Aventura is a yamama Bachata music group formed in The Bronx, New York in 1994. The group comprises lead singer and featured composer Anthony Santos, guitarist and producer Lenny Santos, bassist Max Santos, and singer and composer Henry Santos Jeter. Aventura has sold over 1 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles "Enséñame a Olvidar", "Amor de Madre", "Obsesión", "La Boda", "Ella y Yo", "Un Beso", "Mi Corazoncito", "El Perdedor", and "Por Un Segundo".
History
The members of Aventura are typical of this generation, combining the influence of traditional bachata with the artistic and cultural diversity of life in New York. The group’s lead singer and songwriter, named (ironically) Anthony Santos, was born in the Bronx to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother.
[1] His cousin, who also sings and writes songs for the band, Henry Santos Jeter, is the only member of Aventura who was born in the Dominican Republic; he moved to New York at the age of 14.
[2] Lenny Santos, the group’s lead guitarist and arranger, and his brother Mikey, who plays bass, were both Bronx natives of Dominican origin.
[3] All of them grew up listening to the most popular bachateros of the era—singers like Blas Durán, RaulÃn RodrÃguez, Teodoro Reyes, and Joe Veras—but the biggest influence on the group was Antony Santos.
[4] The first member of Aventura to try his hand at music was Lenny Santos, who produced and arranged the first two albums for bachatero Elvis MartÃnez, who would later be known as “El Camarón.â€
At the same time, Santos started his own band with his brother Mikey. When they needed a singer, a friend told them about a kid from the neighborhood who sang, and Anthony joined the group, followed by his cousin Henry. Such an environment was hardly comparable to that of the members of Aventura when they began as “Los Teenagers.â€
[5] Rather than operate in the world of other bachata groups of the day, Aventura began their career playing for a specialized fan base of their friends and other local young people.
[6] This public was made up of the children of immigrants who, like the members of the group, had grown up in the US, spoke English as much or more than Spanish and shared a broader Latino-American culture rather than a strictly Dominican one. Signed to BMG, they released their debut -- with an outside producer. The material, however, was their own, and they resisted the attempt to turn them into a cookie-cutter boy band in the style of the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC by ensuring the bachata element remained dominant, and released their first album Trampa de Amor. The group’s local success caught the attention of producer Julio Cesar of Premium Latin and he signed them to a long-term record deal and changed their name to Aventura.
[7] In 1999, they released their second studio album Generation Next, which featured hits such as Amor Bonito, No Lo Perdona Dios, and Cuando Volverás. These songs introduced the group's style of singing in both English and Spanish. Although it would receive little promotion initially, the album would become big once their follow-up was released. In 2002, We Broke the Rules was released, featuring their hit single Obsesión, which reached the top spot of various charts internationally. It would first receive constant airplay in New York City in the summer of 2002 on stations Latino Mix 105.9 and La Mega 97.9, which led the single to becoming an international hit. The album featured other hits like TodavÃa Me Amas, Enséñame a Olvidar, and Amor De Madre. In March 2003, New York stations started promoting their third album Love & Hate after the success of "Obsesion", by leaking the first three singles La PelÃcula, I'm Sorry, and La Guerra, respectively. Although these singles were unable to chart, the album gained notoriety after its fourth single Hermanita was released in September 2004; it reached a peak position of 33 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks. After months of promotion, Love & Hate was finally released later that month.Aventura would return in 2005 strongly with two new singles "Angelito", and "Ciego de Amor". In April 2005, God's Project was released, which featured their third single "La Boda". The album was praised during the course of 2005 and 2006 with the singles "Ella y Yo" and "Un Beso". In September 2006, the single "Los Infieles" was released, which was featured three months later on Aventura's next album, K.O.B. Live. The second single "Mi Corazoncito" would become one of Aventura's most successful singles, as it peaked number one on the Hot Latin Tracks. "El Perdedor" would also charted number one on various charts. A few months later, promotion for their upcoming album The Last began with the single "Por Un Segundo". It reached number one on the Hot Latin Tracks in late January 2009. In addition to Por Un Segundo becoming a hit, radio stations began playing their second single, El Désprecio. The Last is slated to be released on June 9, 2009.
Musical Style
Aventura created their own unique style of bachata by infusing the sounds of hip hop, R&B and reggaeton.http://www.aventuraworldwide.com/bio.htm They use both English and Spanish in their lyrics.Aventura’s relationship with bachata’s original listeners and performers has been complex; even as Aventura’s stardom rises on the international market, the group has remained almost a footnote among bachata’s traditional listeners and artists. With the exception of “Obsesión,†the plethora of local cover bands in New York have made almost no attempt to learn and perform the group’s songs. Additionally, the members of the group have had acrimonious on-stage conflicts with such traditional icons as Luis Vargas and Frank Reyes. While bachata’s other “breakthrough†group, Monchy y Alexandra, is in good standing with bachata musicians, Aventura, despite having recorded songs with stalwarts like Antony Santos and Leonardo Paniagua, seem to belong to another world. This can be due in part to the band’s fashion statement; from the beginning, they have cultivated a cosmopolitan image, intentionally distancing themselves from the rural, humble, and nationalistic image of the traditional music. While their own young audience has identified strongly with this, many longtime bachata listeners criticize the band’s style as extravagant, denying furthermore that its music is really bachata. Another factor isolating the group has been the failure of any other group emulating Aventura’s sound to achieve and maintain commercial success. As such, Aventura has not become, as they originally imagined themselves, the precursors of a new style of bachata; rather, they have thus far been an idiosyncratic, if enormously successful, exception to the “Rules†that they claim to have broken.
Members
- Anthony Santos - Song Writer, Lead Singer, and Featured Composer
- Henry Santos Jeter - Singer and Composer/vocals
- Lenny Santos - Guitarist, Producer/Arranger
- Max Santos - Bass
Discography
See also: Aventura discography (detailed discography)
References
General
Specific
External links
Bachata musiciansMusical groups from New YorkDominican Republic musical groupsAventura Aventura AventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventuraAventura
