Mangione Molina, known online as Mangione Pikete and by the tag «el pianista que ma goza», is a Dominican pianist, arranger, composer, and musical director who works in merengue and mambo. He is the musical director of Sujeto Oro 24, a member of the band «Lo Socios del Patio», and has played with some of the biggest names in Dominican tropical music.

Background

In a 2022 television interview for World Piano Day, Molina was introduced as a nephew of the orchestra conductor José Antonio Molina. He said that he grew up as a music fan and that his family's advice was always to do his work as well as he could, and he recalled being stopped at club doors when he arrived as the pianist for famous artists.

Career

One of his first major groups was Oro Sólido, with which he traveled internationally, including Mexico several times a year, Costa Rica, and South America, an experience he says taught him how the music business works. He has since worked with Kinito Méndez, Milly Quezada, Monchy y Capricho, Tulile, and Tito Swing, and by 2022 had been musical director of Sujeto Oro 24 for close to six years, arranging and leading the band for the mambo singer's recordings and shows.

With Sujeto Oro 24 he has directed albums and tributes that pair the singer with «Lo Socios del Patio», a group of Dominican professional musicians that also includes Chayanne Duverge, Josefrank de Oleo, Klaudin Hurtado, Paul Núñez, Papolo Sax, Wilson «Tambora Killer», Neno Guira, and Emelvin Herrera. Their tributes include one to Tito Rojas and another to Gilberto Santa Rosa, and the band recorded with Juliana a homage to Willie González. In 2026 he directed a recording for Martha Heredia, and in September the band released a session with Nacho Estrella and took part in Ramón Orlando's 50-year celebration at the Estadio Olímpico in Santo Domingo, alongside Sujeto Oro 24, Oro Sólido, Tito Swing, and Omega.

Legacy

Molina is one of the pianists who define the current sound of Dominican mambo and merengue in live performance, both as a keyboard player and as a musical director.