Tipica 73 is a salsa group formed in 1972 in New York by musicians coming f… Read Full Bio ↴Tipica 73 is a salsa group formed in 1972 in New York by musicians coming from Ray Barretto's band. The group is notable for its experimental style, and was the first US-based salsa orchestra to record in Cuba with the album Tipica 73 En Cuba Intercambio Cultural . Tipica 73 featured several salsa musicians who would go on to become famous as solo artists, including vocalist José "El Canario" Alberto and violinist Alfredo de la Fé.

In the nascent and thriving New York latin jazz and salsa scene in the early 1970s, the group began with Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez Jr and four of Ray Barretto's original band including Adalberto Santiago (who all left Barreto simultaneously to start Tipica 73 in 1972), and, after combining the conjunto percussive style (congas, timbales, and bongos) with a horn section the band became one of the biggest stars of the salsa movement in the US. However, the band's lineup ended up with an almost different cast by the start of the following decade, with several of the original members having left after differences in the late 1970s regarding whether the band would continue to play tipica music, with Santiago and three others leaving to form Los Kimbos. Rodriguez Jr was the only constant in the band, and he and remaining members would split in 1982.