A new, suave voice in Orlando Ortiz (an ex Pittsuburgh Pirates baseball player from 1984 to 1986) was adopted by The New Swing Sextet (NSS) to hone his skills and to break comfortably into NSS's sweet sounds last night at TAJ Lounge, NYC. I told George Rodriguez: "This one's a keeper!" The guys of NSS seemed very pleased with him. Orlando's a 43 year old, born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I asked him who his absolute favorite vocalist was and he immediately responded "Cheo Feliciano!" He continued to tell me that he remembers Cheo was the father of a childhood friend in Puerto Rico but at the time didn't know it. "I remember accidently breaking "una figurita" in my childhood friend's house and he (Cheo) was mad! To think, I didn't even know it was Cheo Feliciano at the time!", Orlando shared. "I have no formal training", Orlando continues, "but my mother is one of 14 sisters and in Puerto Rico, they all played guitar and sang. Singing is in me; in fact, I get anxious when I know I have to sing. I just love singing and exercising!", he shared, laughing. Orlando presently lives in Connecticut and is also the vocalist for Karibe Mambo, a band out of Connecticut (www.KaribeMambo.com) specializing in an Afro-Puerto Rican sound. "A la Cortijo?", I asked. "Yea! Bien Boricua" Orlando said.
Orlando sure did look (and sound!) comfortable and seemed to be having a ball singing for NSS last night. This vocalist was discovered by Angel (conga player and co-leader of NSS) at The Fonda Boricua and he loved his style, excitingly informing the rest of the band about this singer. Look out for him, y'all!! This Wednesday, NSS should be well on their way to Turkey to make people swing out there! "The first thing I am going to find out is where the gym is", said Orlando.
By Ana FloresViejoteca Correspondent New York Bureau
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