Son Del Monte bio

Manuel Rivera was born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents and grew up in the neighborhood known as Loisaida on the Lower East Side. His musical career started in 1973 playing bongo in the Yambú Orchestra, a group that combined Latin jazz and disco in its sound. He attended the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, where he learned how to play different percussion instruments, play in clave, conduct, and lead an orchestra. In 2016, he decided to establish his own group, bringing to fruition a lifelong dream. He decided to combine the sounds of charanga and conjunto, naming it “el chajunto.” This is how Son Del Monte was born, a New York orchestra with a “chajunto” sound, paying homage to all the great orchestras of the past but with its own swing.

Son Del Monte is made up of 11 or 12 musicians, all from different parts of the Latin world: Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Spain, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. The group was awarded the Taíno Nation Entertainment (TANAÉ) Digital Media Award for Best Orchestra in 2018 and was nominated again in 2019. The group has appeared at prominent venues and events such as the Lincoln Center Atrium, New York International Salsa Congress, Central Park, and Carnegie Hall’s Citywide concerts. Son Del Monte has recorded two albums: Son del Monte, Una Charanga Con Algo Mas and Son Del Monte y Los Macheteros, Como Te Gusta A Ti.