Aventura (band)

This article is about the music group. For other uses, see Aventura (disambiguation),

Aventura

Aventura' is a Bachata music group formed in The Bronx, New York in 1994. The group comprises lead singer and featured composer Anthony "Romeo" 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 "Los Infieles", "Obsesión", "La Boda", "Ella y Yo", "Un Beso", "Mi Corazoncito", "El Perdedor", "Por Un Segundo", "All Up 2 You", and "Su Veneno".

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 the Dominican Republic. 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. 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. Lenny Santos, the group’s lead guitarist and arranger, and his brother Mikey, who plays bass, are both Bronx natives of Dominican origin.

All of them grew up listening to the most popular bachateros of the era—singers like Blas Durán, Raulín Rodríguez, Teodoro Reyes, and Joe Veras—but the biggest influence on the group was Antony Santos. 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 Martínez, who would later be known as “El Camarón.”
At the same time, Santos started his own band with his brother Mikey and a neghborhood friend named David Maceo who started singing with them and later left to the Dominican Republic. When they needed a singer, Bryant Berroa a friend told them about a kid from the block 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 tinellers.

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. [1] 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. [2]

In 1999, they released their first studio album Generation Next, which featured the hit single "Cuando Volverás". The song 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.

In March 2003, New York stations started promoting their third album Love & Hate after the success of "Obsesion". The album gained notoriety after its lead single "Hermanita" was released in 2004; it reached a peak position of 33 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks. After months of promotion, Love & Hate was finally released later in November.

Aventura would return in early 2005 with their next single, "La Boda". In April 2005, God's Project was released. The album was praised during the course of 2005 and 2006 with the singles "Ella y Yo" and "Un Beso". On October 19, 2006, the single "Los Infieles" was released, which was featured two 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. The third single "El Perdedor" would also chart number one on various charts.

Promotion for their upcoming album The Last started in January 2009, with the release of the first single "Por un Segundo". It reached number one on the Hot Latin Tracks in late January 2009. On June 5th, 2009, they released their second single "All Up 2 You", which features Wisin & Yandel and Akon. The Last was released on June 9, 2009. On July 6, 2009, they released a Bolero version of their third single Su Veneno. On July 7th, 2009, they released a Bachata version of Su Veneno.

On October 5, 2009, The group will be part of the Hispanic Heritage month celebration in the White House hosted by President Barack Obama, next to artist like Legendary Guitarist Carlos Santana, Singers Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Comedian George Lopez, Gloria Estefan snd many others.

Musical Style

Aventura created their own unique style of bachata by infusing the sounds of hip hop, R&B and reggaeton. 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.

Controversy

On February 22, 2007 Anthony Santos won Pop song of the year along with Mexican singer, Thalía for the song "No, No, No" at the 2007 Premios Lo Nuestro . Anthony accepted the award but did not thank Thalía, he instead thanked and dedicated the award to his seven year old son, Alex. Anthony, who composed the song, replied that when he heard he had won the award the only person he could think of was his son, which is why he dedicated the award to him. He apologized to Thalía, who was unable to attend the award ceremony. Thalía said she was not mad and said "It's simply things that can happen when you win".

Members

• Anthony (Romeo) Santos - Song Writer, Lead Singer, and Featured Composer
• Henry Santos Jeter - Singer and Composer/vocals
• Lenny Santos - Guitarist, Producer/Arranger
• Max Santos - Bass

Discography

Main article: Aventura discography

Studio albums

• 1999: Generation Next
• 2002: We Broke the Rules
• 2003: Love & Hate
• 2005: God's Project
• 2009: The Last

Live albums

• 2004: Unplugged
• 2006: K.O.B. Live
• 2007: Kings of Bachata: Sold Out at Madison Square Garden

References

General

• "Aventura Biography". Official website of Aventura. Aventura Worldwide. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
• "Artist Biography - Aventura". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-04-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Specific

External links

• Official Website
• Official MySpace
• Official Facebook
• Official YouTube
• Official Twitter
• Aventura Biography with music and video clips
• MTV Tr3s Official Artist Page
• nocheLatina Official Artist Page