courtesy of: The Morning News
written by: Rosalie Klein
Gloria Estefan is about to release a new album and gave fans a preview of the exciting musical collection with the issue of the catchy single “Wepa!” (a shout out in Spanish –Hey! Let’s Party!) a short while ago. The hard-hitting beat captured the imagination of Aruban composer, arranger and performer, note keyboardist Hildward Croes, who decided to upload to Youtube a remix with a decidedly Aruba flavor, he called Dushi Wepa Remix (Hildward Croes.)
Hildward, though now based solely out of Aruba, toured internationally with such musical luminaries as Juan Luis Guerra and Chi Chi Peralta during the 90’s, spending 5 years on the road as Guerra’s keyboardist during all his concerts from 1990-95. “I remember filling Madison Square Garden 3 nights in a row; it was a wonderful, exciting time.”
When Guerra became ill, Hildward began touring with Chi Chi, who had also been a member of the band. He also provided keyboard and arranging for a number of this popular performer’s albums, and the band won a Latin Grammy in 2001 for “El Vuelte al Barrio”; another collaboration, “Mas que Suficiente” was also nominated for a Grammy.
“A friend sent me a promo release of “Wepa” when it first came out, and it impressed me as something very nice for a remix,” recalls Hildward, “I have been playing around for the last few years with traditional Carnival music combined with a Euro-techno trendy thing we have been doing with my group, Dushi Band and Carnival group. I did this little experiment and posted it to Gloria’s Youtube channel as a video response. Next thing I knew I was contacted by one of Emilio Estefan’s assistants and told they were very impressed, and wanted to talk to me about it. We signed a contract and did an official version of the Wepa Remix and they were very pleased with it.”
Most of the work was done via the Internet, and the original production was completed in Hildward’s Aruba studio. “This was really a new experience for me,” he claims. “All those years with Juan Luis and Chi-Chi, I was there with them rearranging things to fit their style. Now I took something from someone else and made it over in OUR style. It is now something original with an Aruban flavor, and I find this very exciting.” His version has been added to the Gloria Estefan music website and can be downloaded for free at: http://mp3hill.com/music/file/1/gloria-estefan-wepa.html
“We are getting some nice feedback from the website and on Youtube,” admits Hildward, who returned recently from Estefan’s Miami studio to turn over his files.
Hildward founded Dushi Band in 1992 and his Carnival group in 1993, returning to Aruba each year to participate in Carnival, then finally coming back permanently around ten years ago. He enjoys performing regularly at Chaos Café in Oranjestad and being fully involved with Carnival, having been contracted to compose the official jingle on several occasions. “Those were wonderful, exciting years touring the world, but I always wanted to return home, I missed Aruba. I am glad to be where I am.”
There will be more preview releases of singles from the upcoming album, and Hildward is very much looking forward to playing with those, and imbuing them with a definitive Aruban flavor. Stay tuned for more hits with that special Dushi sound!
