Salsa is dead, reggaeton is dead: Long live the rolling Afro-Latin music thread 2009

ridiculous e-mailed press release no. 1,224,000 re Cuban-born rapper:

PITBULL
TAKES A BITE OUT OF LOS ANGELES AND SETS NEW ATTENDENCE RECORD
AT CLUB NOKIA

Isn't Eddie Santiago just a salsa romantica artist?

He is, but I like some of his old hits quite a bit (maybe because they remind me of my earliest salsa dance classes).

Like this:

This actually feels really nice to dance to, imo. I mean, really, is this such a bad song? I don't think so. I'm not sure I'd go see Eddie Santiago live though.

Not that I dance any more, or work, or spend much money, in our declining empire (but that's another story).

And yes, in fact, I will take this over any number of current New York ideologically salsa dura songs.

(This is a pretty good example of how I'm less of a salsa purist than I might seem at times. I don't hate all the poppy salsa.)

Been trying to figure out what this song is forever. Oh well, call me late but this is a jam.

Somebody should give Robert Christgau a subgenre-by-subgenre breakdown of all these current Latin acts he's asking about:

http://www.najp.org/articles/2009/02/anuncios-de-servicio-publico.html

oh mio.

Wow, the Dean wants to be schooled.

I might want to attempt that (but that's going to be a homework type thing--away from the internet). I see some people have already started. I'm a little surprised he wouldn't know who some of these acts are (but good for him for asking).

Here's a real time attempt (but these aren't going to be sentences necessarily, so I realize this isn't the response he was looking for--I'm doing this for my own amusement)):

Pepe Aguilar (Don't know), Akwid* (Mexican or Mexican-American rapper, I think), Alacranes Musicales!! (don't know), Alegres de la Sierra (don't know--sounds Mexican), Alexis and Fido (Reggaetoneros, presumably Puerto Rican), Ricardo Arjona (don't know), Aventura!! (pop bachata), Hector Bambino (Puerto Rican reggaeton), Ana Barbara (don't know), Bebe (don't know, but sounds familiar), Graciela Beltran (I should know this--is this the Machito Graciela or someone else?), Bety y Sus Canaris (don't know), Miguel Bose (don't know), Bronco (unless this was a Fania reissue that sold well, I don't know--but there was an older salsa band called Brocno), Cafe Tacuba* (rock en espanol), Calle 13* (reggaeton/Latin alternative), Cristian Castro (don't know), Manu Chao* (that guy, who I think is actually Spanish, right?), Chayanne!! (d/k), Conjunto Atardecer (d/k), Conjunto Primavera!! (d/k), Celia Cruz* (the starred ones he knows, I guess), Daddy Yankee*, Dareyes dela Sierra (d/k), Oscar de la Hoya (huh?) (d/k), Duelo (d/k), Tito El Bambino (Puerto Rican reggaeton), El Patro de Sinoloa (d/k), Valentin Elizalde (d/k), Vicente Fernandez!! (norteno, right?), Luis Fonsi (name very familiar but don't know), Ana Gabriel* (Mexican--mariachi, maybe other styles), Kany Garcia (d/k), Grupo Innovacion (d/k), Jean Luis Guerra* (boring poetic bachata/Christian Latin music), Enrique Iglesias* (I still don't really know what this guy sounds like), India* (anyway I'm skipping the starred ones), Inquietos de Norte (d/k), Ivy Queen (I think--they're on Univision, a Latin label) (la reina del reggaeton, Puerto Rican), Jaunes*, K-Paz de la Sierra (Mexican, poppy banda mixed other stuff?), La 5A Estaction (d/k), La Arrolladora Banda El Lima (d/k), La Factoria (d/k), Hector Lavoe*, Los Creadorez (d/k), Los Cuates de Sinaloa (d/k--I assume these bands with Mexican place names in their names are Mexican), Los Enanitos Verdes (d/k), Los Originales de San Juan (d/k), Los Pikadientes de Caborca (d/k), Los Primos de Durango (d/k), Los Rieleros del Norte (d/k), Los Super Reyes (d/k), Los Temerarios (d/k), Los Tigres del Norte*!!, Los Tucanes de Tijuana (d/k), Eddy Lover (d/k), Mana*!!, Victor Manuelle (salsa, often considered "salsa monga" (or soft or literally "retarded" salsa) but considered a legit. sonero by some--also does some Latin pop, Puerto Rican), Ricky Martin*, Mercyme, Luis Miguel!! (I forget), Montez de Durango (d/k), Tito Nieves (primarily salsa, but has charted with Latin house and recorded in some other genres, Puerto Rican), Don Omar (Puerto Rican reggaeton), Yolanda Perez (Mexican pop banda--did those bandaton songs that I liked and only discovered thanks to Chuck), Pesado (d/k), Rakim y Keny (reggaeton--like any name that looks kind of like that), RBD (Latin pop? or just very watery rock en espanol?), Reik (d/k), Diana Reyes (d/k), Jenni Rivera (d/k), Lupilla Rivera (d/k), RKM y Ken-y (cf. Rakim y Keny just above), Paulina Rubio*, Adan Salina Sanchez (d/k), Gilberto Santa Rosa (salsa, often on the salsa romantica/salsa monga side of things, but clearly a strong talent in more traditional styles of the music, Puerto Rican, frequently collaborates with Victor Manuelle on various recording projects), Alejandro Sanz* (Spanish, right?), Joan Sebastian (d/k), Marco Antonio Solis!! (Mexican pop of some sort, not too bad), Olga Tanon (merengue, though I believe she is from Puerto Rico), Tierra Cali (d/k), Gloria Trevi (d/k), Tropical Fantasia (d/k), Sergio Vega (d/k), Julieta Venegas (I know who she is but I'm not even sure where she is from--probably Mexican?), Alicia Villareal (d/k), Wisin y Yanda!! (that's YANDEL--Puerto Rican reggaeton, now doing bad house music with increasing frequency), Xtreme (pop reggaeton very much in the Aventura vein), Yuridia (up and coming Mexican pop singer).

