Septeto Santiaguero happy for 2017 Latin Grammys nomination

Septeto Santiaguero's nomination for the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards is the one that has the most merit because it is due to the first phonogram of the group produced entirely by a Cuban record label, said today Alden González, the group´s manager.

A few hours after receiving the news, Gonzalez, also producer of the album, told ACN his satisfaction with the nomination to the international contest with the plate Raiz (Root), under the seal of the Company of Recordings and Music Editions, which will compete in the category Best Tropical and Traditional Album.

This has been very significant, as it is the fourth consecutive nomination, which is already a prize for the group, said González, who thanked the support of the oldest of Cuban record companies, as well as the Canarios Music, which distribute the album in the United States.

According to González, next October the Septeto Santiaguero will perform in Santiago de Cuba, in tribute to the Oriente University, for the 70th anniversary of its founding, on the 10th, while on the 19th and 20th they will perform at the Festival of Cubanism in Bayamo, Granma.

He also highlighted the excellent reception of the group at Medejazz last September in Medellín, Colombia, where the presence of traditional Cuban music in the popular taste of the Latin American nation was once again demonstrated.

Produced in addition by the director of the septet, Fernando Dewar, and the musician Geovanis Alcántara, the laudable quality of the album Raíz had the contributions of other artists of this eastern territory like Franklin Reytor, Rubén Leliebre, and Marcos Fernández, who made arrangements to several themes.

In this CD stands out the participation for the first time of great figures of universal music beyond the Latin sphere, of jazz players who are stars of their instruments worldwide, like Nicholas Payton on trumpet and Arturo O'Farrill on piano.

It is also the first time that the Septeto Santiaguero collaborates in a phonogram with an artist of the urban genre, in this case with El Médico.

Among other added values ​​of the album is the presence of international icons of salsa such as Rubén Blades, Charlie Aponte and Alfredo de la Fe, and the last recording made by Maestro Reinaldo Creagh, lead singer of Santiaguera Old Trova and Estudiantina Invasora for many years.

The disc also counts on the collaboration of Elito Revé and his group, and talents from this eastern province such as Orfeón Santiago, the strings section of the Oriente Symphonic Orchestra, and musicians from the Estudiantina Invasora, Changüí Santiago, and the orchestras of Cándido Fabré and Eliades Ochoa.

Founded in 1995, the Septeto Santiaguero had its first nomination to the Latin Grammy Awards in 2011, with the album Oye mi son santiaguero; and in 2015 won the award with the Tribute to Los Compadres: No Quiero Llanto, next to the Dominican Jose Alberto El Canario.

Praised by international critics, especially by American media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, the septet is one of the leading groups of traditional Cuban music, and is admired by music lovers and dancers of different generations .