Gilberto Santa Rosa

Gilberto Santa Rosa is one of the most esteemed, and certainly one of the most tradition-minded, soneros to rise to fame in the 1980s, and his popularity and acclaim only increased in subsequent decades, as did his stateliness. His style of salsa isn't easily categorized, for he often changes approach from one album to the next. His straight-ahead, dance-oriented albums (e.g., Perspectiva [1991], Auténtico [2004]) as well as his eclectic ones (Esencia [1996], Expresión [1999]) tend to be his most critically celebrated. On the other hand, his lavish albums (A Dos Tiempos De Un Tiempo [1992], De Cara Al Viento [1994]) as well as his primarily romantic ones (Viceversa [2002], Directo Al Corazón [2006]) tend to be his broadest-selling. Consequently, Santa Rosa is one of the more discussed salsa artists of his time. For sure, there's significant interest in his music and respect for his talent; however, there's little consensus about Santa Rosa's position within salsa, since his style is ever-changing. If Santa Rosa's music tends to differ stylistically from album to album, if not sometimes even song to song, his legacy remains firmly in place. He is El Caballero de la Salsa, or in English, the Gentleman of Salsa. Throughout his long career, Santa Rosa demonstrated a strong sense of character: he is individualistic, intelligent, romantic, disciplined, respectful, and mannered, not to mention talented. He began his solo recording career in 1986 on Combo Records, based in Puerto Rico, before moving to Sony Discos in 1990 and remaining there for a long run of albums, most of them very successful, if not critically then at least commercially. Santa Rosa's landmark albums include Perspectiva (1991), Esencia (1996), and Auténtico (2004), each a strong statement of purpose with something to prove. His key collaborators include arranger/producers Ramón Sánchez and José Lugo, who respectively helmed the majority of his studio albums. Other key figures in the career of Santa Rosa include Rafael Ithier (influence), Omar Alfanno (songwriter), Bobby Valentín (arranger), and Victor Manuelle (protegé), to name the most famous.

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