I'd be willing to bet at least half my "don't knows" are Mexican acts.

I don't think most fans, as opposed to professional epxerts, could identify the whole gamut. "Latin music" includes disctinct musical worlds. (I'm not suggesting anybody involved here doesn't know that.)

now doing bad house music with increasing frequency

otm

Have you guys seen Nina's blog [url]http://lamusicalatina.wordpress.com/[url] She posted a response to Christgau also

[i]Hip Hop Dominicano is Dead?
January 18, 2009 by La Evangelista de la Salsa

Well, that figures. First salsa then reggaeton (though I like to pretend it isn’t) and now THIS? Whats left? Im almost afraid to go trolling for music lest I run across an obituary out there.[i] She linked to another blog that said hiphop Dominicano is dead

Nina wrote: Ivy Queen is the most successful reggaeton artist, she hails from Puerto Rico and is known

for her very long fingernails and her rough almost masculine voice.

I presume this should have said "most successful female reggaeton artist"?

Yep

Christgau could find some of those artists on allmusic.com and use youtube and imeem and stuff too (the Latin Grammys show on tv). Also, at the same time that he points out that he, the Dean, has never heard of these big-selling artists, he mentions how he couldn't be bothered to review a Juanes cd for Rolling Stone. I don't get it, Christgau writes up "dud" albums for his consumer guide every week and has written up many an artist like Juanes who speak in English (slick radio-friendly slightly hip rock). I recall reading a Los Tigres review in the NY Times so Pareles and Caramanica there realize to a degree that Latin music of all stripes needs to be covered. I guess Christgau did acknowledge knowing of Los Tigres.

I shouldn't have said "heard of" I should have said he wasn't very familiar with.

And yes he does the Consumer guide every month not every week.

