America. In 1999, they together but again a comeback concert at the Universal label in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, which took a lot of attention. The double CD Un Sonido Bestial, which appeared to include all of the major successes of the duo, also from the 60s and 70s (see also Ricardo Ray ).

Style and meaning

With Bobby Cruz the history of salsa to go back to their beginnings. Bobby Cruz can even together with his friend Richie Ray claim for themselves to have invented the term " Salsa":

On one of her successful tours through Latin America They played well in Venezuela, as it is a well-known presenter, Phidias Danielo Escalona, bat, they should once in their own words to describe the unique style of their music. They said: Our music is like ketchup, " salsa de tomate ", the one doing the hamburger to give them flavor. And having said Escalona: Your music is salsa. As of today, we call it " salsa ". And since this moment is a new style of Latin American music added: the salsa. Salsa is united in fact, the style of music, the different rhythms in a single piece.

This anecdote also be given a special touch that a moderator from Venezuela to have come to the term " Salsa".

1967 took Bobby Cruz and Richie Ray on a piece, which they called Salsa y Control. This is demonstrated for the first time in the history of music that a song officially bore the name of Salsa in its tracks and even salsa rhythms included, at that time still under the label UA Records ( United Artists ). Under Fania In 1970, a very become known cover version of the Lebron Brothers. The style, however, was still often referred to as Salsa Boogaloo, the dates the transition to salsa. Beginning of the 70s was the salsa fever really starts: the cover was known as his original. Many clubs and dance schools called themselves suddenly Salsa y Control.

Finally, the piece of the New York group Los Del Barrio Soneros (1999) was reprinted.