GROUP NICHE

The History of a Legend: NICHE GROUP CALLED A MYTH
The first sign that Grupo Niche was becoming a legend, gave Jairo Varela, director and smith, when a few years ago, the press from around the world looking for him and no one was in any place.
Confirmation of the Legend, was the December 27, 1996, under the Fair Superconcierto Cali, before more than 30,000 people, the name of Jairus, was cheered relentlessly.

That, testimony saved all media. The legend remains: despite the legal status of the Master Jairo Varela, Grupo Niche in 1998 achieved more than 120 presentations in over thirteen countries.

The history of the legend began much earlier, in the middle of 1985, when at the receptions of the most famous hotels, hundreds of messages were unanswered, as he and his group NICHE came first or after errands.

His life and his dreams began to penetrate the huge and bright tunnel of fame and glory, and Varela had no time to say goodbye to his friends or his love. When someone in Colombia, wanted to feel the GRUPO NICHE, the only consolation was at home listening to the cluster disks, as Varela and his boys were to run around the world.

Since then, his life began idolized to acquire celebrity and overtones of these characters, who live treading tail immortality to remain almost always in a world of neon that can hardly escape.

However, he does often escapes winging of the letters in the word that is written Niche, gets out of his albums and their covers, and is immersed in thought, deep, thoughtful and has only to create. At any time, in a simple napkin when patient plasma with those simple words that the public has to understand, with that tune that he heard in his mind, with full orchestra ...
The time is given to his family, especially his children, whom adores. Also, friends of old and new data. To those who are, to all those who comprise an affection that lets rediscover the depths of his being.

More than a composer, Jairo Varela is a sensitive and a little introverted, preferring to say in what songs silent in daily life. And if you talk, put your finger on lallaga: truths unceremoniously fired on various topics ... Life, Salsa, love, football, etc..
When I first began to dream, was in 1980 on the 13th floor of a building on Calle 18 with Carrera Septima in Bogotá, were in his head hundreds of aspirations, many songs and short sound simple but, six years later, would transform his life: NICHE.

With those five letters revolutionized salsa music, he printed category to the music made in Colombia outwards and showed the world that Colombia was more than cumbias and vallenato, that we knew we could play salsa and export.

For all that has meaning in the context Niche Latin salsa, for its originality, to impose a thematic and interpretive style, and raise their status, Niche has become a living legend of contemporary salsa.

Jairo Varela WHO IS?

The teacher Jairo Varela Martínez was born on December 9, 1949 in Pretoria, Department of Chocó (Colombia), home made by the merchant Antonio Varela Pedro Restrepo Antioquia and Choco writer and poet Teresa de Jesús Martínez Arce, who is remembered as a woman of great strength of character that he gave his life.

His first contact with music is produced at eight years of age, in the district where Quibdó Rome formed the
group "La Timba", which essentially was a flute, bongos, maracas and guiro.

His duality

From his grandfather also learned mechanics, carpentry and guitar. Her memory haunts him since he was a child until now. In conversations with friends, Varela has confessed that his grandfather has appeared in hotels and venues around the world such as refusing to stop being his spiritual guide.

His father and mother separated when Marta, her younger sister was three years old. Jairo met him at 9 years and remembers him as a quiet man, taciturn, reserved and hard working.

His mother, Dona Teresa Martinez Varela, was a great writer who never objected to his musical vocation, rather he paved the way for a child to grow up to launch when the difficult art of making songs.

"From the beginning it was my skills. At eight years gave me a guitar with the little money they had. Imagine, made the effort of his life for me that gift, "says Varela.

Childhood, puberty, adolescence and part of his adult life, spent in Pretoria, his hometown, which he has sung so many opportunities. By the 70s, with his mother and family, Varela decided a change of scenery and moved to Bogota in search of new and stronger bearings.

His first compositions were "difficult" and "Atrato Viajero", the latter's third album recorded in New York Niche under the name of "Atrateño", with relative success.

NACE Grupo Niche

Niche Group born in 1980 in Bogotá exactly gestated by Jairo Varela Martínez and initially formed by a handful of young musicians of Chocó.

Among them stood out Cristancho Nicholas on piano, Francisco Garcia on bass, Ali "Tarry" Garces on saxophone and flute, Alexis Lozano on trombone and arrangements, Jorge Bassam and Hector Viveros as singers and Luis Pacheco on congas .

Niche born salsa as a new alternative, since at that time the music scene in Colombia was very poor coverage Varela took to introduce a style and a more international flavor that started to sink in and stays effective among salsa lovers.

In addition to the break in the musical structure, there is also a thematic break since Varela properly addresses the problem of black and all social and ethnic implications, conquering a new market space.

