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Edie,
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Willie Colón in Central Park, Review, August 16, 1998
Click Here For Willie's Website
By Bruce Ishikawa
"My group, pound for pound, can take on ANY group in the business. I don't
care what group you're talking about. We lock into some grooves, sometimes
very strange grooves, that few other groups can even understand."
-Willie Colón, August 17, 1998
And what grooves! More than once I lost track of what song the band was
playing, they were way out there. Many times I have seen artists performing
in front of bands which were populated by "backup musicians" thrown together
for a concert or a tour, whose greatest attribute seems to be sight reading,
the ability to learn a song quickly and to play it just like on the record.
Not Legal Alien, these guys know the material and each other and Willie so
well they can just let it go and see what comes out this time.
Ricardo Lemvo was on first. We got there late, held up by the Dominican
Republic Parade, which we enjoyed from the air conditioned comfort of
crosstown bus 57, stopped right at the light while a couple of floats with
merengue bands passed by. Inside the bus, the sound was muted so the two
bands which passed didn't clash with each other; the bands sounded a lot
better than recorded merengue on the radio, their hearts were in it.
Anyway, when we got to the concert, Lemvo was already playing his
soukous-laced salsa, it was hot stuff, but most of the audience was sitting,
applauding politely at the end of songs. They had to be cajoled into
calling for an encore, which was accompanied by some pretty spectacular
dancers promoting "Dance With Me".
Willie arrived near the end of Lemvo's set. They changed the stage during a
20 minute break, then out came the band and the announcer and finally, to a
roar from the crowd, El Malo was on stage and in action.
The repetoire stretched back 30 years, Che Che Cole, El Varon, Idilio, stuff
the fans want, stuff the fans need. An impromptu dance floor formed to the
side of the stage, about 20 couples were dancing their hearts out with moves
that equalled the pros that were with Lemvo. Better actually, because this
was spontaneous, joyful motion, propelled by the best music in the world.
The whole audience was on their feet, bouncing to the beat, clapping the
clave, cheering with every song as soon as they recognized the first riff.
A couple of guys in the 6th or 7th row (or that's where they'd be if there
were any rows) were singing along, not missing a word.
The band churned on, getting better and better as they got hotter and
hotter. And it was hot, 85 degrees, humid and right in the sun. Finally,
the last song, goodbye, thank you very much. The applause kept going,
going, going, a quick check to see if it'd be okay with city officials to do
just one more (it was already overtime), then an encore and it was over.
Willie is leaving New York, moving to Mexico. There are many reasons, not
least of which I'm sure is the machine that controls Salsa in the home of
Salsa. The other Salsa pioneers are getting older, or are falling into the
rut, still good, but that vitality you can hear on the early recordings just
isn't there any more. There are some new guys like Jimmy Bosch, (who was
on stage with the master Sunday), who are moving the tradition along the way
it should be moved, but Willie is the only one of the old Fania All Stars
who still is evolving, creating, living the music. Maybe it's because of
his early start, he was only 17 when he made his first record, so he's still
young and vital (he's only two and a half years older than I, that's young,
right?). But I think it's also his refusal to sell out to the machine, to
travel his own path, a path made difficult by the control freak who has
homogenized Salsa music.
So now New York will be poorer. But wait! There's one more chance! Go to
the Copacabana this Saturday, August 22 for his last concert before Willie
leaves NYC. And you Miamioids can catch him at Midem on August 25. Now,
when's the next time I can get to Mexico?
- Bruce Ishikawa
--
Please visit my web site:
Bruce's Latin Music Resources
http://www.picadillo.com
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