Draft:Norberto Vélez Curbelo

Sesiones Desde La Loma (Session from the Hill) was first featured on October 2019 on the Youtube channel and is filmed in Hatillo, Puerto Rico from the La Loma del Temeguindo. Each month, unannounced featured guest or groups join Norberto Vélez Curbelo to bring the music of Puerto Rico to Youtube audiences from around the world played on instrument typical to the Island of Puerto Rico and Latin America. These musical events, mostly salsa music, appear on the Youtube channel unannounced monthly on a weekday or weekend. Sesiones Desde La Loma on the Youtube channel is monitor in anticipation when the next session from the hill is uploaded. Norberto Velez has amassed over 218.8 million views on his Youtube channel. Below are links to other Wikipedia pages of past and present performers at Sesiones Desde La Loma, Puerto Rico music and genres, Puerto Rican History and culture and instruments used in the latin culture. Picture galleries of the invited guests featured at the hill and several of the instruments played at the hill. In December 2024 Norberto featured Session number 42 from the hill.

On October 22, 2022 Fans from the four corners of Puerto Rico and different parts of the world participated in a sold-out live event, called "El Evento" near the little house on the hill featuring some of the past guest, including Maelo Ruiz and Tito Nieves at The Hill of Temeguindo.

On October 01, 2023 Fans From around the world joined Norberto for Sesiones Desde La Loma El Evento 2 at El Gran Parque Agroturístico Ecológico y Recreativo El Dorado in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The video release of this event was feature on Youtube on New Years Eve 2023

In July 2024, nearly five years, Sesiones Desde La Loma, has over 570 thousand subscribers and over 30 million views with 47 sessions and two live events, far surpassing the initial projected goals of 25 videos. YouTube Sesiones Desde La Loma has had over three millions, not including singles performed by Norberto Velez on the same channel. The second live event occured on October 1, 2023 in the Gran Parque Agroturistico, Ecológico y Recreativo El Dorado in Dorado, Puerto Rico.

Founder of Sesiones Desde La Loma
Norberto Vélez Curbelo (born August 20, 1979, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) is founder of Sesiones Desde La Loma on YouTube. Norberto's family was made up of his father Heriberto Vélez, who passed a short while ago, his mother Norma Curbelo and his younger sister Normarí Vélez. Before taking his first steps in his residence in the town of Hatillo, Puerto Rico, showed signs of his artistic streak. His first music teacher, his father, offered classes at the Escuela Especializada Libre Música Arecibo and at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico in the town of Arecibo. In his childhood, Norberto showed interest in learning to play various instruments, of which he made the guitar his favorite. At the age of seven, Norberto, always led by his parents, began to offer his first musical performances interpreting the typical music of Puerto Rico. He remained in this environment for approximately ten years between the ensembles Conjunto Tipico Clasico and Conjunto 4x4. When Norberto was 17 years old, he joined the Trompeta Con Trovadores – Trumpet with Trovadores, directed by maestro Elías López Sobá, where he began to feel a great passion for the salsa genre. During this time, he participated as a backup singer with various artists such as: Kedwin Ceballo, Frankie Negrón, Carolina la O, Pedro Brull, among others. After approximately three years, Norberto joined as a backup singer with the Victor Manuelle known as El Sonero de la Juventud. In 2003, Victor presented the concert where Norberto sang the duet with the sonero of youth the song of "Sin Bandera Si te vas"/"Without the Flag, it leaves you". Norbeto Vélez and his childhood friend Gerardo Rivas, formed a Puerto Rican Salsa group name NG2 which lasted for sixteen years until they decided to concentrate on projects that they want to achieve individually. Gerardo Rivas father Jerry Rivas, lead singer for El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico for 45 years, was featured with the group at the hill in episode number 32.

La Loma del Temeguindo
Afterwards, Norberto, singer, composer, producer, arranger and entertainer  built a small house, known as the "Casa de los/House of the salseros" with a porch at "La Loma del Temeguindo"-"The Hill of Temeguindo" in the Barrio (District) of Naranjito located in Hatillo, Puerto Rico. In 2019, Norberto starting producing YouTube videos episodes titled "Sesiones Desde La Loma"/"Sessions from the Hill" approximately every month. Norerto's initial goal was to produce 25 video sessions. The project is currently continuing and YouTube subscribers have grown to over 300 thousand from an initial start of 200. Norberto produces his own music videos as well and uploaded his live concert which premiered on April 9, 2021, from "LA Loma" Titled "A Mi Modo" which has been viewed over 100K times. On October 22nd, Norberto's sold-out live concert titled "The Event" was attended by thousand of people near the little house on the hill.

Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos
In Puerto Rico, Epiphany, is an important festive holiday, and is commonly referred as Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos, or Three Kings' Day. It is traditional for children to fill a box with fresh grass or hay and put it underneath their bed, for the Wise Men's horses. In Puerto Rico many artisans make commemorative historical figures of the Magi on horseback. The Three Wise Men of Puerto Rico, according to local tradition, arrive on horseback instead of camels as in other countries where the custom is also ingrained. The three kings will then take the grass to feed the horses and will leave gifts under the bed as a reward. These traditions are analogous to the customs of children leaving mince pies and sherry out for Father Christmas in Western Europe or leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus in the United States. On the day before the feast (January 5), the "Rosario de Reyes" or "Promesa de Reyes" is celebrated with songs (aguinaldos) promised to be sung to the Kings, usually before a little table with figures of the Nativity and the Kings or with the Kings alone and their camels. This celebration is accompanied with a chicken soup, snacks, and drinks.

Aguinaldo
On January 06, 2023, El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, Sesiones Desde La Loma Ep. 33 featured Grupo Mapeyé: Orquesta Criolla Nacional de Puerto Rico playing typical aguinaldo. In Puerto Rico, the aguinaldo is a musical gift offered during the Christmas season and is a tradition inherited from the island's Spanish colonizers. As a musical gift, aguinaldos are mostly played by "parranderos" or "trullas" during the Christmas holidays. While parrandas, showing up at a residence late at night, with a group of Christmas carolers, is a practice that is slowly being lost in Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican aguinaldos album debuted in the top 10 Billboard Tropical Albums in December 2019. In 2016, Grupo Mapeyé, was nominated in Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2016 with "En Las Islas Canarias" in the 17th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.

Originally, aguinaldos were "villancicos" with strong religious connotations but soon evolved to "coplas" (quartets) and "decimas" (ten-verses compositions) about all kinds of everyday topics. Aguinaldos were played with typical instruments such as the bordonúa, a tiple, a cuatro, a carracho or güiro, a cowbell, barriles de bomba, an accordion, and maracas. With bordonua players becoming more difficult to find, the guitar became a staple accompanying the cuatro. Today, panderos (also known as "pleneras"), brass instruments and whatever makes noise, are used.

As a genre, the aguinaldo is played mostly on the radio on key Christmas holidays in Puerto Rico; the day before Christmas and in Christmas, on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, and the day before Three Kings Day and on Three King's Day (January 6). Aguinaldos are also played at Christmas church celebrations.

Singers/Groups Outside of Puerto Rico
Episode 9 featured Johnny Rivera, an American salsa singer of Puerto Rican descent. Rivera was born in the Bronx, New York, and attended high school at Benjamin Franklin High School. He moved briefly to Puerto Rico before returning to New York City to begin a career in music. Episode 31 feature José Alberto Justiniano (born December 22, 1959, in Villa Consuelo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), better known by his stage name José Alberto "El Canario", a salsa singer from the Dominican Republic. Episode 34 feature Daniela Alejandra Darcourt Escurra, born on April 20, 1996 and spent her entire childhood with her five sisters in the El Porvenir neighborhood, in the La Victoria district, in Lima, Peru. Daniela is a Peruvian singer, songwriter and dancer. She is cataloged by experts as one of the best salsa singers in the country. She has also been a Judge for Yo Soy Kids, and a trainer at La Voz Peru, La voz Senior and La voz Kids. Episodes 36 and 37 feature from Venezuela, Ronald Borgas from Guaco (band) and Servando & Florentino respectively. Episode 38 featured Gaby Zambrano who is a member of Agua Bella is a female technocumbia music group from Peru.

Other guest
In episode 38, beside Gaby Zambrano from Peru also included Puerto Ricans Pete Perignon and Jeremry Bosch. Pete Perignon, the son of legendary salsa bandleader Don Perignon. Pete is a Latin Grammy-winning bandleader, musical director, and master percussionist. He was recognized in the category of Tropical Best Salsa Album "La Esquina del Bailador" at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Jeremy Bosch who wrote "Ya No Me Duele", the fourth track on the album SALSWING!

Transition and Creation
On April 14, 2023 Norberto released a musical production titled "Transición y Creación" that reflected the evolution of Norberto Vélez as a singer, composer and producer. Transición y Creación has nine unpublished songs, all authored by the singer. In this production, the salsa public had the opportunity to listen to Norberto, but also to his bandmates Carlos García and Jota Ruiz, with whom he also shared composition credits on two songs.