Caribe All Stars - C.A.S.'s video: Gilberto Santa Rosa - El Que Se Fue

Born Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortés on August 21, 1962, in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, El Caballero de la Salsa grew up listening to the salsa of the 1950s and '60s. He was chiefly influenced by El Gran Combo, a trailblazing salsa group including Rafael Ithier, Pellín Rodríguez, and Andy Montañez, each of whom left a lasting mark on the impressionable Santa Rosa. He began singing salsa at age ten and made his formal singing debut on January 6, 1975, during a television special commemorating Three Kings Day. He was only 12 years old at the time, and thereafter he wholeheartedly began pursuing his aspirations of becoming a professional salsero. His first recording opportunity came courtesy of trumpeter/arranger Mario Ortiz, who was a member of the Puerto Rico All Stars. During that recording session for Borinquen Records, Borinquen Flame (1977), he became acquainted with a growing circle of local salsa artists, including Elías Lopés and René Hernández. Santa Rosa became especially close with Lopés, a musical director, arranger, and trumpeter with whom he worked for a while; for instance, the two worked together on We Love N.Y. (1978), by José Canales' Orquesta la Grande. In turn, Santa Rosa worked with Tommy Olivencia, appearing on the T.H. Rodven Records album Tommy Olivencia & His Orchestra (1979), and also with the Puerto Rico All Stars, appearing on the Combo Records album Tribute to the Messiah (1979), where he can be heard singing lead vocals on the song "Busca Lo Tuyo." He also worked again with Lopés on Borinquen All Stars (1979). Then from 1981 to 1986, Santa Rosa worked as a backup vocalist for Willie Rosario; he can be heard on such T.H. Rodven-issued albums as The Portrait of a Salsa Man (1981) and Atizame el Fogón (1982). Good Vibrations At this point in his early twenties, Santa Rosa had grown into a talented sonero, earned recognition in the salsa community, and was no longer known as El Bebe de la Salsa, as he once had been. Granted, he didn't establish himself as a songwriter, nor as an arranger. Yet his talents were well evident, for he was a rousing performer with a deep-rooted grasp of tradition, which garnered him respect among salsa purists; plus, even early on in his career, he was a well-capable interpreter of songs, tailoring them fittingly for various moods. It was no surprise, then, when he pursued a solo career with Combo Records, one of the leading salsa labels of its time. Santa Rosa made his solo debut with Good Vibrations (1986), a formative album featuring arrangements by Mario Ortiz, Tommy Villariny (aka Tommy Villarini), Humberto Ramírez, Ramón Sánchez, and Carlos Torres, all of whom would contribute to successive albums. Keeping Cool! (1987) was another formative effort, and then with De Amor y Salsa (1988), Santa Rosa settled into the styles that would become his trademark: a wide-ranging style that encompassed salsa romántica as well as straight-ahead salsa, boleros as well as frenetic dance songs. His fourth and final album for Combo, Salsa en Movimiento (1989), was similarly impressive and individualistic, so much so that he began considering a move up to the major labels