Lehman Center for the Performing Arts celebrates its 31st season with the return of Salsa Palooza, featuring three renowned Salsa singers — Tito Nieves, La India and Michael Stuart – performing hit after hit from their spectacular careers on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. 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.
Tito Nieves born in Puerto Rico, moved at age one to New York. In 1975, at age 15, he began a two-year stint as lead singer for Orquesta Cimarrón and two years later joined the orchestra of his mentor, Hector Lavoe. Nieves’s first recording was in 1979 as lead singer of the group Tairbori.
In the early ‘80s he joined Conjunto Clásico. Embarking on a solo career in ‘86, Nieves distinguished himself by singing salsa in English, bringing the tropical sound to a new audience and creating “the New York sound.” In 1988 he recorded his first solo album, The Classic, which included the hit “Sonámbulo” and earned a Gold record. The following year he released Yo quiero cantar, featuring the gold “I’ll Always Love You.”
His vast list of smash hits includes “Can You Stop the Rain,” “You Bring Me Joy” and “De mí enamórate,” but it was his version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Like It Like That” that made him an international sensation. Nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Salsa Album in 2002, Nieves has received six Latin GRAMMY nominations, the latest for 2007’s Canciones Clásicas de Marco Antonio Solís. His new CD Mi Ultima Grabación is set for November 1st release.
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 U.S. 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.
Michael Stuart was born in New York in 1975 to parents who emigrated to the city in the ‘60s. He was mentored by his uncle, bandleader Israel “Timbalero” Stuart, who let young Michael sing at his rehearsals.
Although his musical training was on trumpet, Michael’s vocal talents earned him a gig, at the age of twenty, singing coro for the well established Puerto Rican bandleader Wichy Camacho, and backup singer spots with several well-known salsa artists, including Johnny Rivera and Mark Anthony.
Hailed as a next-generation “Nuyorrican” salsa singer, Stuart released his debut solo album, Cuentos de la vecindad in 1996, garnering several awards, including a nomination for Premios Lo Nuestro New Artist of the Year.
He also received a Best New Actor Award from the Theater Actors Circle of Puerto Rico for his role as Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Stuart has been nominated for Latin GRAMMY and Billboard Music Awards. His latest release is 2010’s Tributo a Louis Ramirez: Amanece y Sigue Caliente.
