Javier Arroyo and the Salsa Night Band at O'Day Park

Javier Arroyo, a Cape Cod resident, has deep roots in music. As a boy in Puerto Rico, his father and uncles would gather in the evenings, bringing their guitars along with the Puerto Rican cuatro, and sing old boleros, guarachas, rancheras, and decimas. They would give him nickels and quarters for singing the songs they especially liked. Arroyo loved the way the sounds intermixed and soon developed his singing skills in tone with them. He has performed with such artists as Willie Colon, Luisito Ayala, Puerto Rican Power, and El Gran Combo. Javier Arroyo and the Salsa Night Band, a 12-piece group featuring some of the best musicians in the Northeast, debuted at Boston’s Puerto Rican Festival in 2002 and just released its first CD.

From merengue and salsa to Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz, the fifth-annual Tito Puente Latin Music Series – presented by Berklee College of Music; Villa Victoria Center for the Arts; and ParkARTS – heats up on Thursdays in July (9, 16, 23, and 30) with danceable rhythms by Berklee faculty, students, and guest from various parts of Latin America, including the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Mexico.

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