El Fantasma grew up in the Rebolo neighborhood, listening to very Afro music. "We danced champeta, which was then called therapy - he says - and Antillean music. The first Creole singer that we began to listen to with pleasure was Arroyo."
Joe's story is well known; that of the Fantasma is more discreet: he played in different orchestras, he is an arranger and composer, he even had a program on Telecaribe, in which he was a pianist and interviewer. "Joe noticed my voice when I sent him some arrangements of I'll Know How to Forget, in which I made the voice like his, so he could appreciate it."
Joe called him in 2000 to join the La Verdad orchestra. But his work at Telecaribe prevented him from accepting it. "In 2004, Joe had ischemia and his memory began to fail, that's why he called me, because he forgot some lyrics of the songs and needed reinforcement on stage, while he recovered."
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This is how rehearsals and tours began. "Joe never did phonomimics, like people said," says the Ghost. "He gave way to me on high notes." With Arroyo's death, the Phantom's life was revolutionized. "In the local media they called me the Ghost of Joe, or the one from La Verdad or the White Joe, but I had the stage name since '98."
When he died, people needed him so much that proposals poured in. The widow suggested that I continue with The Truth; the other woman, Mariluz, and the boys want to make another orchestra. But I don't want to be in Joe's shoes." The Carnival of the Arts evening moved him, but left him with the feeling of being trapped. "The more I want to get away, the more involved I get. The companies want to make me present with the hat he used to wear (...). But I do not want
introduce myself to My name is me, I want to make my own path. It's like the Joe doesn't
I would like to let go."
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