Concert by legendary singer Fernando Villalona in Union City
with one of the best known fusion reggaeton groups from Cuba,
Maxima Alerta
(Union City, NJ) The City of Union City, Mayor Brian P. Stack and the Board of Commissioners cordially invite the community to a special concert by legendary singer Fernando Villalona on Sunday, October 11, 2015 at the Union City Performing Arts Center, 2500 Kennedy Boulevard, Union City, NJ. The concert will also feature the US premiere of one of the most popular reggaeton fusion musical groups from Cuba, Maxima Alerta. Admission is free. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the concert will begin at 6:00 PM.
(Please note: general admission; space is limited; first come first served; preference to senior citizens and Union City residents; no alcoholic beverages allowed; and no big bags allowed.)
Free parking at the Municipal Parking Deck located on 23rd Street between Summit & Kerrigan Avenues.
Fernando Villalona in Concert
featuring Maxima Alerta
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Doors Open at 5:00 PM
Concert at 6:00 PM
Union City Performing Arts Center
2500 Kennedy Boulevard
Union City, NJ
Free Admission
Fernando Villalona, the first artist named "El Mayimbe" (born in Loma de Cabrera, Dajabón Province on May 7, 1955, Ramón Fernando Villalona Évora), is a Dominican merengue singer that began singing in the early 1970s, his popularity started to grow by the late 1970s and has not declined ever since. Fernando began singing at a very early age and became popular after participating in "El Festival de la Voz", an amateur TV talent show. After that, merengue icon Wilfrido Vargas hired him to be part of his group Los Hijos del Rey[1] but Fernando and the group would soon be separated after his popularity became larger than the group itself. He would then go into a period of drugs and isolation but never stopped singing, recording some of his best music during that period. In 2012, Villalona recorded "El Color de tu Mirada" with American singer/songwriter Victoria Daly. The music video was directed by Rene Brea in the Dominican Republic. It went to be nominated for "Best Music Video" at the Soberano Awards in 2013. Villalona began recording two singles with Latin sensation, Olga Tanon. Recording began in April, set to be released on her upcoming album.
Songs such as "Tabaco y ron", "Celos,", "Te Amo Demasiado,","La Hamaquita", "Dominicano Soy," "Sonámbulo," and "Carnaval" among others became popular in the 1980s. "Quisqueya," "No Podrás," "Música Latina," "Retorno," and "Me he Enamorado" were some of his biggest hits in the 1990s. In recent years he has had some health problems making performing a difficult task. But besides the fact that he has not been able to perform frequently, he probably still is the most important merengue singer in Dominican history. He was married to Evelyn Jorge a woman of Puerto Rican origin and they have a daughter named Paloma.
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Maxima Alerta Biography
All over Cuba, young people listen keenly to radio programs featuring reggaeton and their favorite group, Máxima Alerta.
It all began in Santa Clara, a busy city in the center of Cuba, where Ray Machado aka “El Italiano”, the lead singer, musical director, and composer for most of the songs of the group, developed the group.
In 2003 Máxima Alerta exploded on the scene, hitting radio and television stations with two songs, "Cast pa 'front' and “Adegüello 1895" which very quickly became popular throughout the country. Thanks to these successes, in 2004 they delivered their new album “Llegaron los Alertas”, recorded at Abdala Studios owned by renowned singer/composer Silvio Rodriguez with the French company Lusafrica, and joining their catalog and sharing the stage with popular groups such as La Orquesta Aragón, Polo Montañez, Anacaona, Isaac Delgado, Osdalgia, among others.
In 2005 Máxima Alerta was nominated to Cubadisco as “Best Album Rap, Dance and Hip Hop” which garnered the group great popularity both nationally and internationally, as well as topping the charts. Later in 2009 the group returned to the top of the charts with the song "La Figura" recorded with the group Gente de Zona.
Later in 2011, they released the CD “Alertas para Todos”, recorded and produced by Nando Pro in Havana, Cuba. This is an album containing fourteen tracks, of which six feature special guests: Yulien Oviedo and Dantes (Charanga Habanera); Alexander Delgado y Randy Marcos (Gente de Zona); Sisto Llorente "El Indio" (Orquesta Aragón); and Alain Daniel and Ramón Lavado (El Chacal). The CD also features a song dedicated to one of the greatest Cuban baseball players, Victor Mesa.
The group has crafted an intense and dynamic signature sound. This fresh sound is a fusion: elastic bass lines, powerful programming, catchy choruses sung in unison with warlike ardor, counterpoints that owe as much (if not more) to rap as to reggae or Latin beats… it all comes together to showcase voices that drive themselves mercilessly, to unleash a verbal bombardment of exceptional skill and intensity but at the same time accentuating the flavor and influence of Cuban music.
In October of 2015, Máxima Alerta will arrive in the United States to a swarm of eager fans waiting to hop on the musical train that is on track to take over the music world.
The rest is history to be written.
