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Warner Music Group Names Alejandro Duque New President of ADA

Warner Music Group Names Alejandro Duque New President of ADA

Yahoo23-07-2025
Warner Music Group has named Alejandro Duque as the next president of its distribution arm ADA, the company announced Wednesday.
The news comes a day after Cat Kreidich wrote in an internal memo to staff that she'd be stepping down after four years at the helm.
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Along with his new role at ADA, Duque will continue his role as Latin America president. Latin music is one of the fastest growing areas in the industry, while distribution has become an area of increased focus for labels to grow their market share, putting Duque at the helm of two of the more high-profile divisions of the company. He will continue to be based out of Miami.
'Alejandro's leadership will help us differentiate ADA … providing independent labels and artists with opportunities at a speed and scale they won't find anywhere else,' WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. 'He has a proven track record of supporting the indie community, as well as a deep understanding of WMG's reach and resources as catalysts for global superstardom. This combination is going to bring down barriers for ADA's clients, plugging them more directly into our infrastructure, and empowering them to build their businesses.'
Prior to joining WMG back in 2021, Duque had roles at Universal Music Colombia, Universal Music Latino, Machete and Capitol Latin. Among the artists he's worked with at Warner Music Latin America are Natanael Cano, Myke Towers, Blessd, Danny Ocean and Elena Rose among others.
'Across the globe, there are dynamic, culture-shifting artists with a wide variety of needs to propel their careers forward,' Duque said in a statement Wednesday. 'We're committed to growing our distribution business and enhancing the ADA brand, through a combination of excellent service, flexible deal-making, and tech innovation. We've done this successfully in Latin America, and now we're taking that holistic approach to the entire business by integrating our independent distribution strategy even more tightly with our teams in the US and around the world.'
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Big drums, big sound — and a big space problem
Big drums, big sound — and a big space problem

Boston Globe

timean hour ago

  • Boston Globe

Big drums, big sound — and a big space problem

Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The only problem? It's a pretty loud oasis. Advertisement Taiko's big sound — one of the hallmarks of the art form — is also why Odaiko New England is having a tough time finding a long-term rental space where they won't annoy neighbors. In recent years, the group solved their noise issue by operating within the basement of the Regent, where the sound of their drumbeats doesn't travel outside. Juni Kobayashi, artistic and managing director of Odaiko New England, leads a 'Just Ji & Jammin' Drills' class. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff But the sound does bleed upstairs, and the new owner of the building is planning projects in the main theater space that require periods of quiet, some of which conflict with the group's class and practice schedule. 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Is 'The Howard Stern Show' Getting Canceled? Here's What We Know
Is 'The Howard Stern Show' Getting Canceled? Here's What We Know

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Is 'The Howard Stern Show' Getting Canceled? Here's What We Know

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Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies at 88
Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies at 88

Boston Globe

timean hour ago

  • Boston Globe

Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies at 88

Palmieri was born in New York's Spanish Harlem on December 15, 1936, at a time when music was seen as a way out of the ghetto. He began studying the piano at an early age, like his famous brother Charlie Palmieri, but at age 13, he began playing timbales in his uncle's orchestra, overcome with a desire for the drums. Advertisement He eventually abandoned the instrument and went back to the playing piano. 'I'm a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano,' the musician once said in his website biography. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His first Grammy win came in 1975 for the album 'The Sun of Latin Music,' and he kept releasing music into his 80s, performing through the coronavirus pandemic via livestreams. In a 2011 interview with The Associated Press, when asked if he had anything important left to do, he responded with his usual humility and good humor: 'Learning to play the piano well. ... Being a piano player is one thing. Being a pianist is another.' Palmieri's early career and Grammy triumph Palmieri dabbled in tropical music as a pianist during the 1950s with the Eddie Forrester Orchestra. He later joined Johnny Seguí's band and Tito Rodríguez's before forming his own band in 1961, La Perfecta, alongside trombonist Barry Rogers and singer Ismael Quintana. Advertisement La Perfecta was the first to feature a trombone section instead of trumpets, something rarely seen in Latin music. With its unique sound, the band quickly joined the ranks of Machito, Tito Rodríguez, and other Latin orchestras of the time. Palmieri produced several albums on the Alegre and Tico Records labels, including the 1971 classic 'Vámonos pa'l monte,' with his brother Charlie as guest organist. Charlie Palmieri died in 1988. Tito Puente Jr., center, speaks after Eddie Palmieri, left, and the late Tito Puente win the Grammy for best salsa album for "Masterpiece/Obra Maestra," at the 43rd annual Grammy Awards, Feb. 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press Eddie's unconventional approach would surprise critics and fans again that year with the release of 'Harlem River Drive,' in which he fused Black and Latin styles to produce a sound that encompassed elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz. Later, in 1974, he recorded 'The Sun of Latin Music' with a young Lalo Rodríguez. The album became the first Latin production to win a Grammy. The following year he recorded the album 'Eddie Palmieri & Friends in Concert, Live at the University of Puerto Rico,' considered by many fans to be a salsa gem. A global ambassador for Latin Jazz In the 1980s, he won two more Grammy Awards, for the albums 'Palo pa' rumba' (1984) and 'Solito' (1985). A few years later, he introduced the vocalist La India to the salsa world with the production 'Llegó La India vía Eddie Palmieri.' Palmieri released the album 'Masterpiece' in 2000, which teamed him with the legendary Tito Puente, who died that year. It was a hit with critics and won two Grammy Awards. The album was also chosen as the most outstanding production of the year by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico. Advertisement During his long career, he participated in concerts and recordings with the Fania All-Stars and Tico All-Stars, standing out as a composer, arranger, producer, and orchestra director. In 1988, the Smithsonian Institute recorded two of Palmieri's concerts for the catalog of the National Museum of American History in Washington. Yale University in 2002 awarded him the Chubb Fellowship Award, an award usually reserved for international heads of state, in recognition of his work in building communities through music. In 2005, he made his debut on National Public Radio as the host of the program 'Caliente,' which was carried by more than 160 radio stations nationwide. He worked with renowned musicians such as timbalero Nicky Marrero, bassist Israel 'Cachao' López, trumpeter Alfredo 'Chocolate' Armenteros, trombonist Lewis Khan, and Puerto Rican bassist Bobby Valentín. In 2010, Palmieri said he felt a bit lonely musically due to the deaths of many of the rumberos with whom he enjoyed playing with. As a musical ambassador, he brought salsa and Latin jazz to places as far afield as North Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, among others. Former Associated Press Writer Sigal Ratner-Arias is the primary author of this obituary.

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