Biography
Born as Javier Marin Velez in Colombia, Elkin Marin has performed and recorded on stages around the globe. He describes his style as "world music rooted in Latin rhythms," citing los Panchos, the Beatles, and Julio Iglesias among his chief influences. Although much of his output centers on Latin pop, toward the close of 1998 he voiced a wish to reconnect with his earliest musical sources.
As a child his family relocated to Caracas, Venezuela, where he and his brother Nelson (born Leon Marin Velez)—whose career trajectory would closely track Elkin’s own—signed with Rotna Records. An executive from the Spanish arm of CBS Records (now Columbia) caught their live set and offered them a contract. The siblings moved to Spain and recorded two mid-1970s albums for the label, Samba, Samba and Angeles y Demonios.
After leaving CBS they settled in Paris, France, and in the late 1970s completed the album Mulata with producer Robert Ash, whose prior credits include Bob Marley and the B-52’s. While in France they also worked with Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones on a project exploring Latin music, though the planned album was never issued.
Throughout the 1980s the brothers continued releasing material in Spain on an independent label before arriving in the Philippines for the first time in 1989. They cut Never Get Enough for the local independent OctoArts; the record appeared under the name Salsa Boys. It was simultaneously released in Spain through the independent label Pasion under the title Elkin & Nelson.
In 1993 a compilation combining tracks from Elkin & Nelson and the later Pasion album Espreciones was issued in the United States by Sony Music as Espreciones. The pair kept performing in night spots throughout the Philippines and across Asia. In late 1997 Elkin, performing without Nelson, released the solo album Elkin Marin on PolyCosmic Records, a joint venture between then-PolyGram and a local independent.
A composition by the brothers, "Jibaro," originally featured on their 1970s album Samba, Samba, appeared in remixed form on the 1998 soundtrack to the film Dance with Me starring Vanessa Williams. Also in 1998 Elkin became a part-owner of the Manila restaurant and night spot Bogota, where he announced plans to move away from pop toward more "authentic" acoustic Latin music and to record an album in that vein. In mid-1999 he severed ties with the venue and reportedly left the country. Elkin is an excellent, most-accomplished artist who deserves more international recognition, as proved by his professionalism and the beauty of his 1997 album, Elkin Marin, which was released only in the Philippines. ~ David Gonzales
As a child his family relocated to Caracas, Venezuela, where he and his brother Nelson (born Leon Marin Velez)—whose career trajectory would closely track Elkin’s own—signed with Rotna Records. An executive from the Spanish arm of CBS Records (now Columbia) caught their live set and offered them a contract. The siblings moved to Spain and recorded two mid-1970s albums for the label, Samba, Samba and Angeles y Demonios.
After leaving CBS they settled in Paris, France, and in the late 1970s completed the album Mulata with producer Robert Ash, whose prior credits include Bob Marley and the B-52’s. While in France they also worked with Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones on a project exploring Latin music, though the planned album was never issued.
Throughout the 1980s the brothers continued releasing material in Spain on an independent label before arriving in the Philippines for the first time in 1989. They cut Never Get Enough for the local independent OctoArts; the record appeared under the name Salsa Boys. It was simultaneously released in Spain through the independent label Pasion under the title Elkin & Nelson.
In 1993 a compilation combining tracks from Elkin & Nelson and the later Pasion album Espreciones was issued in the United States by Sony Music as Espreciones. The pair kept performing in night spots throughout the Philippines and across Asia. In late 1997 Elkin, performing without Nelson, released the solo album Elkin Marin on PolyCosmic Records, a joint venture between then-PolyGram and a local independent.
A composition by the brothers, "Jibaro," originally featured on their 1970s album Samba, Samba, appeared in remixed form on the 1998 soundtrack to the film Dance with Me starring Vanessa Williams. Also in 1998 Elkin became a part-owner of the Manila restaurant and night spot Bogota, where he announced plans to move away from pop toward more "authentic" acoustic Latin music and to record an album in that vein. In mid-1999 he severed ties with the venue and reportedly left the country. Elkin is an excellent, most-accomplished artist who deserves more international recognition, as proved by his professionalism and the beauty of his 1997 album, Elkin Marin, which was released only in the Philippines. ~ David Gonzales
Albums
Singles
