Papo Lucca
b. Enrique Arsenio Lucca Jnr., 1946, Ponce, Puerto Rico. A remarkable pianist (he also plays percussion, vibes, tres, synthesizer and flugelhorn), gifted soloist and innovative arranger, Lucca is musical director, arranger and producer of Puerto Rico's oldest active band, Sonora Ponceña. In 1944, his father, Enrique Quique Lucca, founded the two trumpet, rhythm section and voices band, Orquesta Internacional, which was entirely composed of musicians from Ponce. They specialized in the typical Cuban song-and-dance form called son, and Quique played guitar with the band. Out of deference to the internationally famous Cuban band, Sonora Matancera, they were renamed Sonora Ponceña (Son Orchestra of Ponce) for their 1954 recording debut. A third trumpet was added to their line-up during the '50s, and in the '60s they had a four-trumpet front-line. Papo was a child musical prodigy. He started playing congas at the age of four. When he was six years old he began formal musical education at the Free School of Music in Ponce, run by the famous Puerto Rican music teacher Don Julio Alvarado. Lucca commenced intensive piano, clarinet, saxophone and theoretical tuition, and within his first month, he performed a classical piece on the local radio station. Attending the school at the same time were; singer Héctor Lavoe and trumpeter/arranger José Febles. 
Lucca first performed with Sonora Ponceña at the age of eight. In the mid-'50s, he played solo piano on the television show of Ruth Fernández (b. Ponce, Puerto Rico). Ruth was blessed with a rich golden voice and recorded with Obdulio Morales, Orquesta Panamericana and Machito. Lucca made his recording debut at the age of 11 when the band accompanied bolero singers, Felipe Rodríguez and Davilita (Pedro Ortiz Dávila) on Al Compás de Las Sonoras, released on the Marvela label. His first arrangement for the band was transcribed from the record of Tito Puente's hit Caramelos (contained on PACHANGA CON PUENTE). Papo graduated from the University of Puerto Rico and studied at Puerto Rico's Conservatory of Music. Sonora Ponceña recorded for the Marvela and Inca labels. They remained with the latter into the '90s. The band's career really took off after Inca was sold to Jerry Masucci, co-founder (with Johnny Pacheco) of the Fania Records label. Masucci did a great deal to promote them, and Latin music in general. They became especially popular with the Latino audience in New York. Success boosted their confidence and inspired others, demonstrating that it was possible to make a living from the music. 
In the late '60s, Sonora Ponceña had big hits with interpretations of a couple of Arsenio Rodríguez classics: Hachero Pa Un Palo' and Fuego En El 23. The original recordings are still available on the 1975 compilation LO MEJOR DE SONORA PONCEÑA. Bandleader/pianist Larry Harlow produced the band's albums between 1972 and 1975. Ponceña had returned to a three-trumpet section, comprised of José A. (Joe) Rodríguez, Ramón A. (Tony) Rodríguez and Delfin ‘El del Café’ Pérez , for Desde Puerto Rico a Nueva York( FROM PUERTO RICO TO NEW YORK) in 1972. Lead vocals were provided by the raw and earthy voice of Luis Guillermo Luigui Texidor (b. 1940, Puerto Rico; joined Ponceña in the mid-'60s), and Humberto Luis Tito Gómez (b. 1948, Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico; joined Ponceña in 1968), the latter whose voice has a haunting, melancholic timbre. Both singers were ex-members of Conjunto Antoanetti. 
Trumpeter Joe Rodríguez left to lead La Terrifica, taking Tito Gómez and percussionist Miguel Mikey Ortiz with him. They debuted on the Larry Harlow produced TERRIFICA in 1974. Gómez split from La Terrifica, did a brief stint with Ray Barretto and recorded as a solo artist, ie. PARA GOZAR BORINQUEN (1977), produced by Harlow. Miguel A. Ortiz Miguelito, who possesses a high-pitched voice, filled Gómez's vacancy on Ponceña's 1974 release SABOR SUREÑO. Conga player Vicente Rivero Little Johnny joined the band on 1975's TIENE PIMIENTA. In 1976, Lucca made his debut as producer, in association with Louie Ramírez, on MUSICAL CONQUEST/CONQUISTA MUSICAL. The album contained the smash hit El Pio Pio, composed by the Mexican duo Lobo y Melón (Angel Luis Silva). That year, Lucca and Texidor participated in the first Puerto Rico All Stars album. In 1977, Papo assisted Ramírez with the production of EL GIGANTE DEL SUR. The hit track Boranda, was about Puerto Rico's then frequent droughts, and commented on the migration of the country people (jibaros) and abandonment of the land. Yolanda Rivera joined Ponceña as a third lead vocalist on this album; formerly a member of La Terrifica, she had appeared on their SABOR A PUEBLO in 1976. Texidor left to join Bobby Valentín on his MUSICAL SEDUCTION (1978), on which he sang the hit Naci Moreno’ (Born Brown), an affirmation of the racial mixture that is Puerto Rico's identity. Texidor later recorded as a solo artist and with Tito Puente and El Combo Del Ayer. He has now retired from the business. 
