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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZRIVERA, Stan(b Stanley Thewlis, 29 January 1948, Huddersfield, Yorkshire) Flautist, tenor saxophonist, bassist, pianist and arranger. Learned his trade with Latin nightclub bands in Brussels; organized Valdez '82, the UK's first authentic 'typico' salsa band, but it proved too big to be viable, so he rationalized '84 to the renamed nine-piece El Sonido de Londres (Sound of London). At this band's first major gig at Islington Town Hall they upstaged the visiting Colombian band Barrio Latino and became the UK's pre-eminent salsa outfit, backing visiting artists such as singer Nelson Pinedo '84, singer Vitin Avilés in '85, conguero Daniel Ponce in July '85 and singer Junior González in '86, and supported Héctor Lavoe at his '84 gig in a Pimlico church hall; they contributed 'Dos Lagrimas' to the album Afro-Latino: Live From The Bass Clef, London '85 on Wave, released the 12" single 'Oye Colombia'/'Mi Melodia' '87 on Banana Records and sessioned on Charlie Gillett's late lamented Capital Radio show City Beats '84. Notable members of El Sonido were timbalero Roberto Pla (see his entry), Kim Burton (b 1956, Penzance, Cornwall, UK; piano/co-arranger; later contributing editor to World Music: The Rough Guide '94), Dave Pattman (b 1961, London, UK; bongo/cowbell/coro; gigged with Latin bands in NYC '88 and Miami '90) and sonero Luis Avendaño (b 1938, San Cristobal, Tachira State, Venezuela). El Sonido played their last gig mid-'88. After playing with Pla's Latin Jazz Ensemble (LJE) '87-9 and salsa band La Clave (formed late '87 by conguero Pete Eckford, b 1952, Southampton; subsequently led by timbalero Jim LeMessurier, b 1958, Guernsey), parental responsibilities obliged Rivera to relocate to Bristol; there he ran salsa workshops and formed Rivera y su Conjunto, which played various gigs including the Glastonbury Festival '94; in mid-'93 he guested as a soloist with Pla's LJE at a free concert on Clapham Common as part of London's second Gran Gran Fiesta! He returned to London late '95, gigging there as a bassist in various bands including Merengada, La Clave and Salsa y Aché. Following a two-year search for musicians ('because I'm a bit lazy', said Rivera) he co-founded Charanga Rivera '97, the UK's first charanga, with Venezuelan timbalero Wilmer Pérez; besides Rivera on flute, personnel including violinists Sarah Harrison and Colin Petit, Burton on piano, bassist Davide Mantovani, Greg Burke on conga, Colombian-born Alfonso de Jesús (ex-backup singer with Joe Arroyo) on lead vocals and young vocalist Javier from the Canary Islands. The new band made its London debut at Los Soneros club 19 April 1997. |