Efan said:

She E. has been the musical director for so many television telecasts for so many years, though. It's not like it's her first time being in charge of the music for a concert tv filming . That nonwithstanding,yes she did a wonderful job...as usual

babynoz said:

...that reggaeton guy (whom I don't even recognize) was horrible AND he wasn't even doing a reggaeton! WTF?!?! At least give us Wilsin & Yandel or Ivy Queen for fuck's sake! Oh wait, I know! Maybe they originally had Daddy Yankee scheduled but replaced him at the last minute when they found out that D.Y. is a Republican.

bellanoche said:

Our Prez ain't got no riddim...

I enjoyed the show very much, Sheila outdid herself and her dad was very proud. I was disappointed that Santana wasn't there, but it was great seeing Jose Feliciano.

PurpleJedi said:

I noticed that, too. However, since I am not a fan of the genre, I was like maybe this is a new Reggaeton/Bachata/WTF fusion.

Is Daddy Yankee really a Republican?

How cute was it when Sheila went over to the two First Daughters and brought them over to play the timbales? That's awesome.

you can watch it here:
http://video.pbs.org/vide...1073769600

I like Marc Anthony's performance.

There are some other good videos of performances @ The White House also.

babynoz said:

Yes it was a good show. Loved the music! I think Obama held back, and couldn't get down the way he really wanted to. I mean who could sit down with latin music! I bet behind closed doors it's a different story with Obama though. There's a special on PBS that aired this week about called "Latin Music" (check your local PBS listing for re-airs) for those interested, and all the greats, from Santana. Celia Cruz to Johnny Pacheco were mentioned. They focused on the history of the Fania all-stars and the effect latin music had in the 70s in the U.S. and overseas. So sad that many of the greats got cheated out of money they deserved for their talent.
[Edited 10/16/09 12:33pm]

What great music! hard not to get up and dance
that was cute when the president got up to dance with Thalia, he can move!

Tito El Bambino What happened? he sounded horrible and I love his song!

Gloria was good!


.
[Edited 10/18/09 23:33pm]

2elijah said:

Hi 2elijah

My dad told me about the special and I watched the episodes with Santana and the Fania All Stars. I didn't watch the one on Mexican music because I have never been a fan of it. However, I LOVE the Fania-era. My dad raised me listening to that era of "salsa de la buena." It was great to see so many of my favorite artists. As much as I know artists get ripped off, I was shocked to learn that Tite Curet Alonso - composer of countless Latin classics - worked as a postal worker all those years he was penning those gems. Jery Masucci, his brother and those others were straight up crooks. I don't care what they say about being good businessmen. Masucci owned houses all of the world and Tite Curet Alonso died broke.

bellanoche said:

Hi Bella!

I grew up with that music at family reunions. My first cousin was married to a Puerto Rican man and lawd have mercy, every family reunion had that music playing, at that time, I didn't know the names of the musicians, but remember the "sound of that music" and love it to this day. Being born from Caribbean parents, both my parents grew up in the Virgin Islands at a time when it had a major Hispanic/Latin influence, and my parents brought that part of their culture to the states with them, when they moved here. My Uncle (my Dad's (rip) brother) taught me how to do the meringue when I was around 5 or 6 years old. He used to live in the Dominican Republic, until there was some type of trouble there, and he moved to NYC.

I've been exposed to latin/Caribbean music as a young girl hearing my Mom and Dad, Aunts and cousins playing that type of music, from Mongo Santamaria, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Tito Puente, and more. It was hard to explain to some of my friends over the years, that I grew up on that type of music, because most of them and their families were Blacks from the South or North in the U.S, and my family and another were the only Blacks from the Caribbean living on my block, with Caribbean ties at that time, so there was some slight, cultural differences between my childhood/school friends and me and my siblings;there was a whole lot of explanation about it; but that was then, and times have changed, and more families Black Americans from various cultures are exposed to the various cultures of Blacks from the Caribbean.

Anyway, I still love that music from many of the members of the Fania All-Stars, and yes it is sad to learn that many of those talented, latin artists, were broke, and many died broke, while being ripped off by that Masucci guy. A pathetic shame.]
[Edited 10/21/09 18:57pm]

2elijah said:

I know 2elijah. As soon as anyone hears me listening to my Fania music or dancing to it, the first question out of their mouths has always been "Are you Latina/Hispanic?" I am always having to explain how my dad just loved all kinds of music and used to go to the Puerto Rican neighborhoods and buy the music. One thing about it, is that I made a lot of Latino friends through listening to the music, so I gues it made my world "multicultural" before it became a catch phrase.