Típica 73

Típica 73 was a popular New York Cuban charanga and salsa band in the 1970s and early 1980s, formed with a number of musicians from Ray Barretto's band. The term típica refers to the "typical" configuration of a Cuban charanga with violin, and 73 to the year of founding the group.Típica 73's music was notable for its experimental style, and was the first US-based salsa orchestra to record in Cuba with the album Típica 73 En Cuba Intercambio Cultural. Tipica 73 featured several salsa musicians who would go on to become famous as solo artists, including vocalist Adalberto Santiago, José "El Canario" Alberto and violinist Alfredo de la Fé. In the nascent and thriving New York Latin jazz and salsa scene in the early 1970s, the group began with Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez Jr and four of Ray Barretto's original band including Adalberto Santiago (who all left Barretto simultaneously to start Tipica 73 in 1972), and, after combining the conjunto percussive style (congas, timbales, and bongos) with a horn section the band became one of the biggest stars of the salsa movement in the US. However, the band's lineup ended up with an almost different cast by the start of the following decade, with several of the original members having left after differences in the late 1970s regarding whether the band would continue to play tipica music, with Santiago and three others leaving to form Los Kimbos. Rodriguez Jr was the only constant in the band, and he and remaining members would split in 1982, but not without a tribute to the charanga style, the 1980 release Charangueando con la Tipica 73, which included standout versions of Tito Puente's "A Donde Vas" and Cachao's "Chanchullo", among others. According to Greg Prato of All Music Guide Magazine, in 1995, Tipica 73 reunited for a successful concert in Puerto Rico, which led to a series of shows four years later.