Ismael Miranda was born on February 20, 1950, Aguada, Puerto Rico.
Singer/songwriter Miranda was one of the most popular soneros (extemporizing
salsa singers) of the 70s salsa boom. His parents and an uncle took him to live
in Long Island, USA when he was four years old; later on he moved with his
family to the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York City. He started studying
singing at about eight years old and by 11 years of age he had mastered the
conga. He performed with the bands of Pipo, Benny Ortiz, Raúl González and Andy
Harlow ( Larry Harlow's brother) before joining Joey Pastrana's orchestra at the
age of 16. He made his recording debut with Pastrana on Let's Ball (1967),
performing on the big hit track "Rumbón Mélon". Larry Harlow, who had seen
Miranda sing with his brother Andy's band, recruited the young sonero to perform
lead vocals for his Orchestra Harlow in July 1967. "His voice was young, clear,
strong and above all he had great presence . . . Ismael combines his Puerto
Rican blood, Cuban flavour and American know-how into a dynamic style," wrote
Harlow in his liner notes to Orchestra Harlow Presenta A Ismael Miranda. Over
the next five years Miranda and Harlow developed a highly creative and
successful partnership. During this period, he made seven albums with Orchestra
Harlow, contributing a number of co-written (with Harlow) and self-penned hits.
By 1973 it was clear Miranda had out-grown Orchestra Harlow, and he split, taking three Harlow sidemen (Frankie Rodríguez, conga; Joe Santiago, bass; and Nicky Marrero, timbales) with him to his own newly formed Orquesta Revelación. His debut with them, Así Se Compone Un Son (1973), was arguably his finest work. Revelación's personnel contained several future prominent salsa names, such as Marrero; Nelson González, tres guitar; and Oscar Hernández, piano. "I was 18 years old and we recorded one album and worked our butts off for about one year," recollected Hernández in New York Latino in 1991. "We used to play five to eight gigs a week and it was a great group. And it consisted of the young bloods who were good musicians . . . We had a great rhythm section . . ." Problems arose in the band, so Miranda disbanded and relocated to Puerto Rico to work as a solo artist, though he continued to record in New York. During the following 12 years he released a dozen albums on Fania Records, notable were En Fa Menor (1974), which he co-produced; his 1976 reunion with Larry Harlow: Con Mi Viejo Amigo, and the collaborations with Willie Colón ( Doble Energía, 1980) and Cuban musical institution Sonora Matancera ( Sonora Matancera - Ismael Miranda, 1984). 1977's No Voy Al Festival was Miranda's first LP where he took sole charge of production. several of Miranda's hit compositions attained classic status, such as "Arsenio' from Orchestra Harlow"s 1971 Tribute To Arsenio Rodríguez, co-written with Harlow; "Pa Bravo Yo" written for Justo Betancourt's 1972 album of the same title (the song became Betancourt's trademark); and "Así Se Compone Un Son", the title track of Miranda and Orquesta Revelación's 1973 debut album. He guested at the first New York Salsa Festival in 1975 (called Super Salsa 75) at Madison Square Garden; others on the bill included Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón with Héctor Lavoe, Típica 73, Cheo Feliciano, El Gran Combo, Johnny Ventura and La Lupe.
In 1984, Miranda produced and acted as musical director of Nelson González and his Orquesta Revelación on Feliz Y Contento for the small Bernis Records label, with future salsa romántico star Alex D'Castro providing the lead vocals. Two years later he was backed by González and Revelación (with D'Castro in the chorus) on Una Nueva Vision, his last on Fania until the mid-90s. After his departure from Fania, Miranda briefly released albums on his own IM Records label, including Por El Buen Camino (1987) and the Christmas album La Mano Maestro (1989). As his waistline thickened with advancing middle age (chronicled by his album photographs), it seemed that the harder edge of his younger, leaner years diminished in direct proportion. He signed a short term contract with RMM Records and released the weak salsa romántica sets Hasta La Ultima Gota (1991) and Entre Sombras (1992). He returned to Fania for 1993's Enamorado De Ti.
Miranda was a founder member of the
Fania All Stars and sang on 17 of their albums between 1968 and 1986, and
appeared with them in the movies Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa) (1972; which
"catapulted this young lion even higher in the eyes of the public," wrote Izzy
Sanabria in his liner note to Así Se Compone Un Son ), Live In Africa (1974) and
Salsa (1976). In 1994 he participated in the three-city (San Juan, Miami and New
York) reunion of the Fania All Stars to mark the 30th anniversary of the Fania
label. His rendition of his self-penned "Borinquen Tiene Montuno" (originally
recorded for En Fa Menor, 1974) was reportedly one of the highlights of the
tour. He sang on Tito Puente's second tribute album to Beny Moré (1979) and the
same bandleader's Grammy Award nominated The Mambo King: 100th LP (1991). In
1993 young salsa romántica heart-throb Rey Ruiz (b. 21 June 1966, Havana, Cuba;
he defected while with the Cuban Tropicana cabaret when they were visiting the
Dominican Republic in 1991) interpreted Miranda's "Así Se Compone Un Son' on Los
Soneros De Hoy Tributo A Los Soneros (Today"s Soneros Pay Tribute To The
Soneros). Miranda's contribution to the hip Puerto Rican all-star Latin jam
session double CD Descarga Boricua (1993) helped absolve him for his flabby,
undistinguished albums of the early 90s.
