Alberto Naranjo (Caracas, 1941) is one of Venezuela's icons of contemporary music, establishing his fame as a composer, arranger, drummer and percussionist, radio DJ, music teacher, and writer. He played with many veteran musicians of the big orchestras of the golden era of Latin music in Caracas, when it was the hub of the Caribbean and Latin America, pulling migrants-and musicians-from everywhere to this El Dorado of the oil boom.

His major influences were people like Duke Ellington and other jazz legends, but "El Rey del Timbal," Tito Puente (1923-2000), the greatest mambo veteran of them all, reigns first amongst these influences . One of the great satisfactions of Alberto's musical career is that he played along with Tito in his orchestra (he also worked with legends like Celia Cruz, Alfredo Sadel, Tito Rodríguez, Arturo Sandoval, and also stars like Charles Aznavour, Julio Iglesias, and Engelbert Humperdinck, and so on).

The term trabuco means an all-star selection of players, so El Trabuco Venezolano means "The Venezuelan All-Star Band." The best comparison between El Trabuco and another band of that era probably is with Irakere, the Cuban miracle-workers, also a Latin-jazz group-and also often labeled as a 'salsa band.' The diaspora of El Trabuco members over the capitals of music in Europe - Gerardo Rosales in Amsterdam, Rengifo and Pérez in Cologne, Carlos Espósito and Orlando Poleo in Paris, and Irvis Méndez in Spain - demonstrates the wealth of talents El Trabuco contained.

In 1992, Naranjo produced Imagen Latina. Soloists with an already established reputation participated in this project; national idols like Simón Díaz and Cecilia Todd, who are associated with traditional music and national folklore; Trina Medina, Canelita, and Vladimir Lozano, who are famous salseros; Maria Rívas, a pop star; and Aldemaro Romero, another icon of Venezuelan music. All those exquisite singers and soloists sound like just one more instrument in the El Trabuco ensemble.
This record was never released outside of Venezuela, and after ten years of relative oblivion, Merusa Records is pleased to release Imagen Latina and introduce the genius of Alberto Naranjo y su Trabuco to music lovers around the world. It is a great honor for Merusa to introduce a CD that might be dubbed The Best of the Venezuelan All-Stars; a high point in the recorded history of Venezuelan and Latin music!

Bandleader and drummer Alberto Naranjo

tracklist

1. al fin juntas   
2. hace rato   
3. el chivo
4. calipso de el callao   
5. el corazón de caribe
6. se baila así
7. sin tu mirada   
8. te amo
9. ¿que valé mas?
10. señor tiempo
11. amor de alquiler
12. boleros venezolanos   
13. sin mañana ni ayer
14. alna's mambo

All of our CDs are available at record stores specializing in world music or ethnomusicology. They can also be ordered directly from Fundación Interchange. Contact us for details and prices.