Carlos Xavier is proud to announce the release of his debut album Vive Todo Ahora featuring nine songs that embody the rich history and diverse nature of Salsa music, but with Carlos’ unique take on the genre he loves. From first listen, you can tell Carlos has created an album that will stand the test of time in the same caliber of artists that he was influenced by including Marc Anthony, DLG, Frankie Negron, Luis Enrique, and Michael Stuart. The album is available now through all streaming platforms with a physical CD release due on April 26, 2019.
Carlos Xavier is a Bay Area vocalist, singer and songwriter raised in the Salsa music scene, and has been singing in nightclubs for over twenty years. He writes his own songs based on his personal life experiences and draws influence from the music of his upbringing; urban hip-hop, R&B, and rock, and combines them with the affluent Latin rhythms. His roots in the Latin power vocal style produce warm, beautiful tones as he exhales his melodies, which is captured on his album Viva Todo Ahora. Carlos passionately explains his influences, “I was into that Urban New York salsa sound that fused gospel, R&B, pop and formatted it into the structure of salsa. There is no higher feeling to me musically. As an American boy born in San Francisco but 100% Latin with parents born in Nicaragua, I felt blessed to have these roots and music running through my veins from two different parts of the world.” As a youth Carlos was a budding soccer player who played at the collegiate level and is the all-time leading goal scorer at Cal State East Bay, but when he left soccer for singing he knew his passion and drive was meant for a new endeavor, “with my new love of music I never looked back.”
The name of the album is also the name of the title track “Vive Todo Ahora” which was created when inspiration struck Carlos watching a soccer documentary on Cristiano Ronaldo. He explains, “Instantly inspired, I literally started writing the song in my head and by the time the documentary was over I had a good road map. I immediately went to my music room and wrote the song. ‘Vive Todo Ahora.’ When I was done I told myself, I think I just wrote a hit song.” One week and a half later, Carlos was right as the song hit Spotify and landed on the biggest Spotify Salsa Playlist called “Salsa Nation,” which has over 1.5 million followers.
The album took six years to create and was produced by Efrain Davila (Marc Anthony, Luis Enrique, Victor Manuel, Obie Bermudez, Prince Royce) and features salsa heavyweight players Ruben Rodriguez on bass, Luisito Quintero on percussions (GRAMMY winners Spanish Harlem Orchestra), Julia Diaz and Gerardo Rodriguez on Trumpets, Jorge Dobal on Trombones, Dave Shul on Electric Guitar (Michael Franti & Spearhead), and Guianko Gomez. The results are surely worth the wait. Carlos states, “having patience on this new release was everything. Which is why I feel the new album is so special. It was done with wisdom, maturity and 100% the way I wanted it to be done. The end result, exactly what I envisioned.”
Vive Todo Ahora is an album that spans genres from R&B, Rock, Hip-Hop, Gospel, Blues, Vallenato to Latin Pop all within the rules of salsa. An album for all types of listeners to enjoy. Carlos adds, “I made an album to make you dance, laugh, sing, cry and simply to enjoy listening to.” A must for DJ’s and salsa music lovers.
Carlos concludes, “When I fell in love with salsa, about 22 years ago, it became my dream to make a salsa album. Especially using the musicians and producers that made the style of salsa that I loved. I never believed it would happen but it did. With this album I plan to bring that style of salsa back that I heard many years ago and make it relevant to today, all while making it my own.”
