Multi-Grammy nominated band to play Tribute Concert honoring the ‘Godfather of Salsa’
On March 15, The Bronx Music Hall (BMH) will host “El Ciego Maravilloso – The Blind Marvel: A Tribute to Arsenio Rodríguez,” a special concert by the multi-Grammy nominated Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band celebrating the legacy of the “Godfather of Salsa.”
The 24-piece band, led by renowned drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, radio host, documentary film producer, and educator Bobby Sanabria, will pay tribute to Rodríguez as they perform his most well-known compositions with new forward-thinking arrangements and compositions by artists whom Rodríguez influenced.
Elena Martinez, co-artistic director of the Bronx Music Heritage Center, said, “Arsenio Rodríguez was more than a musical innovator — a visionary whose influence shaped the very foundation of salsa, and he called the Bronx home.”
She adds that people shouldn’t miss this event because ”This is more than a concert — it’s a homecoming for the music that defines our borough.” It will be an “electrifying night of history, culture, and unstoppable rhythm.”
He was as transformative in Cuban music as Louis Armstrong was in jazz and is recognized as the most crucial figure in the history of Afro-Cuban-based dance music. Rodríguez was the first bandleader to add the conga drum, piano, and multiple trumpets to perform Cuban son music and developed a new hard-driving rhythmic approach, which he called son montuno. This approach became the root of what became known as mambo, thus forming the template for what today is known in New York City and the world over as salsa.
The concert will highlight vocalist Jennifer Jade Ledesma, a multilingual musical polyglot, and Oreste Abrantes on vocals and congas. Both are members of the Multiverse Big Band and featured on the orchestra’s latest 2024 Grammy-nominated release, Vox Humana. The band will also feature renowned Cuban-born vocalist Gerardo Contino and tres and guitar master Benjamin Lapidus.
Acclaimed as one of Cuba’s most renowned bandleaders, Rodriguez was known by the sobriquet “El Ciego Maravilloso” (the Blind Marvel); his blindness occurred when a mule kicked him in the head as a child. In 1947, he came to New York seeking medical attention to possibly restore his sight but was informed that his optic nerves had been destroyed. This experience led him to compose one of his most famous works, “La Vida es un Sueño” (“Life is a Dream”).
A screening of “La Vida es un Sueño” (“Life is a Dream”), a short film about Rodríguez, named after Rodriguez’s famous composition of the same name, by Cuban filmmaker Ariety Veunes Toro, will happen before the concert.
The concert and screening at BMH, located at 438 East 163rd St., Bronx, NY 10451, will start at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and available to purchase by calling 917-557-2354 or online here: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36821/production/1222449?performanceId=11562197.
