Piro rodriguez biography
Composer: Tito Puente
Publisher: Planetary Music Pub. Corp
CD: Salsa Meets Jazz
Label: Concord Picante
Recording Date: January 1988
Personnel: Tito Puente, vibes and timbales; Sonny Bravo, piano; Joe De Jesus, trombone; Jose Madera, congas; Mario Rivera, tenor saxophone, flutes & melodica; Johnny Rodriguez, bongos; Bobby Rodriguez, bass; Piro Rodriguez, trumpet & flugelhorn; Bill Ortiz, trumpet and flugelhorn; Rebeca Mauleon, synthesizer
American dance instructor Frank "Killer Joe" Piro (2 March 1921 – 5 February 1989) was an American dance instructor to high society who popularized steps of the discotheque era of the 1960s and 1970s. Piro was born in East Harlem, the son of an Italian tailor. He described himself as 'skinny and ugly', and, to meet girls, began dancing. Piro got hooked on dance by frequenting the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in his late teens. He won his moniker at the dance contests that were a big feature of the New York City scene in the 1940s. The "Killer Joe" nickname comes from a supposed ability to wear out one partner after the other on the dance floor. It has been suggested that the John Travolta role in "Saturday Night Fever" owes more than a little to Piro. While serving with the US Navy in World War II, he won a National Jitterbug contest held at the 1942 Harvest Moon Ball, and earned a transfer to Broadway's equivalent of the Hollywood Canteen, where he strutted his stuff with Kathryn Cornell and other stage stars. After the war, Piro started winning dance contests at the Palladium Ballroom in Manhattan with such frequency that he said they offered him $15 a week to be a teacher and stay out of the contests. There he recruited as his co-instructor Carmen Marie Padilla, who was also a singer and later became the poet Carmen M. Pursifull; he called their team "Killer Joe and Carmen". Piro moved on to serve as master of ceremonies at the Palladium, into which thousands of dancers would pack each night. He would offer mass lessons in whatever step was the rage, and take on all comers willing to challenge his status as the undisputed master. The Palladium proclaimed itself the "temple of mambo" and Hollywood inevitably capitalized on the craze. Piro can be seen doing the mambo to the music of Tito Rodriguez on the 1950 Universal short subject, "Mam .
Title: Salsa Meets Jazz
Artist: Tito Puente and his Latin Ensemble with Phil Woods
Type of Tune: salsa/Latin jazz
Tempo: 151 BPM
Key: C Major
Form: AB -- 8 measure vamp that alternates between vocals(A) and horn lines (B)
Devices: vocal/chant, heavy percussion, and use of polyrhythms
Scale(s): major, blues, pentatonic
Recurring Patterns: repeated vocal and horn parts
Developmental Techniques: the tune has only two chords; singers alternate with horn players stating a melody; towards the end of the tune, all harmonic and melodic instruments drop out, leaving space for a percussion feature
General Comments:
"Salsa Caliente" is a classic recording representative of the merging of jazz with Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Latin rhythmic traditions. There are many variations and approaches to this fusion and many names are used but today, "salsa" is the umbrella term under which music of this style is usually labeled. Tito Puente was a legendary New York-born Puerto Rican percussionist who was a leading proponent of this style for at least five decades. Many of the non-jazz elements in this music can be traced to African and Caribbean religious ceremonies which involved chanting and the use of certain rhythms to invoke spirits. These practices were distilled over time as their function shifted from religion to entertainment. They can be heard on this recording in the patterns played by the percussionists and in the vocal p Killer Joe Piro
Early life
Dance instructor
Born: Formed His towering trumpet sounds have graced hundreds of CD's. Famed trumpeter and gifted songwriter "Piro" Rodriguez has played with the likes of Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Marc Anthony. Now the talented musician breaks out on his own, with the upcoming release of his latest CD, "Ojos Abiertos, Eyes Open."
His solo debut promises to bring more of the Latin, jazzy sounds that's made Rodriguez one of the most important and sought-after trumpeters in the music industry. The songs are some of the hundreds Rodriguez has written during his decades-long music career.
One of 8 children, Rodriguez began playing the trumpet when he was seven years old. By the time he was eleven, he was playing in a regular orchestra. He'd become a professional, cutting CD's and playing with some of the best talents out there, by the time he was only fourteen. By fifteen, his talent was widely recognized; he'd earned the titles of First Trumpet and Musical Director for the famed Willie Rosario orchestra.
His love of music led him to study at the renown Escuela Libre de Musica in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, and later at the University of Coral Gables in Miami.
The decades that followed included collaborations with dozen of musical greats. His tours include a 15-year-long tour with Tito Puente, an 8year tour with Celia Cruz, a yearlong tour with Juan Luis Guerra and, of course, book and movie fame, including music contributions and cameos in "Mambo King" and "The Thomas Crown Affair."
Today, Piro considers an artists' residence in Yonkers, New York, home. His songwriting continues, with hundreds of melodies on paper, yet to make us all long to hear more.