Esta Navidad — Willy Chirino Album Version Top Latino Navidad Vol. 2, 2011 Como Un Explorador — Angie Chirino, Cheito Quinones, HENRY GARCIA, MANUEL TEJADA, Olgui Chirino, Willy Chirino Album Version.
Recording artist Willy Chirino holds his award backstage for the best salsa/merengue album for 'Son Del Alma' at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Now, the Cuban-born, Miami-based salsero hopes to expand his national and international reach with a fledgling independent outfit. Chirino’s new album, “Algarabia,” is set for a May 20 release through a partnership between Chirino’s own label, Latinum, and Eventus, the label launched in 2007 by Eventus Marketing. The album will be distributed by Sony BMG, Chirino’s label for 15 years. “Algarabia” is predominantly salsa, albeit with touches of reggaeton and rock guitars, as well as a couple of romantic boleros.
The album features 13 tracks, and on top of that Chirino recorded two iTunes exclusives. Chirino’s distribution move sounds daring, but he’s expanding a model he took up seven years ago when he left Sony and created his own label, which was distributed by indie Delanuca.
“I realized my records were in the hands of people that really didn’t vibrate with the music,” Chirino says. “So I decided to take the reins of my career. If you have the capacity to do that, it’s the best possible move.” GOOD FIT With Eventus, Chirino has found a partner he can lean on. The company produced and marketed Chirino’s two 35th-anniversary concerts last year with such success that Chirino approached the company for management. Now Chirino, along with Eventus owner/president Nelson Albareda, is a partner in the company’s label and management units.
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Omer Pardillo, Celia Cruz’s former manager, is also a partner. The Eventus test drive was a Chirino live CD/DVD set — “En Vivo: 35 Aniversario” — taped during the show and later sold as a PBS special. The sales have been a meager 2,000 copies via independent distribution, according to Nielsen SoundScan, but the set could receive a substantial boost from “Algarabia” and its major-label support. Still, the success of the model is not so much in the label, Albareda says, but in shows and sponsorships. Chirino’s anniversary set, for example, will be sold during PBS pledge drives in New York and Florida cities Orlando, Tampa and Miami in June, when stations in those cities will air his special. “Algarabia” features duets with a wide assortment of performers, including Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury and Venezuelan sonero Oscar D’Leon.
The single “Pa’lante” is a duet with Chilean troubadour Alberto Plaza. This week, the track is No. 19 on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart. “My music is music to dance to,” Chirino says. “Of course, I also have social commentary — but it has to be danceable. And from that point on, creativity can be applied.” Several songs are politically charged, and many deal with Cuba.
Chirino plans to perform in the United States, Mexico and Europe, finishing with a concert at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami in the fall, his first arena solo date in the city. But as important as the tour is, Chirino says, his immediate concern is his album. “I always, always have considered the album to be the single most important project in a career,” he says. “It’s what remains for other generations to listen to. The true purpose of an artist is to become immortal through his work.” Reuters/Billboard.