Ismael Quintana is a singer and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of salsa

Music of Puerto Rico

The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...

 music.

Early years

Quintana was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

. His family moved to the Bronx sector of New York when he was only two weeks old; here he went to school and whilst he was still in high school he formed a band with his neighborhood friends.

Orchestra "La Perfecta"

In 1961, bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

 Eddie Palmieri

Eddie Palmieri

Eddie Palmieri , is a Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican pianist, bandleader and musician, best known for combining jazz piano and instrumental solos with Latin rhythms.-Early years:...

 heard Quintana sing for an audition and invited him to join his newly organized orchestra "La Perfecta". Quintana accepted and became the lead singer of the band between 1961 and 1971. During this time he co-wrote some of Palmieri's major hit songs. With Palmieri, Quintana was awarded the 1966 Trophy for the "Most Popular Latin Singer of the Year", awarded at the famed Palladium Ballroom in New York.

Quintana left Palmieri for a solo career and signed with the Vaya Records (subsidiary of Fania Records

Fania Records

Fania Records was a New York based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its name from an old Cuban song by the singer Reinaldo Bolaño. Fania is known for its promotion of what has become...

) . Between 1974 and 1983, he recorded five albums as a solo artist, scoring his first major hit with "Mi Debilidad" (My Weakness).

Recordings

Among Quintana's recordings are the following:

Soloist

• "Punto y Aparte"
• "Dos Imágenes"
• "Ismael Quintana" (1974)
• "Lo Que Estoy Viviendo" (1976) (What I'm Living Through) and
• "Amor, Vida y Sentimiento" (1977) (Love, Life and Feelings).
• "Jessica" (1979) (with Ricardo Marrero and The Group).
• "Mucho Talento" (1980) (with Papo Lucca
  Papo Lucca
  Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñonez, better known as Papo Lucca, born on April 10, 1946, Ponce, Puerto Rico.Papo Lucca is a famous Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist , but is best known as a pianist. Main musical genre focus are Salsa and Latin Jazz...
  
  ).
• "Quintana y Papo: Mucho Talento" with Papo Lucca
  Papo Lucca
  Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñonez, better known as Papo Lucca, born on April 10, 1946, Ponce, Puerto Rico.Papo Lucca is a famous Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist , but is best known as a pianist. Main musical genre focus are Salsa and Latin Jazz...
  
  

With Eddie Palmieri

• "Eddie Palmieri y la Perfecta" (1961)
• "El Molestoso" (1963)
• "Lo Que Traigo Es Sabroso" (1964)
• "Straight Ahead - Echando Pa’ Lante" (1964)
• "Azucar Pa' Ti" (1965)
• "Mozambique" (1965)
• "Molases" (1967)
• "Champagne" (1968)
• "Justicia"
• "Super Imposition"
• "Vamonos Pa'l Monte"
• "Recorded Live at Sing Sing
  Sing Sing
  Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
  
  , Vol. 1"
• "Recorded Live at Sing Sing
  Sing Sing
  Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
  
  , Vol. 2"
• "Sentido"
• "Timeless Live Recording"
• "Eddie Palmieri (1981)"
• "Live At The University of Puerto Rico
  University of Puerto Rico
  The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
  
  "

With Eddie Palmieri and Cal Tjader

• "Bamboleate: Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader"
• "El Nuevo Sonido Nuevo: The New Soul Sound: Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader"

With The Fania All Stars

• "Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 2"
• "Fania All Stars in Japan"
• "Live in Africa"
• "Salsa: Original Motion Picture Sound Track Recording"
• "Tribute To Tito Rodriguez
  Tito Rodriguez
  Tito Rodríguez was a popular 1950s and 1960s Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He is known by many fans as "El Inolvidable" , a moniker based on his most popular interpretation, a song written by composer Julio Gutierrez.-Early years:Rodríguez , born in Santurce, Puerto Rico,...
  
  "
• "Habana Jam"
• "Commitment"
• "Lo Que Pide La Gente"
• "Live In Puerto Rico 1994"
• "Bravo 97"
• "Viva Colombia"

With Jimmy Delgado

• "Salsa con Dulzura"

In addition to solos Quintana also participated with the Fania All-Stars

Fania All-Stars

The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...

 and went on tour with them to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Central

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 1976, he made an appearance in the movie "Salsa", with Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...

 and the Fania All Stars. During the 1980s he recorded "Vamos Hablame Ahora" (Come on Talk to Me Now) with Papo Lucca

Papo Lucca

Enrique Arsenio Lucca Quiñonez, better known as Papo Lucca, born on April 10, 1946, Ponce, Puerto Rico.Papo Lucca is a famous Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist , but is best known as a pianist. Main musical genre focus are Salsa and Latin Jazz...

.

Later years

Ismael Quintana semi-retired from the world of music and lived with his family in New York. He currently lives with his family in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

.

External links

• Popular Culture