Born May 15, 1938 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. During the three and a half decades of its existence, Olivencia's band has acted as an "incubator' for various notable solo salsa singers, including Marvin Santiago, Paquito Guzmán, Lalo Rodríguez, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Frankie Ruiz and Héctor Tricoche.
Olivencia began as a singer at the age of 16, but he preferred the role of trumpeter and musical director. He became a bandleader when he was 22-years-old. He favours a frontline of trumpets and trombones, and used a combination of four trumpets and two trombones on most of his albums since 1978. Tommy released his early recordings on his own Tioly label. He signed with Inca Records and remained with them until 1978. He switched to TH (Top Hits) Records (now TH-Rodven) and released eight albums on the label between 1978 and 1988. In 1990, Olivencia's band was one of a number of popular Puerto Rican salsa acts lured to the major record company Capitol/EMI Latin. He debuted with them the following year.
Early vocalists with Olivencia's band included Chamaco Ramírez and Paquito Guzmán (ex-Joe Quijano band member). Ramírez's last recording with Tommy was 1975"s Planté Bandera; heavy drug addiction destroyed his health and Chamaco died shortly after releasing the 1979 solo set Alive And Kicking, which contained material that its producer and arranger, Javier Vázquez, had originally prepared for Ismael Rivera to record.
Apart from Olivencia's 1975 and 1976 releases, Guzmán was co-lead singer on six of the bandleader's albums between 1972 and 1979. During the same period, Guzmán issued several solo albums on Inca Records, including Paquito Guzmán (1972), Escucha Mi Canción (1975), Mintiendo Se Gana Mas (1977) and the compilation Peligro in 1980. He signed as a solo performer with TH Records and after releasing El Caballero De La Salsa (1983) and Paquito Guzmán Con Trio (1985), he became one of the earliest artists to record in the salsa romántica style on his major 1986 hit Las Mejores Baladas En Salsa. So-called sexy salsa boosted the ageing singer's career and he continued in the same vein with Tu Amante Romántico (1987) and Aquí Conmigo (1989). In 1990 Guzmán defected to Capitol/EMI Latin for more of the same on El Mismo Romántico. Additionally, Guzmán recorded with the Puerto Rico All Stars in the 70s and has sessioned extensively as a coro (chorus) singer. Another Olivencia co-lead vocalist, Sammy González, left after 1972's Secuestro to join Roberto Roena's band Apollo Sound. Reinaldo Jorge, Olivencia's first trombonist, left the band, after 1974's Juntos De Nuevo. He relocated to New York and worked there with Los Kimbos, Fania All Stars, Libre, Frankie Morales and Rubén Blades' Son Del Solar, among others. In 1981, Jorge made his debut as a bandleader on No Sufro.
Young trumpeter/arranger
Luis "Perico" Ortiz produced,
performed on and contributed some first-rate arrangements to Tommy's albums between 1975 and 1979. In 1976, 18-year-old singer/composer Lalo Rodríguez, who worked previously with Eddie Palmieri, joined Simón Pérez as co-lead vocalist on Introducing Lalo Rodríguez & Simón Pérez. The same year, Tommy won awards for the best band in Puerto Rico and best foreign band in Panamá. Rodríguez departed, but Pérez stayed on for three more albums with the band. In 1978 Olivencia won a Puerto Rican music industry Diplo award. The awards were created by Cuban Bernardo Hevia, editor of the salsa magazine Farándula, which he founded in 1958. Pérez was replaced in 1979 by Gilberto Santa Rosa on Tommy Olivencia & His Orchestra; after which Santa Rosa left to join Willie Rosario's band. Tommy hired two new young lead singers for 1981's Un Triángulo De Triunfo!: Frankie Ruiz and Carlos Alexis. Ruiz hails from Paterson, New Jersey, USA, and formerly sang lead vocals with the Puerto Rican band La Solución; he appeared on their commendable La Solución in 1980. Alexis was succeeded by Héctor Tricoche, who sang previously with Mikey Cora's Orquesta Cabala and La Terrifica, on Celebrando Otro Aniversario in 1984, which was Ruiz's last album with Olivencia. That year, Olivencia oversaw the production and his band provided the accompaniment for the veteran Colombian singer Nelson Pinedo on ... Desde Puerto Rico. Three of Olivencia's hits performed by Ruiz: "Primero Fui Yo" (from Un Triángulo De Triunfo!), "Como Lo Hacen" (from Tommy Olivencia) and "Te Estoy Estudiando' (from Celebrando Otro Aniversario), were written by veteran former heart throb singer/composer Raúl Marrero and arranged by guitarist/arranger Máximo Torres. Marrero recorded his own interpretation of the first two compositions as part of a medley on his 1988 release El Señor De La Salsa. In the latter part of the 80s, Máximo Torres became the director and arranger of the Salsa Selection band, which accompanied his son, singer Max Torres, on the bestsellers Sensualmente Tropical (1988) and Aprenderé! (1989). These were followed by the less successful Max Torres releases Peligroso Amor (1990) and From Puerto Rico (1991). Frankie Ruiz remained with TH (and TH-Rodven) and his first two solo releases: Solista ... Pero No Solo (1985) and ... Voy Pa' Encíma! (1987), both topped the Billboard tropical/salsa chart. Historia Musical De Frankie Ruiz was a compilation of the young superstar's 14 best tracks with La Solución, Olivencia and his own band. It was released in time for Christmas 1987 and was another runaway success. Ruiz's emotive and captivating voice sounded strained - probably due to his gruelling gigging schedule - on his 1988 En Vivo Y ... A Todo Color ...!, which did less well in chart terms. His imprisonment for a drugs offense did not prevent 1989"s ... Mas Grande Que Nunca reaching number 1 in early 1990. Meanwhile, Ruiz was replaced by Paquito (Junior) Acosta on Olivencia's Ayer, Hoy, Mañana Y Siempre ...! in 1985. In 1987 he celebrated three decades as a bandleader with the chart-topping 30 Aniversario. The album contained the smash hit "Lobo Domesticado", performed by Héctor Tricoche and arranged by Máximo Torres, and an anniversary medley of past hits. Olivencia mixed salsa romántica flavoured songs with his usual searing salsa on El Jeque, which was his 1988 parting shot on TH-Rodven. Tricoche left and made his solo debut in 1990 with the TH-Rodven release Clase Aparte, which spawned the Máximo Torres arranged hit "Hacer El Amor". That year, Héctor appeared at the second part of the New York Salsa Festival at Madison Square Garden. His 1991 follow-up Motorizame contained the hit single "Macho Pérez". In 1990, singer Héctor "Pichy' Pérez left Sonora Ponceña to join Olivencia as Tricoche's replacement. He made his recording debut with the band on 1991"s Enamorado ... Y Que! on Capitol/EMI Latin. Olivencia died on September 22, 2006.