Although intimated on earlier albums, Ponceña's present bright, mellow, laid-back, yet relentlessly swinging style noticeably started to coalesce on EXPLORANDO in 1978. A further trumpet was added, and with his arranger's pen, Lucca began developing a unique, well-blended four-trumpet sound of elaborate, interweaving lines. Lucca told UK salsa broadcaster Tomek, in May 1991, that he had got the idea for four trumpets from Conjunto Casino, a popular Cuban band of the '40s and '50s. ‘I'm honest’, he said. 
Lucca was the sole producer on EXPLORANDO and all Ponceña's subsequent recordings. Tito Gómez returned to fill Texidor's vacated slot and sang lead on the hit track Moreno Soy (I Am Brown), which was Lucca's arrangement of Naci Moreno. Gómez sang in the chorus on LA ORQUESTA DE MI TIERRA in 1978, before leaving to work with Tito Valentín, La Amistad (see Nati) and Grupo Niche. In 1979, Sonora Ponceña teamed up with Celia Cruz for LA CEIBA. That year, Jeremy Marre's television film SALSA featured a tantalizing glimpse of the band backing Celia, with Yolanda Rivera in the chorus. Also in 1979, Texidor and Lucca reunited in the context of the Fania All Stars to perform a ‘live’ version of Naci Moreno on HABANA JAM, recorded in Cuba. In 1980, Alberto Antonio Ledeé Toñito (b. Salinas, Puerto Rico) joined Yolanda and Miguelito as a third lead singer on Ponceña's NEW HEIGHTS. Their second release in 1980, UNCHAINED FORCE, was dedicated to longstanding members Tony El Cordobes Rodríguez, Delfin Pérez and bassist Antonio Santaella (Tato). 
Lucca is a great admirer of his Cuban contemporary, composer/bandleader/pianist Adalberto Alvarez. Lucca and Sonora Ponceña recorded interpretations of Alvarez's compositions on six out of seven of their albums between 1981 and 1990. 
Yolanda departed after 1982's DETERMINATION and relocated to Miami, USA, where she sang coro (chorus) with Gabino Pampiniand Fuerza Noble. She sang lead vocals with bandleader/trombonist Rubby Haddock, on OTRA VEZ! (1988) and SALSA TROPICAL (1990), and also performed as a solo artist in 1990 with the Hermanos Rivera Orchestra. Her vacancy was filled by another ex-La Terrifica member, Héctor Pichy Pérez, on FUTURE in 1984. Yet another former La Terrifica member, Manuel Martínez Roldan Mannix, replaced Miguelito Ortiz on Ponceña's 30th anniversary release JUBILEE, which contained an updated version of their '60s hit Fuego En El 23. 1988's ON THE RIGHT TRACK contained a tribute poem and song to Toñito Ledeé, a devoted family man, who was tragically killed in a car crash on 28 May 1986. After a 15-year tenure, conguero Johnny Rivero walked out on Ponceña following a row with Quique, while the band were at the airport waiting for a flight to Tenerife in 1990—something he apparently later regretted. Lucca and the band made a foray into salsa romántica territory on INTO THE 90'S. He has described the popular style as ‘salsa monga’—a term coined by Willie Rosario- which politely translates as ‘flaccid salsa’. The album was partly recorded in their own Pianissimo Studios in Ponce. In 1990, Pichy Pérez left to join Tommy Olivencia's band. He was replaced by Luisito Carrión, who worked previously with Julio Gunda Merced's Salsa Fever, La Terrifica, Bobby Valentín and Don Perignon. In 1976, Lucca replaced Larry Harlow as the pianist with the Fania All Stars and made his UK debut with them the same year. He continued to gig and record with them into the '90s. Lucca and Sonora Ponceña made their UK debut in May 1991 with an outstanding concert at London's Empire Ballroom.