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PROFILING TONY OF RITMO CALIENTE

Back before any of us can even remember, there was someone pushing the Salsa scene here in Utah. With his music and organizational skills he made the genre popular in the state and mainly in the Salt Lake City area.

We are talking about Tony from Ritmo Caliente, Pachanga Orchestra, Salsa Brava and many other band names that fall in his belt. This man has been around pushing and making Salsa popular as long as anyone can remember, and then some.

It is an honor, a complete humble honor to introduce to you Tony, a true pioneer in the state of Utah when it is about Salsa music.

Could you please give us some background information before anything?

Hi everyone, my complete name is Tony Saint Hilaire, I am married and I am from the Dominican Republic.

I remember when I first got to Utah, you were the first Latin band back then right?

Yes indeed, I arrived to Salt Lake City back in 1972 and I started to play Salsa, Merengue and more in 1976, so yes, back then we were the only band that was playing this sort of music. It's about 34 years that I have been playing already... hehehe...

Now you are playing with Ritmo Caliente, can tell us some history of your playing?

Well right now I am playing with Ritmo Caliente, this is the latest musical version that we came up with. We started so long ago with other names, and many people would remember the Pachanga Orchestra that I started long ago. That was I think one of the first ones that I remember really, because before that we used to play but there was not really a name for it here in Utah. It was a lot of work to get around and get known, specially when I came up with Salsa Brava Orchestra, which I think is the one that had the most success in this state all together. It was the most prestigious band here in Utah. I remember that I started that one 12 years ago, after that I retired for a while, and that is when Ritmo Caliente comes because I was already craving to play. I couldn't stay sit and put in my house, I had a musical itch, the music called me, and that was the main thing that drove me back into making music once again.

How old is Ritmo Caliente?

Ritmo Caliente is about two years old and a couple of months.

Let's talk about Latin Music back 12 years ago, when you were Salsa Brava, how do you describe it?

I think that it was so strong back then, not because of the people, but because we were the only option too. Today, we have so many more options and there are plenty bands and orchestras, there are many places where you can go and listen to music. Back then it was a concentration of people, everyone will be at one place and that was it. If you got there at ten or ten or later in the night, you were out of luck! You were not able to get in the club anymore because it was packed to no end. There was so many people when we used to play, and since there was no other place for people to go to if they wanted to listen to this type of music, it was always full. Back then too, I gave Salsa Brava a lot of promotion, it was so huge that we were playing so much, and everyone, when they wanted a band, they wanted Salsa Brava. It was somewhat of a monopoly I guess.

Back then, the audience was only Latin or was there a strong American following too?

Well, back then and even today, we did try very hard to have everyone in there. We wanted to create a bridge between the two of them, and I like to use that term when I talk about the audience and the bands that I've had. Back then we had a huge following from the Latin community, and it was because we were the orchestra that was making the big noise, but back then we would get hired by the American clubs. So you could say that it was about 80 percent against 20 percent, which a lot Americans started to follow us too, and their attendance grew and because of them this type of music grew in this state. Then after a little while, little by little the percentage of Americans started to grow so much that I remember that we were wanted by both sides, and they would fight to get us booked on their places, it was so nice to see that we were so appreciated. It was so much fun.

Do you still enjoy playing as much as before, the golden years?

I still love it, I enjoy it so much. I love to see so many peolpe out there that played in my orchestras, and now I see them with their own bands and playing with other new peolpe and spreading this joy. That gives me very much back when I see the new bands, because all of that came from my basement in my house, it was like my little music school and now I see them with their own bands, and doing it in their own style, that makes me very proud.

Do you consider yourself the first school of Salsa music in Utah?

I been known to use that term yes. I do because a lot of people that I see playing with their bands didn't know much about playing Salsa back then. They only knew about Latin Jazz, which back then was a huge general genre. We are talking about playing the music from Santana, they would play the music that was more of a cross-over than the Salsa I knew. When I came around, I started to show them some of the Salsa I grew up with, music from Hector Lavoe, Larry Harlow, Pico Rodriguez and more. These are Salseros from back in the day when I was growing up. So when I came and started to play that, then some of those names started to sound more and more familiar, names like Eddie Palmieri, Ismael Miranda and more became more known by the music makers.