However, Varela was not satisfied with only the black sing sings but also their land, Chocó, their problems, their marginalization and poverty. With these strategies gained much strength in Colombia and paid a lot of ground for release on the outside that, today, we reported good dividends.

From the LP "Plugging the Gap", in the vicinity of the nineties, Jairo Varela gives a new twist to your style and theme beginning to address love in its various dimensions, in their songs reflect problems of couples in a context enriched by a fresh and simple prose.

The first disc of NICHE

The Debut Album of NICHE is produced in 1980 with the LP "Al Pasito" Daro pressed disc, the first label that believed in the talent of hard muchachos.El Varela and included topics such as "Rosa Wiggle", "To you Barranquilla "," Times of Yesterday "and" Al Pasito ", which gave rise to the title of the album.

A year later, Varela speaks Daro managers and poses the need to record a new full length, but disqueros denied the opportunity and decide to engrave, in return, in 1981, a single that included the songs "Flowers also die ", played by Saul Sanchez and" first and "the voice of Alvaro del Castillo.

The simple worked great stations in Bogotá and the Atlantic coast, and then began to consolidate timidly Niche name in national musical concert.

But because of the intransigent position of managers Disk Daro, Jairo Varela asked the Freedom Charter and contact home Codiscos Medellin, starting, that way the most successful in the history cycle Niche.

NICHE GROUP KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

In 1986, for the first time a Colombian orchestra comes in the majestic scenery of Madison Square Garden. Niche Group reaches World Salsa Festival and acts alongside the 'hard' salsa and leaves an excellent impression which earned him great dividends, and that was the starting point of his career success.

In March 1989, the Group achieved Niche gather more than one million people in the Champ de Mars in Peru. During that concert was hurt and bruised by the great ecstasy generated Niche songs.

. In September 1989, Grupo Niche first arrives to stages in Europe and made his first trip to Europe, visiting France, England, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.

In 1990, Musivisa, Televisa subsidiary acquires rights record and promotional orchestra and organized the first tour to Mexico Niche Group in August of that year. The tour included four promotional appearances only. Following the success, extend concerts to sellout crowds in 16 venues as large as the mythical "Tropicana Lounge."

The Niche Group has visited over a hundred opportunities to the United States of America, where he enjoys the attention of thousands of fans, primarily in Washington, New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, Chicago, Rhode Island, etc.. It is one of the few orchestras admired by Native Americans and Latinos alike.

In its twenty years of existence Niche Group has participated in the largest and most traditional festivals in Colombia, where, and on numerous occasions, has proved successful and constant animator: Barranquilla Carnival, Feria de Cali, Manizales Fair, Carnival of whites and blacks in Nariño, in the Reign of Bambuco in Neiva, in the National Beauty Pageant in Cartagena, on the Festival of Oil in Barrancabermeja, to name but these.

Internationally Niche has walked for the biggest stages in the world and has represented Colombia in countless concerts and shows: Independence of Cuba Carnaval Miami and Calle Ocho, the Salsa Festival in New York Ralph Mercado, and has visited countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Salvador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Bahamas, Aruba, and more.

Jairo Varela has found its audience to be a man of great challenges: the Feria de Cali in 1987, most of the members of the orchestra, asked an exorbitant increase in salary. Varela did not budge. As a logical consequence, the group disintegrated. Many people bet at the end of Niche. Jairo, then, with some tenacity, formed a new band and a new long-term: "Plugging the Gap" that opened doors worldwide and confirmed his talent. - In the late 1990s he ran a strong rumor in landfills salsómano environment: Tito Gomez, Puerto Rican singer of Niche, become almost a mythical figure for their excellent performances of songs by Jairo Varela, waives the orchestra creating an uncertain environment in public, but not in Varela, who immediately signed a voice Bogota, a member of the Alpha Eight and not very promising: Carlos Alberto Cardona. The results confirmed the good ear of Jairo Varela: Charly Cardona stopped and enjoyed the skeptics. He played three songs and three were successful, "an adventure", "Search inside" and "It seemed so much to you."

The last difficulty overcome and perhaps the most difficult in his long career, has been the jail stay: 11 months' detention in the penitentiary in Villahermosa in Cali. The common people regarded the charge was unfair Jairus and said handing over a hundred thousand signatures calling for his release. The biggest reward was on December 27 as part of the Cali Fair, where more than 40,000 people attending the Pascual Guerrero stadium, cheered his name: "Jairo was passed, passed".

SPECIAL HONORS AND AWARDS

In his long and fruitful career, Grupo Niche has won dozens of gold and platinum discs for excellent sales and has received numerous awards and special awards in different parts of the world.