Venezuelan Director of orchestra, pianist and saxophonist with a career shared between New-York, Porto-Rico and Venezuela.

His best songs still make salseros of the world dance!

Juan -Johnny- Sedes was born on July 18th 1937 in San Felipe, in the State of Yaracuy, Venezuela. He grew up in Caracas.

At age 8 he took private piano lessons. He started to compose at age 14. Not knowing how to write music yet, someone would transcribe his arrangements.

In 1953, the orchestra "Billo’s Caracas Boys" recorded one of his songs: “Ya te olvidé” and made it both a popular and commercial big success. The beginning of a long series as Víctor Piñero and Pacho Galán’s orchestra recorded one of his merecumbé called: “Linda Muñequita” that will also be a "hit". Later Alci Sánchez will ask him for a composition. That way, very young he was already known by the music world.

Failing to enter a music school, he will find himself in a school for electronics in the armed forces where he soon became an officer (sergeant technician). He will be sent to New Jersey, in the USA for his studies at age 20. He will take that opportunity to drop off his compositions at Morrow Music and dedicate his week-ends to piano and saxophone lessons.

Morrow Music brought him closer to tito puente who will record “Nostalgia Borinqueña” for him. In the meantime many orchestras of the Big Apple were starting to play his compositions.

La orquesta broadway recorded his song “Noches Caraqueñas” and Tito Puente “Tatiana” [1], Vicentico Valdés will interprete his bolero "Ya no”.

At that time he started to play in Kenny Gómez orchestra (in a sort of Richie Ray musical way).

Johnny came to New York with his wife Gladys and his daughters Tatiana and Alexandra. To make it through till the end of the month, he had to work as a musical promoter in the record company that helped him out at the beginning.

That enabled him to fill in his address book and to continue playing on the week end. He then played in orchestras of the previous generation (Manolín Morel Campos and chuito velez).

Johnny Sedes’ ambition was to be an orchestra director ; he dashed into the recording of his first album in 1966, under the Label seeco. Vitín López will be found for vocals (“El Cantante de la Salsa”) and a song about salsa -“Aquí y Allá”- will be present in the album. It is one of the first recordings [2] where the word "salsa" can be found. Thank to Carlín Rodríguez, leadsinger for federico y su combo latino, who had visited him with the record " Llegó la Salsa" in hands and telling him how much success this had met in Venezuela. Johnny Sedes enjoyed and it and used the word.

In 1969 Johnny Sedes recorded under the Label fonseca : " Johnny Sedes And His Orchestra : mama calunga". The presence of saxophone on the tracks : "Carúpano", "Doce Cascabeles", "El Manicero" (sung by chivirico davila) gave the record his success. Chivirico sang "La verdad" accompanied of Leo González (Venezuelan singer) and Bobby Cruz with the backsingers. "Mamá Calunga" is marked by the influence of Bobby Cruz. "Acere Voz Quiere" is a bomba with jala jala. "Te Vas" un bolero.

At the end of the 70s, Johnny Sedes will go back to Venezuela and record with Discomoda the album "salsa con cumbé or salsafrocumbe" in 1975. A record distributed in New York by discolando, where the songs “Soy Latino” and “La Macarena” would shine.

Willy Pérez, Jorge Romero “Romerito”, Alfredo Padilla, Chaparro and the famous trompettist as known as “Romerote” joined him on his Venezuelan recordings. Another record under the Label CBS in 1977 presents the same musicians next to José Velásquez and singers Dimas and Jesús Marcano.

The lack of real success in Venezuela made him come back to New York in 1980. He records with sonero Orlando Castillo "Watussi" : "Acabando".

One more return to Venezuela in 1989, then he leaves for Porto Rico.

Johnny Sedes is currently sharing his days between Venezuela and Porto Rico.

He ponctually officiates on Radio Caracas TV.

Thanks to Chabelita writter for the website > Buscasalsa.com for this biography. It was written and published on August, 1st 2006 inspired by an interview of the artist made Alfredo Churión D. and published April 21st 2005 in ww.magazine.com.ve / (biografia basada en la entrevista entre Alfredo Churión D. publicada el 21 de abril de 2005 en el www.magazine.com.ve).

To read original article (in French)

[1] Tatiana = one bossa nova dedicated to Johnny Sedes’s daughter. [2] one among many others the same year.