ArtistInfo

Chino Rodriguez

tb, *1954
Musician / Composer / Producer
A.k.a. James Mui Carmine Rodriguez

Background information Birth name James Mui Also known as Chino Rodriguez Born February 2, 1954 (age 60) Genres Salsa, Latin jazz Occupations Trombonist, composer, band leader, producer, artist manager, music label owner, booking agent, business consultant, creative consultant, guest speaker Instruments Trombone Years active 1965-present Labels = SALSA / Mary Lou Records, Oriente Music Group Associated acts Larry Harlow, Andy Harlow, Fania AllStars Website LatinMusicBooking.com / OrienteMusicGroup.com (OMG) Notable instruments - Trombone ===================================================================================================================== Chino Rodriguez (New York City 2 February 1954) is an American music producer, band leader, musician, manager, booking agent, record company executive, business consultant, and record label owner, specializing in Latin music, most notably Salsa and Latin jazz. He is recognized as one of the top impresarios of the Latin music industry. Chino was born James Mui in New York City on February 2, 1954 in the Little Italy / Chinatown area of Manhattan to a Chinese father (Chueng Mui), who obtained U.S. citizenship by joining the Merchant Marines during World War II, and a third-generation Puerto Rican mother (Gloria Figueroa Rodriguez). He was raised by his Italian uncle in the Mulberry Street area of Little Italy and grew up listening to a constantly changing mix of international music. ---- His Early music career ---- Chino saw Boogaloo legend Johnny Colon performing during a New York street fair and was inspired to take up trombone at age 12 so that he could play Latin music. He tried to learn trombone by ear and then took music at JHS 65 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His attempts to form a Salsa band at school to perform at talent shows at a time when most of his peers were listening to various styles of rock music proved unsuccessful – after all, Johnny Colon's Boogaloo Blues was released the same year as the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper—but he quickly found like-minded young musicians in New York to jam with. It was an exciting time as the boom in Latin music in New York was taking place, and an influx of Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican immigrants were creating the rapidly evolving, unmistakably New York "Salsa" genre. By his late teens he had met Orchestra Dee Jay in Brooklyn, who soon allowed him into the fold as a band boy, then later as an occasional coro (chorus) singer. The band's trombonist Belly gave Chino informal lessons during rehearsal breaks and it wasn’t long before Chino formed his first band on the Lower East Side, simply called Chino Rodriguez and his Orchestra in 1968-69. Like most young bands, they rehearsed incessantly with paid gigs here and there, usually the round of weddings, birthdays, and private parties familiar to every young band. After high school Chino studied improvisation with the late Barry Rogers and Jose Rodriguez, trombonist in Eddie Palmieri's band. "Barry Rogers and José Rodriguez... were the very best Salsa trombonists of the late 60's and early 70's", Chino said in a 2010 interview. "Between the two it was like going to Harvard and Yale. Barry taught me improv and sight reading and José taught me breathing and tone with power." That early playing experience inspired him to continue working with many bands and companies, large and small, within the music industry in the late '60s and '70s. He met Salsa artists and producers Larry and Andy Harlow and would often sing coro at their gigs. At parties and clubs all over the city Chino met and networked with Latin music pioneers such as Harvey Averne, the late Jerry Masucci, Ralph Mercado, and José Cubello. Chino told music journalist Ian Morrison, "Back in the day once I started hanging out with Larry Harlow, things started to happen, I got more focused and since I met a lot of the promoters / club owners I started getting more work around the New York Area.... In the 1970s heyday of Latin music in New York you had to be good to 'cut the mustard.' Many of the bands of that time cut an album or two, broke up, went their separate ways and thought, that was it." Through the local musician's union American Federation of Musicians 802 Chino found work playing music for New York City Department of Parks arts program. During the summer and early fall months he was able to work seven days a week performing for non-profit organizations during the week. From 1970 to early 1974 he performed all over the city's five boroughs at summer music festivals and street fairs, employing his salesmanship skills to persuade sponsors to cover the costs, saving the city's art budget hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was recognized by the mayor's office for his work in bringing live Latin Tropical bands to the city's summer festivals and was awarded a citation, with his name placed on the City History Books for outstanding citizens of New York City. ------ The Recording career ------ While some other Latino musicians (most notably Tito Puente) were constantly critical of the term "Salsa" to describe the genre of Afro-Cuban and Tropical music that was enjoying so much attention at the time, Chino ignored the ongoing tedious cultural debate and went about simply composing. He assembled a group of musicians and recorded two albums for Ismael Maisonave's label, Salsa Records: Maestro De Kung-Fu, produced by Andy Harlow, and Si Te Vas Mi China, produced by Larry Harlow. "I knew a lot of the musicians and just asked them to come up and record. They all worked for hire. Back during the 70's it was ‘love thy neighbor,’ the flower generation, love is everywhere. Everyone was just really helpful and willing to work with everyone… Some had a price and some would just do it." Larry Harlow was best known for his own ground-breaking albums for Fania Records in the mid-'60s and for his production work with the Fania All-Stars (Estrellas de Fania), a Salsa supergroup composed of the label's top artists. Fania was so influential and successful that Jerry Masucci was acquiring nearly every small Latin label that came on the market, owning eleven by 1977. Chino told an interviewer: "The Harlow brothers were just great, they really mentored me… They are brothers, and it was like super opinions between them. I had wanted Larry to do the first album, but since Larry was producing a Fania All-Stars Album as well as some other project, he didn’t have the time, so Andy stepped in. Larry would show up anyway… letting Andy know what was wrong or what should go where, and that was something I stayed away from. Never get in the middle of family, that's my motto. Andy got to record some sax and vibes on the first album as well as share the producing with Larry. "Maestro de Kung-Fu contained "La Computadora", the first Latin recording using a MOOG synthesizer, played by Larry Harlow. Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez played on "Moonlight Serenade." Chino said in 2010, "What an artist! This guy would play and you would just be amazed. He would just make you be amazed when you heard the sound come out of the piano. It was true magic." After the album's release, Chino Rodriguez y La Consagracion was nominated for Latin New York Magazine's award for Best New Band. "When the albums were first released I was already working the market in New York. Back during the 1970s there were more clubs than bands, so you would work every day. At that time for $30 to $50 per man you would work four or five forty-five minute sets for that money. It was hard work and long hours, and we would work after hour clubs also. A day started at 8 p.m. and ended about 10 a.m. next day, everyday, if you were a hot band. If not, you still worked at least five days a week, same hours." Chino's second album, Si Te Vas Mi China, was recorded in 1976 after a year's worth of daily rehearsals. It produced two hits upon its release in 1977 and, like his debut album, achieved gold status. "I think musically it shows how the musicianship grew and the experience of playing every day stood out", he says. "Also working with Jon Fausty and other top Fania artists dropping by and just having all of the guys in the business at that time come by and just hang out was the most greatest thing for a guy who not only was part of the business but was still very much a fan."

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