How do you see the scene today in Utah, do you think there is more of a division than before?

I think that was been divided is not really the genres, but the people. I don't mean that they go against one another, but they just go to different places since there is more options. If you want to listen more Salsa than anything else, you know where you will go, same goes if you want to listen to more Rock en Espanol, or if you want to listen more of Tejano music, you know where to head out to. People that goes to see Ritmo Caliente know that they will listen mostly to Salsa and Merengue, people just know where to head out now with such diversity.

Do you have a special preference on what to play?

I am a Salsero! I know I am dominican, and a lot of people think that because of the I am a Merenguero, but I really grew up with more of a musical expression, more technicality and complicity, I grew up with Salsa. I remember that as soon as I arrived in Puerto Rico, Nueva York, I always like the variation towards the composition of the music more than everything else. Salsa just takes more of a skill to play, and that is why I like it.

Any favorite song or songs that come to mind?

There are tons. Many little parts of songs even. The songs that I like the most are the ones that remind me of moments that I lived, it depends where I was and what I was doing. But to come to mind I remember Chita, Casablanca, Del Corso, Del Apollo, De Casa Boriquen, and specially of songs when I was young.

Do you have an idol, someone to follow?

Depends, if we talk about Piano then it would be Eddie Palmieri, Papo Luca, Larry Harlow, Mangual, when we talk about other types of instruments then the names keep on coming like Roberto Roena, Tito Lopez, there are just many of them, and it depends on what they were good at. I really admire many, many people. The same with the songs as you just heard me say so many of them.

How did you get to be a Salsero specifically?

Hahaha... it was my dad really. My father was a musician! I grew up with music all around me. It is just like everything else, if your parents raised chickens, then you ate chickens... you know?
That's the best way to express it. I remember my dad playing instruments, and when I was about 5 or 6 years old, I used to pick them up and start to play with them.

Have you ever had a bad experience in Utah?

Here in Utah, hmmm... hmmm... no... not really. I can't really complain. I just remember that sometimes we played and the place was empty. But even on those moments we really took advantage of the situation. When the places were empty we used to play without any volume, and to see how we would play just like that without any speakers, and just plain instruments... hehehe... so as you can see, I don't really see them as a bad experience, but really as a good lesson to learn from. We took those experiences to become stronger and wiser.

Any good anecdote that you could tell us?

One particular comes to mind. I remember that one time we were booked to play in Denver, Colorado and it was snowing hard, we were having such a bad time to get there, and as soon as we got there we found that the place where we were going to play was closed, not just that but we had to stay in the night because the snow was so heavy that day.
When I talked to the owner of the place, he told us that he would pay for our food and our stay, and he asked us if we were doing something the next day. When I told him that we weren't doing anything, he invited us to play at this other place instead, and without any promotion or publicity, with a one day notice, it ended up being one of the best parties I played at. One of the most memorable experiences in my playing career.

How come we haven't seen much of Ritmo Caliente much lately?

At the moment I am in a transition state. I am going back and forth between Salt Lake City, Palm Beach Florida and Dominican Republic. That is really something that is stopping me from playing much lately, but I do intend to play more often or at least as often as I can because I really enjoy it.

Have you seen our site, UTAHSALSA.COM?

Of course I have seen it. At first I was very curious about it, and I was asking where did it come from. And let me tell you that this page is really a necesity now, we needed something that was able to show the world that here in Utah, we had a musican scene. We needed something that showed about the dancers, the clubs, the places, the bands and more to the world. It is really opening many doors to many people. We really need something like UTAHSALSA to show our community to the rest of the people, and to get our own community more involved in it as well. So I think is so great that you guys came around, before you, there was really nothing like it on the web. I really congratulate you guys, I read all the articles, and I always check the calendar because it lets me know what's going on during those days, please keep up the good job, and grow stronger, and whenever you guys need me, my doors are open.

Any message to all the people out there?

A huge thank you. That is the very first thing I would like to say, specially after so many years. When I got here, there wasn't really any opportunity to make it with what I was trying to make it, I really like to thank the many people in our community that made it all possible. I don't even know what else to say, I've had the pleasure of having so many people supporting what I do for so long, I just have to keep thanking them for all that they have done. Thank you everyone, and god bless.