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Artist
Chamaco Ramirez
12+ albums
latinosalsa
about
Chamaco Ramirez (September 10, 1941 - March 27, 1983) was a Puerto Rican salsa singer and composer. He came to prominence and is still mostly remembered for his work as singer of the Tommy Olivencia Orchestra. Ramirez, was born Ramon Luis Ramirez Toro in the Parada 26 section of Santurce, Puerto Rico. A naturally gifted musician since his early youth, at the age of 16 and while still a High School student, he joined Tommy Olivencia to start the orchestra which would bear Olivencia's name and which would later go by the moniker of La Primerisima Orquesta de Puerto Rico. With Tommy Olivencia y Su Orquesta, in which Ramirez shared vocals with Paquito Guzmán, he would work from 1960 to 1971 and again from 1974 to 1976. He recorded eight albums with this orchestra which are now considered classics of the Salsa genre. In the 1960`s, while still a member of Tommy Olivencia y Su Orquesta, he also contributed vocals to albums by the Alegre All Stars and Kako and his Orchestra. Besides his vocal work which was marked by his ability to improvise, he was also a gifted composer who wrote the Salsa classic, Trucutu, later covered by Marc Anthony. Among his other hits include "Plante Bandera" (which was later covered by reggaeton artists Tego Calderon and Tempo Alomar) and "Evelio Y La Rumba" (which was later covered by salsa group Los Soneros Del Barrio). After leaving Tommy Olivencia's orchestra, Ramirez moved to New York City where he worked with the orchestra of Kako Bastar. Later
