Biography
Born on 17 September 1948 in Puerta De Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Raphy Leavitt established himself as an all-round salsa band leader, pianist, arranger, composer and producer. His earliest ensemble, Los Señoriales, came together during his early teens. He assembled La Banda Latina in 1966, a period when his sets consisted solely of cover versions drawn from other groups’ hits. After earning a degree in commercial administration from the University of Puerto Rico, he taught commerce at San Agustin College in Puerta De Tierra, the same institution where he had completed his own elementary, intermediate and secondary schooling.
In 1971 the prolific musician launched La Selecta, an orquesta featuring trombones and trumpets alongside a rhythm section of conga, bongo, timbales, cowbell, güiro, bass and piano, plus lead and chorus voices. The group signed with Borinquen Records, issuing ten albums, including one compilation, on the imprint from 1971 through 1979. Leavitt’s debut composition, the bolero montuno “Payaso,” achieved bestseller status; both the single and La Selecta’s self-titled first album attained gold certification. The following year the band scored a major international success with “Jibaro Soy.”
Leavitt and his musicians suffered a motor-vehicle collision on the Connecticut Turnpike in the United States, resulting in the death of trumpeter Luisito Maisonet and a cerebral contusion that nearly proved fatal for Leavitt himself. Six months of hospital recovery followed, during which three additional band members also received treatment. Composed as a posthumous tribute to Maisonet, “La Cuna Blanca” reached the top of the charts in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panamá, Venezuela, Colombia and the U.S. Latin listings, earning Leavitt his second gold disc for sales of the Jibaro Soy material. The same pair of songs brought him the Composer of the Year award and the Golden Bust of Rafael Hernández, the latter born in 1891 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and deceased on 11 December 1965, widely regarded among Puerto Rico’s foremost composers.
La Selecta’s first post-accident public performance took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the ensemble received the Bronze Plaque of Madison Square Garden at the concert’s conclusion. The 1976 single “El Buen Pastor,” taken from De Frente A La Vida... Facing Life, became another international hit and was certified gold. On the 1978 album Raphy Leavitt La Selecta Orchestra, Sammy Marrero—lead singer since the band’s inception—was joined by Tony Vega, who handled lead vocals on half the tracks; Vega departed for Willie Rosario’s band prior to Leavitt’s subsequent release.
Leavitt moved to TH (Top Hits) Records, delivering three albums between 1981 and 1983. Carlitos Ramírez entered La Selecta as co-lead singer for the group’s tenth-anniversary recording. Two further albums appeared after the band switched to Bobby Valentín’s Bronco Records. For the 1986 Bronco debut Somos El Son, Leavitt engaged the talented Puerto Rican arranger/pianist Isidro Infante to compose half the tracks. In 1987 La Selecta earned the Puerto Rican music industry’s Diplo award for Band of the Year. Young, subtle-voiced Osvaldo Díaz, born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, completed a trio of lead vocalists alongside Marrero and Ramírez on the 1988 album Se Solicita Un Cariño, for which Infante supplied every arrangement.
The 1990s opened with Leavitt inaugurating his own RL Records imprint. Its inaugural release, his album Provócame!, registered on Billboard’s tropical/salsa chart; the salsa romántica title track, performed by Díaz, reached the Top 5 in Puerto Rico. Infante handled the arrangement for “Provócame” and six additional selections on the record.
In 1971 the prolific musician launched La Selecta, an orquesta featuring trombones and trumpets alongside a rhythm section of conga, bongo, timbales, cowbell, güiro, bass and piano, plus lead and chorus voices. The group signed with Borinquen Records, issuing ten albums, including one compilation, on the imprint from 1971 through 1979. Leavitt’s debut composition, the bolero montuno “Payaso,” achieved bestseller status; both the single and La Selecta’s self-titled first album attained gold certification. The following year the band scored a major international success with “Jibaro Soy.”
Leavitt and his musicians suffered a motor-vehicle collision on the Connecticut Turnpike in the United States, resulting in the death of trumpeter Luisito Maisonet and a cerebral contusion that nearly proved fatal for Leavitt himself. Six months of hospital recovery followed, during which three additional band members also received treatment. Composed as a posthumous tribute to Maisonet, “La Cuna Blanca” reached the top of the charts in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panamá, Venezuela, Colombia and the U.S. Latin listings, earning Leavitt his second gold disc for sales of the Jibaro Soy material. The same pair of songs brought him the Composer of the Year award and the Golden Bust of Rafael Hernández, the latter born in 1891 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and deceased on 11 December 1965, widely regarded among Puerto Rico’s foremost composers.
La Selecta’s first post-accident public performance took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where the ensemble received the Bronze Plaque of Madison Square Garden at the concert’s conclusion. The 1976 single “El Buen Pastor,” taken from De Frente A La Vida... Facing Life, became another international hit and was certified gold. On the 1978 album Raphy Leavitt La Selecta Orchestra, Sammy Marrero—lead singer since the band’s inception—was joined by Tony Vega, who handled lead vocals on half the tracks; Vega departed for Willie Rosario’s band prior to Leavitt’s subsequent release.
Leavitt moved to TH (Top Hits) Records, delivering three albums between 1981 and 1983. Carlitos Ramírez entered La Selecta as co-lead singer for the group’s tenth-anniversary recording. Two further albums appeared after the band switched to Bobby Valentín’s Bronco Records. For the 1986 Bronco debut Somos El Son, Leavitt engaged the talented Puerto Rican arranger/pianist Isidro Infante to compose half the tracks. In 1987 La Selecta earned the Puerto Rican music industry’s Diplo award for Band of the Year. Young, subtle-voiced Osvaldo Díaz, born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, completed a trio of lead vocalists alongside Marrero and Ramírez on the 1988 album Se Solicita Un Cariño, for which Infante supplied every arrangement.
The 1990s opened with Leavitt inaugurating his own RL Records imprint. Its inaugural release, his album Provócame!, registered on Billboard’s tropical/salsa chart; the salsa romántica title track, performed by Díaz, reached the Top 5 in Puerto Rico. Infante handled the arrangement for “Provócame” and six additional selections on the record.
Albums
