Friday, November 9, 2012

NY: La India, Tito Rojas and Frankie Negrón at Lehman Center this Saturday November 10th


Lehman Center for the Performing Arts celebrates its 32nd season with the return Palooza, featuring three renowned Salsa singers – La India, Tito Rojas and Frankie Negrón – performing hit after hit from their spectacular careers on Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 8pm. Grammy® Nominated La India brings her stunning Latin vocals to the Lehman Center Stage, alongside salsa crooner Tito Rojas and pop vocalist Frankie Negrón for one night only.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468.  Tickets for Salsa Palooza featuring La India, Tito Rojas and Frankie Negrón on Saturday, November 10, 2012at 8pm are $60, $55, and $45 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access atwww.LehmanCenter.org.  Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway.  Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.

La India, born in Puerto Rico, grew up in the South Bronx listening to recordings of Celia Cruz and Ella Fitzgerald.  Discovered at age 15, she reached #1 on the Billboard Dance charts with hits like “Love and Happiness.”  In 1992, Eddie Palmieri came to the studio to hear her for himself.  When they recorded the amazingly popular Llegó La India via Eddie Palmieri, “The Princess of Salsa” had arrived in the world of Latin music.  In 1994 she released her record-breaking album Dicen que soy, which went quadruple platinum in the US and Puerto Rico and resulted in four #1 Billboard Tropical singles and six Top Ten hits.  With three GRAMMY® nominations and two Latin GRAMMY nominations, La India performed on Jazzin’, the hit album with Tito Puente and the Count Basie Orchestra, and La combinación perfecta, featuring her duet with Marc Anthony. The 2007 Latin Billboard Awards honored her with Best Female Tropical Album of the Year for Soy diferente and Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year for “Solamente una noche.” In 2010 she released her ninth studio album, Unica, and her single “Estúpida,” released on iTunes, hit #1 on the tropical Billboard charts. In 2011, she released “Tacalacateo” as a collaboration with DJ Peppe Citarella. “Tacalacteo” peaked at #13 on the Billboard dance chart.

Tito Rojas known as “El gallo salsero” (the salsero rooster), was born in 1955 in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and began his professional music career in the 1970s, recording his first album with Pedro Conga y su Orquesta Internacional.  He became lead vocalist with Conjunto Borincuba, led by Justo Betancourt, releasing “Con Amor” in 1978.  Embarking on a solo career that year, Rojas recorded with the Fania All-Stars and released a couple of solo albums and the hit song “El campesino” before forming his own band, Conjunto Borincano.  As lead vocalist for the Luis Ayala-led Puerto Rican Power, he scored hits with salsa versions of ballads “Noche de bodas” and “Quiéreme tal como soy.”  In 1990 Rojas resumed his solo career and released the salsa romantica-styled Sensual, followed by Condename in 1992, and A Mi Estilo in 1994.  He reached superstardom in 1995 when Por Derecho Propio sold double platinum, and he was awarded both Puerto Rico’s Paoli prize for “Best Salsa Artist” and New York’s ACE Award from entertainment critics.  His success continued with the 1996 hit album Humildemente which included a track in memory of his friend, musical director Sammy Torres, and the following year with Pal’ pueblo, featuring the hit song “Lloro.”  1999 saw the release of three hit albums, and in 2002 Rojas and his band recorded Tito Rojas Live: Autenticamente En Vivo in Las Vegas with special guest Roberto Roena on bongos. His 2007 album Sin Commentario and 2009 album Vida are beloved by his fans. His most recent albumIndependiente was released in 2011.

Frankie Negrón, born in Newark, New Jersey of Puerto Rican descent, debuted in 1997 with the album Con Amor Se Gana, scoring a hit with the single “Inolvidable.” After making his Broadway debut in Paul Simon's musical "The Caperman” Negrón, also an accomplished songwriter, resurfaced in 1998 with No Me Compares, followed a year later by Lo Que Llevo por Dentro. Although he owes his musical career to the genre of tropical music, his most recent productions, Por Tu Placer, nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Salsa Album” in 2001, and Inesperado, stray slightly from the pure salsa format, vying for some mass market appeal by including a distinctive pop sound to his electrifying salsa groove. His three previous records, Con Amor Se Gana, No Me Compares and Lo Que Llevo Adentro have sold over a million copies worldwide for WEA Latina, the record company that first signed him. He holds four Platinum Record awards, one Gold Record award, one GRAMMY nomination, and two “greatest hits” albums, and his music dominates the airwaves of every Latin American country. His latest album, 2009’s Independence Day, received critical acclaim from the New York Times. Negrón has been featured on ABC’s “One Life to Live,” and sang his Spanglish hit “Holding On to Love” on the popular show.

Lehman Center is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council.  The 2012-2013 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, JPMorgan Chase, and through corporations, foundations and private donations.

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