Avid reader, sports enthusiast, outdoorsman, singing teacher, advisor, general study fanatic. There are many facets that define Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Domingo Quiñones, for whom his passion for music is just one of many.
At the age of 8 she sang with a broom in front of a mirror with an imaginary audience in her apartment in the Residencial Jardines de Ceiba, long before discovering that some time later her voice would sound as one of the most iconic internationally. , chiefly of the tropical genus.
But reading also fascinated him at the age of 9 with books by authors such as Pablo Neruda, Mario Benedetti and Mark Twain. “When I create a little more awareness, or create it within myself, I start reading because when I found out that my mother (Carmen Arroyo Flores) never went to school, I asked myself how am I supposed to do my homework do when my mother can’t read and write?’” She recalled her upbringing, also shared with her uncles in the Guayabota district, in Yabucoa, recalling the single mother from whom she also learned to love music . “My mother sang while washing. She was crazy about Lily and El Gran Trío,” added the award-winning performer, who will present the show Domingo Quiñones: 45 Years of Music at the Coca-Cola Music Hall on February 5.
With a troubled upbringing, when the Sonero talks about his career, he focuses not on the missteps but on the successes. “My mother was masterful both at defending us and at guiding us,” he said proudly. “My dad (Domingo) left when he was 4 years old,” he added, but the grudge never bothered him. “I saw him about 37 years later and when my mother found out he was in New Jersey she came into my mother’s house which had one room and I as if I had lived with him all my life because I loved him,” said the artist, who was also trained in taekwondo and boxing.
“God opened doors for me because before I played I already had a job in everything related to music and art,” he expressed gratefully, further recalling when since his youth after his mother moved in Thanks to his interpretative quality, he was related to great musicians in New Jersey.
“There are people you can ask that question and they start talking to you about so many obstacles and closed doors. I can’t talk about it. I opened my mouth when I was 14 and started recording at the same age. One day I opened my mouth to sing in a rumba, I remember in the rumba Frankie Ruiz, Junito Ruiz, the brother, Papo Rivera singing Christian music and they played conga. My mother didn’t let me go to this party,” he said of his mother’s overprotective attitude towards him and his brothers.
It was customary to share the microphone so that those interested could join in the musical celebration. Although he was aware of his singing talent, he hadn’t dared to show it in front of so many. “They were used to me saying ‘I don’t sing'”. But that day, that changed. “I opened my mouth and said (sings) Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Sun, Babae / Pretty early morning bird … And one of the boys said, ‘Hey, you’re singing,’ and I told him, ‘ not me’, so it’s about a little boy with a little street,” said the singer, who sometimes sang hit verses during the conversation to explain his anecdotes, showing the freshness of his voice at the age of 60.
Immediately, in the full school year, professional opportunities arose. The shyness was gone. “The first orchestra I started singing with was called the Tabú Orchestra in Paterson, New Jersey,” said the fellow record producer and actor, whose musical influences include rock, soul, jazz, disco and bolero.
In his extensive list of experiences he has worked with artists and groups such as José Alberto “El Canario”, Conjunto Nativo, Johnny Rodríguez and the Conjunto Clásico.
In the 1980s he realized one of his greatest dreams: to work in the Luis “Perico” Ortiz Orchestra, with whom he recorded albums such as “La vida en broma” (1985) and “In Tradition” (1986). Today, in addition to their work, they are connected by an almost family bond.
Jumping into a solo career wasn’t a difficult decision. “I started out as a backup singer and the biggest indication you can give to a singer in an orchestra who has been a backup singer is that when the album comes out they give me seven songs and two for the lead singer. From there I started a security”. In the early 1990s he launched Domingo es mi nombre.
“When I go out as a soloist, there are people who have nicknamed me ‘the one who sings the most’. I dare not say that I am the one who sings the most in my life. You won’t hear it out of my mouth.” It was then that he decided to return to Puerto Rico. From a solo discography with more than ten albums hits like Tú cómo estás, Enséñame, Si tú te vas and I’m not going to let you go remained Classics from his extensive catalog of salsa songs to name a few Collaborations with Tito Puente, Oscar De León and Tommy Olivencia added to the composer’s experience, who remains active with performances in and outside of Puerto Rico.
