Willie Amadeo & I

Willie Amadeo

with

Nestor Louis

I remember listening to Willie Amadeo's first CD for Mambo City titled A Mi Manera, and being quite impressed with it. It almost made my ‘best of list' for 2000. His work on that record was so good that, once I learned that he was scheduled to perform at Windows of The World, I made it my business to be there and catch his live performance. Just to see if he would live up to my expectations. Expectations that quickly were exceeded due to the clarity in his voice and inventive improvisations, not to mention his band. Ever since then, as it's customary in this business of music and media, we've been playing phone and email tag. All with the intentions of hooking up for a sit down interview. As a musician that's in high demand, in and out the studio, schedule conflicts are to be expected. For me it was The World Series, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years that got in the way. As for Willie Amadeo - His schedule is so hectic that time for relaxation needed to take precedence! "When you are called as often as I am blessed to be...to do a considerable amount of studio work...as a professional you quickly have to grasp of what needs to be done in the studio."

The Willie Amadeo story begins in the Pentecostal Church where his mom used to take him as a child. Intrigued by a set of drums that sat idle after worship was over, Willie would pick up the drumsticks and attempt to play. As he entered the educational system of The New York City, Willie Amadeo joined his Junior High Schools Latin Music Band. "It was a salsa band! Made up of something like 27 plus pieces! Imagine 7 trombones, 4 trumpets, 5 saxophones. Forget about Puente or Machito! We were twice their size! But we were not even one tenth of their sound. It was a huge orchestra....with too many drummers. So I did coro." Impressed with his voice and vocal abilities, many of his piers and teachers encouraged him to actively pursue a career in music. His musical epiphany took place in Puerto Rico. "Once there, I fell in love with Hector Lavoe's El Todopoderoso. That was it for me! I started to dig all those songs. Vamonos Pa'l Monte, Muñeca, Bilongo, and the rest of songs that are standards today. Upon my return, I began high school, joined the school's salsa band, and started to sing those songs. Soon the kids from the school band began to get gigs with real bands, and started to recommend me to do coro for some of them. From there I started to move from band to band, and got to record for Conjunto Caché, La Charanga América with Tempo Alomar & Jorge Maldonado, and later on to Conjunto Imagen."

On the advice and admiration of colleagues, Willie decided to depart from Conjunto Imagen and venture out on his own to lead his own group. Soon thereafter, he signs a record deal with a small independent label named Songo Records which boasted of having Joe King and Eddie Montalvo signed to its roster. Featuring two songs by songwriter Aquilino "Junior" Zuñiga, Inspirado is Willie's record for that label, and first solo recording. Sadly, knowing how the record industry works here in The U.S., Inspirado didn't get the chance to inspire major sales. "I became a bit disenchanted after my first record was released. The label I was signed to did nothing to properly promote that record. I became very depressed and stopped performing all together. It took a while for me to resolve all my issues. Then one morning I woke up and had a serious heart to heart talk with my wife. We discussed the music and my career, and as a result I went back into the studio and recorded a couple of demo tracks, literally just to see what happens. I called Junior and he offered me some songs he felt suite me very well. I laid four tracks, and out of a hand full of labels, the end result was that Mambo City took a chance and gave me the opportunity to record again. They liked Zuñiga's Con Ganas and Miguel Maldonado's Penas de Amor. Bobby Marin took those two songs and presented them to his partners and from there we finished my second record. One half of the record was done by Lucho Cueto & the other was done by Ricky Gonzalez." It's safe to believe that Mambo City is very happy with Willie Amadeo. As far as I know, the label is scheduled to record his 3rd in August. If they're not, they should be! Since out of the four productions the label has launched into the market, Willie's production is my favorite and by far the best.

Willie Amadeo is definitely very happy at Mambo City. He is giging around town more than ever before, earning lots of great complements and positive feedback from audiences who see him perform. A regular at The Wild Palm in The Bronx, Willie Amadeo and his orchestra deliver a high octane salsa sound that is very percussive and very brassy. You're bound to dance, no matter how hard you try not to. "My goal is to have my music be recognized and appreciated by the public in general as good music. I want for people, when they hear my name, to say ‘Willie Amadeo? Oh man he has great music! And that's something that doesn't happen overnight. To have success is one thing. To have longevity is another. Everyone executing this bran of music has to understand that this type music cannot be done without understanding what's all about. Some people think that by hearing one or two records, can suddenly be a salsa artist, and that's probably part the problem today with so many one hit wonders. On the other hand, guys like Gilberto Santa Rosa, Victor Manuelle, and a few others out there making it happen, are artists that have heard lots and lots of music. They probably have a large collection of music from which they've learned. I consider myself to be one of them, I own many of songs from that classic era. Those records are the school! Today many of artists, singers in particular, are just re-singing what was given to them in the studio when they first recorded the song. None of them have the ability to improvise. That's what's happening, and that's not what this music is about."

Willie Amadeo is not exactly an authority in salsa. Certainly not one who shares the same ranking with a Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Quintana, or Ismael Miranda. He is however, one that's building an extensive list of credits and accomplishments. Some of which include, DLG, George Lamond, and Willie Colón. "In this business, everyone does their homework. I don't doubt that having a famous songwriter by the name of Miguel Angel Amadeo for a cousin helped me in some way. Perhaps it got me a lot of studio work from many happening producers and their artists. Keep in mind though, I've been around for a little while too. I did three records with Conjunto Imagen, I sang with La Charanga America when Tempo Alomar & Jorge Maldonado were the main vocalists. With its simple melodies and instrumentation, the charanga sound is one that's more focused on strong vocal harmonies than instrumentation. Jorge Maldonado helped me a lot on with that. Charanga musicians, violinist, flute players, and percussionist, have to create swinging music out of a musical pattern that's pretty much the same from beginning to end. On more than one occasion, a charanga group out-swung a full blown salsa band. As the saying goes ‘sometimes less is more'. I found a new respect for charanga."

Willie Amadeo keeps a day job. So do all of his musicians. That's why he does the music for the art and not for the money. "I'm fortunate enough to be in the belly of the beast. Learning a lot in this business. Working hard to get gigs, to perform, to keep the guys together, and play music at least twice a month. Whether it's here in New York, New Jersey, or Philadelphia. However, I've also learned to love it enough to know not to live off it. I'm paying a mortgage, and putting two children through school. I am not looking to make a million dollars. Neither are my guys in the band, all of which are top notch sight readers. You can put any new piece of music in front of them and they will play it with few if any errors on a first run. It's a tough business to break in, is even tougher to be a huge star in it. What's worst is watching out for the very same people that are supposedly looking out for your best interest. Here you are making a little money for your musicians and yourself, and out of the blue people under the guise of ‘helping you out', want to take you for a ride by low balling you and offering laughable amounts of money for two sets...It's just laughably ludicrous. It gets to a point where you, as an artist, have to value your art and what you do. And that's what I do, I value my band, my music, and my art." A very smart and realistic attitude to have, considering that here in New York, musicians are picketing in front of radio stations raising issues that vary between local artists not receiving any radio play and "alleged" pay-for-play bribes.

In the midst of all that drama, is good to know that talent can still be found out there, regardless of how much, or how little, radio play one artist gets. As a promoter once told me 'if is good, people will find it. No matter what!' I am glad to have found Willie Amadeo.