Grupo Niche

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=120 BGCOLOR="#FFCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0443f781egdyul.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" ><B>Musica Salsa - Real Salsa and Latin Music</B></FONT> <B> </B><B>|    </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Musica Salsa Real Salsa and Latin Music"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Salsa Discography"><U>Salsa Discography</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="071a5a30.jpg" border=0 width="165" height="163" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=360 BGCOLOR="#CCFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Grupo Niche</div> <bR> <div> <B>Biography</B></div> <div> Grupo Niche has put Colombia on the scene, among the great ones of Salsa, turning the country into a World Class Salsa exporter and competing with the best artists from Puerto Rico and New York City. Niche already enjoys an international-band status; they have been able to expand their popularity all the way to Europe, where they were a big hit in the UK, and in the U.S where they would receive recognition at the 1989 New York Salsa Festival. The Cali-based band was formed during the 1980's, in Bogota. Mr. Jairo Varela, composer, arranger, percussionist and lead vocal, has been and still is the moving force behind Niche. Varela, coming from a family of professional artists (musicians and writers), has innate talent and has continuously contributed to the creation of many hits that have helped to build up the varied, ample and unbeatable discography of Grupo Niche. The quality of the product of this orchestra has won the band major deals with powerful as well as well-known record companies such as Sony, Sony International, Sonotone, Latino and Cayman. </div> <div> It would be in 1981 where Niche has the opportunity to begin their official career by releasing "Querer es Poder" into the music markets. Through this first piece of work, the group was able to show to the public their potential for music, projected through a rich salsa that was in turn produced by a majestic and instrumental line of saxophones, flutes, three trumpets together with a strong rhythm section that includes timbales, congas, bongos, maracas, a bass, a piano and choir as well as lead voices. With time, the Niche' members have changed. Nevertheless, always together with Varela, the orchestra has had professional musicians such as: Alexis Lozano (arrangements and direction), Tito Gomez, Moncho Santana, Homer "Tuto" Jimenez, "La Coco" Lozano (vocals), Michael Haas (keyboards), Alvaro Cabarcas (piano), Denys Machado (conga), William Valdez (bongos, timbales), Morrist Jimenez (trombone, Director), Danny Jimenez, Oswaldo Ospino (trumpet), etc. </div> <div> Some of the band's best releases includes: "Grupo Niche" (1994, Clave), "Huellas del Pasado" (1995, Sony), "Cielo de Tambores" (2000, Sony). In addition to these, the greatness of Niche can also be found in different compilations such as : "Brillantes (w/ Joe Arroyo)" (Sony, 1999), "Lo Mejor" (1998, Caiman) and "20th Anniversary Historia Music. Vol. 2" (1999 CMO). As experts and critics suggest, Niche's style is hard to define, yet easy and pleasant to listen to. Niche is one of the big ones in contemporary salsa.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Discography</B></div> <div> Millonarios De La Salsa </div> <div> Propuesta </div> <div> Antologia Del Grupo Niche </div> <div> Siempre Una Aventura </div> <div> 20th Anniversary </div> <div> A Golpe De Folklore </div> <div> Niche Mix </div> <div> Se Paso </div> <div> Senales De Humo </div> <div> A Prueba De Fuego </div> <div> El Unico </div> <div> Etnia </div> <div> Huellas Del Pasado </div> <div> The Best </div> <div> 12 Anos </div> <div> Un Alto En El Camino </div> <div> Historia </div> <div> Llegando Al 100% </div> <div> Cielo De Tambores </div> <div> Sutil Y Contundente </div> <div> Cara A Cara </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Comments</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>