Remembering Ralph Mercado (1941 - 2009): Tropijazz All-Stars on Video

Latin music promoter Ralph Mercado died on Tuesday March 10, 2009, leaving behind a legacy of memorable events, recordings, videos, and management that helped shape the sound of New York salsa and Latin Jazz. Mercado followed his passion for music at an early age, but he didn’t pursue a performance career; instead, Mercado saw the power of the support that he could provide by organizing events. As a Brooklyn teenager, he utilized local social clubs as locations for dances and “waistline parties” - a dance where men entered for free, but paid a penny for every inch on their date’s waist. He moved the parties to a second floor location on Atlantic Avenue and transformed the events into his own nightclub, bringing in New York Latin dance bands. Mercado’s business boomed and he soon started Showstoppers promotion which booked R n’ B acts, including James Brown and Aretha Franklin. In 1972 Mercado established RMM Management, bringing two major clients into his fold from the beginning - Eddie Palmieri and Ray Barretto. By this time, Mercado had been promoting acts in New York, working with groups such as the Fania All-Stars and Tito Puente. Mercado’s success led him to form RMM Records in 1987, bringing a massive number of Latin music heavy weights onto the label’s roster. The label defined salsa during the 1990s, walking the line between New York salsa dura and the lighter but popular salsa romantica approach. Mercado expanded the company to include RMM Filmworks, offering another opportunity to promote his artists. RMM Records fell victim to a copyright infringement lawsuit in the late 1990s, bringing a heavy fine that sent the company into bankruptcy. As a result, Mercado sold the company to the Universal Music Group in 2001. He continued to produce concerts and events throughout the New York area through 2009, keeping the scene alive. Mercado’s contributions allowed for the growth and distribution of New York Latin music throughout the modern era, ensuring the livelihood of that tradition.

Mercado’s work made the largest impact upon the salsa dance music world, but he readily saw the connection to Latin Jazz, which he promoted with the same strength and enthusiasm. He produced a subsidiary of RMM Records, entitled Tropijazz, which provided the opportunity to spotlight the jazz focus of several musicians on the RMM Records roster. Over the years, Tropijazz artists included timbalero Tito Puente, trombonist Juan Pablo Torres, pianist Hilton Ruiz, flautist Dave Valentin, pianist Eddie Palmieri, trumpet player Charlie Sepulveda, conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, and more. Each of these artists produced recordings as leaders for RMM Records, and in many cases, they appeared as sidemen on each other’s albums. None of these artists stayed with RMM Records for long, but rather bounced between different labels, contributing to RMM when possible. In many cases though, their RMM Tropijazz releases remain memorable. When most people think of RMM Records, the names of salsa artists such as Marc Anthony, La India, and José “El Canario” Alberto come to mind, but Mercado worked as a major Latin Jazz supporter throughout his career.

LJC will be revisiting some of Mercado’s Latin Jazz contributions next week, but we’re going to start today with a look at one of Mercado’s important Latin Jazz contributions - the Tropijazz All-Stars. Mercado worked with the Fania All-Stars at several points during his career, and he saw the musical and promotional benefits of bringing together a label’s bandleaders into a single group. The Tropijazz All-Stars presented an incredible line-up that included Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Giovanni Hidalgo, Charlie Sepulveda, Dave Valentin, Humberto Ramirez, David Sanchez, Hilton Ruiz, and more. Trombone player Juan Pablo Torres served as musical director, guiding the band through a wide variety of contributions from each artist. The group recorded two albums, TropiJazz All-Stars, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, delivering a stunning collection of virtuosic Latin Jazz. The group never built the momentum that the Fania All-Stars experienced, and their tenure as an ensemble was short lived. Fortunately, we’ve got some recollection of the group’s presence, a landmark in modern New York Latin Jazz.

I’ve collected a few videos of the Tropijazz All-Stars performing live, featuring a wide variety of the important musicians that served as group members. For those of you familiar with Mercado’s legacy, you’ll be pleased with the exceptional performances that you’ve come to expect from RMM artists. For those of you new to Ralph Mercado, prepare to be thrilled by the Tropijazz All-Stars’ exciting performances. So take a few minutes to check out the videos and remember Mercado’s major contributions to Latin music. Enjoy!

———-
Tropijazz All-Stars “Straight Street”