Ironically, El Gran Combo turn in quite a memorable effort with Amame, despite the romantic/erotic wave that was hitting the salsa trend in the late '80s. Rafael Ithier wisely used arrangers Louis Garcia and Ernesto Sanchez to add extra color and variations to a firmly established sound. The title tune, "Aguacero," "Brindis a la Vida," and "Todo Bien" are gleeful tunes, the antithesis of the not-so-durable erotic trend that evolved into a strictly romantic styling. An interesting variation of the familiar, tastefully done

Cayetano César Concepción Martínez, (1909 1974), was a Puerto Rican musician and composer, who brought the music of his native land to Latin American ballroom dancing, and ballrooms all over the world. He popularised the plena as a Latin song style. Concepción was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, and was a noted composer of his time, writing music based on contemporary Puerto Rican scenes and vistas. He wrote several plenas, mambos, and salsa songs to honor cities such as San Juan, Mayagüez, Ponce, Yauco, Salinas, and Santurce. In addition, he directed his own orchestra for 25 years. He died in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The orchestra continues to perform in the present day, often playing in prominent Puerto Rican social circles. Date of birth: May 18, 1921 Location: Manhattan, New York (USA) died on November 13, 1980 in Santurce. Revered as one of the best boleristas Antillean of all time, Joe Valle is remembered, especially, for his brilliant career as stellar vocalist César Concepción Orchestra (1947 - 1954) and for being one of the most splendid representative of Hispanic art scene that took place in the square during New Yorker 50s and first half of the 60. This unique performer, whose real name was Jose Elias Marrero Valley, was the son of Joseph Elias from Bayamon doradeña Valley and Bethlehem Marrero. He was raised in the home of a maternal uncles in the area of La Parada 18 in Santurce. He attended elementary degrees Alejandro Tapia School, secondary, at Central High School. At age 14 (1935) tried his hand Industries native art program, which produced Chirino Cordova brothers and encouraged them WNEL radio station, which had just opened. Later took classes in music theory and piano, having been a pupil of the eminent maestro Manuel Barasoaín Julbe. Although at various stages of his life also consider vocalization techniques, as a singer was basically self-taught. At 17, he joined the outfit Casona July, which he shared with another young performer intended to legend: Juan Ramon Torres

Late in the '50s, Alegre label-head Al Santiago was inspired by the loose, funky sound of the live-in-the-studio Cuban Jam Session LPs on Panart (led by Julio Gutierrez and Nino Rivera), so he organized a similar session with Alegre friends and family, hereafter known as the Alegre All Stars. The music is completely unrestrained charanga and salsa, packed with excellent jamming, infectious singalongs, and, on several tracks, lengthy intros revealing the atmosphere inside the studio (pouring drinks are unsurprisingly the most-often-heard sounds). "Estoy Buscando a Kako" ("I Am Looking for Kako") is a delightful romp; the players repeat a variation of the title preceding each soloist, working their way to the end of the line with Kako himself taking a solo on his timbales. Just this side of anarchic confusion, but with surprisingly few missed notes, The Alegre All Stars is a legendary date -- and certainly one of the few records ever released that credit a bartender.

El Gran Combo's third self-produced album brought "Julia" (composed by Yin Carrizo), one of the band's finest moments, superbly performed by Andy Montañez. "La Ley No. 10," "El Hijo de Juan," and "La Piquiña" continue their affably relaxed musical style. Vocals are by Montañez and Pellín Rodríguez. Another grand slam by Puerto Rico's top salsa band.

Efrain Rivera Castillo, 1925, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, d. 12 March 1978, Manhattan, New York City, USA. Band leader, singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist Rivera was a pioneer of the trombone front-line in Latin music; some say he was the pioneer, whereas others maintain that Eddie Palmieri was the originator. However, it is probably their record producer at the time, Al Santiago (founder of Alegre Records), who deserves the credit. Whoever it was, the all trombone sound influenced band leaders like Willie Colón and others, and has been described as the symbol of urban salsa. Rivera was known as ‘El Rey del Trabalengua’ (The Tongue Twister King) because ‘... his improvised quips would delight fans with his clear enunciation of rhymes and alliterations conjured up at bullet speed and perfectly weaved in the timing and circumstances of the music’ (quote from Aurora Flores, 1978). Rivera was always closely associated with the plena and bomba forms of his island of birth. His father, Ramón Rivera Alers, wrote popular plenas. Rivera began his professional career at the age of 16 and joined the band of William Manzano. He was also a professional baseball player and played with Los Indios in Mayagüez between 1943 and 1945. In the early 50s, he relocated to the USA with the band of Héctor Pellot, which was later led by Moncho Leña. After Leña disbanded, he organized his own band with its famous trombone front-line. His debut on the Alegre Records label, Que Gente Averigua, contained the delicious instrumental ‘Lluvia Con Nieve’ (Rain With Snow), which Mon composed himself. No musician credits were given on the sleeve, however the album’s producer, Al Santiago, revealed that a stellar line-up had been assembled for the recording, which included Charlie Palmieri (piano, eight tracks), Eddie Palmieri (piano, two tracks), Kako (timbales), Barry Rogers, Mark Weinstein and Manolin Pazo (trombones). Rivera had a big hit with the self-penned ‘Karacatis-Ki’, a plena dengue, which was the title track of his first volume on Ansonia Records. Rivera’s 1975 collaboration with Willie Colón, There Goes The Neighborhood/Se Chavó El Vecindario, helped connect him with the younger Latino audience. He arranged the hit track, the plena ‘Ya Llego’. An impressive line-up was congregated for the session, including Lewis Kahn and Jose Rodrigues (trombones), Papo Lucca (piano), Kako (timbales and conga), Rubén Blades and Héctor Lavoe (chorus). ‘Mon was not immortal and fell victim to the vices of life. But in his realization, he struggled and became free of the ‘monkey’ that sucked at his lifeline’, wrote Aurora Flores, in that typically oblique manner found in accounts on Latin artists. He died, in his Manhattan residence on 12 March 1978, from a heart attack. The posthumously released Forever, was produced by Johnny Pacheco. In addition to singing lead vocals and composing one track, Rivera shared arranging chores with Colón and Ernie Agosto.