It’s worth noting that as part of his preparation, he took singing lessons from Seth Riggs, Michael Jackson’s vocal coach. In his academic interest, this motivated him to teach this art discipline for 16 years.
The performance also appeared under the occasions, with musical works Jesus Christ Superstar, Who Killed Héctor Lavoe? and I like it that way, among other things.
Motivation is a mission
The encounter with drugs shaped him in many ways. For a section of the public, it is about a shamed past, about an issue that needs to be ridiculed or criticized. The artist prefers to focus on his transformation, the learning he has gained, the empathy he has developed, and his interest in reaching out to those who, like him, have been going through moments of fear and hopelessness.
“I once tried what it’s like to give myself a passport at 16 and that’s it. I wouldn’t like to. I relapsed 25 years later,” he recalled. From that second stage, he shared the difficulty of breaking the addiction and clarified that “it didn’t last as long as people say.”
“I never started anyone with it. I would go places they wouldn’t find me, from the platter to the babote, dangerous places, but my kids wouldn’t see me. He arrived (at the house) wrecked from it. A staircase was built at the back,” he recalled, confessing among the anecdotes that he came to hike.
One of the hardest moments became the bridge to his new phase as a counselor and to a spiritual rebirth.
“One night the nurse is at home. It’s me and I’m breaking up with Benadryl,” he said. “Everyone fell asleep. I took the hook and went (lead) with the IV, and when I knocked on the person’s window, he saw me hanging up, that the blood was already there… he said to me, ‘Diache, you’re crazy . .. .’. And as I went down, a twig of tamarind got stuck in me and came out. That was a fountain. He wouldn’t stop and I “Lord, please”. I felt I was already weak. I said, “I’m going to die, Lord, forgive me if I don’t come back.” You know what? It stopped bleeding. I went to a liquor store and bought a can of chichaito. I had this handful of 37 bags, here (in the other) like 22 crack, for my house,” he said at length.
“I got a call from (musician) Cuto Soto, my producer, that it was me who brought him to church (years ago) and he stepped forward,” he continued. “He called me at 3:00 a.m. and said, ‘Domingo, are you going to keep going or are you going to quit?’ I had never cried like that before. I groaned. I told him “I want to quit, but I don’t know how”. He said, ‘Let me pray for you,’ and he prayed for me, and as he prayed for me, I felt something bubbling in my mouth, like (taste of) baking soda,” he described emotionally. “I threw everything away (the drug bags). I flushed it down the toilet, everything. Everything was gone from me, everything. I went to sleep and when I got up it had been years since I had looked up and seen the sun very differently. However, I knew I needed emotional help,” he asserted, and in fact he took the time to undergo specialized professional treatment as part of the process while embracing the spiritual side with greater conviction.
He is currently celebrating receiving his Masters in Addiction Counseling in March and beginning his PhD in the same field, determined to become an Addiction Specialist and continue to impact lives as he has done with his testimony and direct intervention with dozens of people People in crisis, since their transformation.
“I’ve spent half my life in pulpits, schools and rehabilitation homes,” he confessed as part of his commitment.
To celebrate with your audience
One of his reasons for celebration is his meeting with the public on February 5th.
“Showing people 45 years of music is impossible in one night but we’ll do it, I think the largest number of songs I’ve taken to a show in my life,” he said of the show, which Luis guests will be “Perico” Ortiz, Luisito Carrion and Carlos Garcia.
“It’s the most important of all that I’ve done in my life because it’s in Puerto Rico, it’s the time when salsa isn’t prevalent, maybe like other times, and I still feel like I have.” it started yesterday,” he said.
“People always stick to ‘otra’, ‘otra’ at patronal feasts, festivals… Here are the ‘otra’, ‘otra’ they have been asking me for so many years, from my first album to the one that I haven’t released yet, we have everything,” he confirmed of the repertoire he will present. “You’ll see facets of me that aren’t just the ones you know, interpretation,” added the father of Marisol, Josh and Markez and grandfather of Anushka, Joyce and Lucas, who is personally proud to be 45 years old . marriage to Sonia Ortiz, whom he met in Connecticut.
Tickets are available through Ticketera.com