Ha. Not too many folks have weighed in on the najp.org Christgau posting. He's already moved on to praising SFJ for a Beyonce article.

he mentions how he couldn't be bothered to review a Juanes cd for Rolling Stone. I don't get it

Maybe he was just didn't feel he was qualified to offer up a review of Juanes, whose music is way out of Bob's usual scope? I dunno -- and I know this will seem an odd thing to say about Christgau -- but it actually strikes me as a fairly humble decision.

victor manuelle + gsr were on despierta america this morning... love how utterly awkward manuelle is when not singing

Actually seeing Victor Manuelle (in video form anyway) didn't do anything to increase my enthusiasm for him. But inspired by the recent discussion, I listened to the old VM Oro Salsero (and older edition than what's available now though?) collection this morning, which has most of my favorite VM songs on it. Quite a few of these songs remind me of particularly times and people. These songs were all over when I started venturing into salsa dancing in the late 90s. Despite the flaws (such as arrangements that often seem to work at cross purposes), I think these are pretty good songs, and his performances here somehow do sound a lot stronger than most of what's come from him 1999 on. By Inconfundible the melodramatic schtick just gets too heavy, the formula too rigid. (I still hang on to that CD, mostly because of personal associations I have with the songs.) An example of his early songs (no endoresement of the video!):

Re: Christgau's Juanes comment, I too got the sense that it wasn't so much that he couldn't be bothered with it, but that he thought it would be appropriate to give it to a reviewer who might be more sympathetic to what Juanes was doing.

(I think I'm going to change this display name soon. Making "political statements" with my display name already seems like a really bad idea.)

Oh look it has a rating. I didn't know that was going to pop up.

I like this one a lot too (despite--I think it really is despite--some of the synth or keyboard sounds):

Maybe it's not real salsa to a lot of people, but I think it's good popular music.

And as long as we're talking about old chart topping Latin music, this Aventura song was huge (and remains one of my favorites):

(Monchy & Alexandra and Aventura were pretty much my introductions to bachata, which was only getting picked up as part of tropical music in general, rather than a more specifically Dominican thing, in the late 90s. Of course, to many bachata purists, this stuff is an abomination.)

Adjudging me a world kind of guy, Rolling Stone once assigned me a Juanes album; I liked it so little the project was abandoned by mutual agreement Christgau's words

He clearly listened to a Juanes cd and did not like it, the rest is subject to interpretation. I'm not even clear why he threw that into the posting. Did he want people to point out Juanes-style music so he could ignore it?

He wanted to give an example of how certain kinds of Latin romantic ballad pop might well be out of his ballpark (pretty much what he'd said two sentences earlier), and that in fact he's not expecting to love a lot of the acts listed below? (I think he also confesses in the intro of one of his books that he doesn't really get much salsa, either. Ditto much metal, actually. What's wrong with admitting that?)

Here's my additions to the R_S list:

Pepe Aguilar (major figure in mariachi, though I don't like his voice)
Akwid* (Mexican-American twin rappers)
Alacranes Musicales!! (pop norteño; I don't like 'em)
Alegres de la Sierra (don't know--sounds Mexican)
Alexis and Fido (poppy reggatoneros)
Ricardo Arjona (a balladeer, I think)
Aventura!! (pop bachata - hate these guys)
Hector Bambino (Puerto Rican reggaeton)
Ana Barbara (big florid ballads)
Bebe (Spanish alt-rock pissed off chick w/touches of flamenco)
Graciela Beltran (ranchero/mariachi singer)
Bety y Sus Canaris (don't know)
Miguel Bose (Spanish pop singer, has also acted in an Almodovar movie or two)
Bronco (I think he's referring to a norteño band)
Cafe Tacuba* (rock en espanol)
Calle 13* (reggaeton/Latin alternative)
Cristian Castro (pop balladeer, I think)
Manu Chao* (Spanish or gypsy or something - hate him but liked the first Mano Negra album)
Chayanne!! (pop balladeer)
Conjunto Atardecer (d/k)
Conjunto Primavera!! (d/k)
Celia Cruz* (well, duh)
Daddy Yankee* (well, duh)
Dareyes dela Sierra (d/k)
Oscar de la Hoya (didn't know he put out an album?) (d/k)
Duelo (d/k)
Tito El Bambino (Puerto Rican reggaeton)
El Patro de Sinoloa (d/k but can presume norteño)
Valentin Elizalde (norteño)
Vicente Fernandez!! (the motherfucking KING/GODHEAD of norteno)
Luis Fonsi (pop balladeer)
Ana Gabriel* (Mexican - sometimes mariachi, sometimes goopy ballads)
Kany Garcia (Mexican singer-songwriter, alt-pop division)
Grupo Innovacion (d/k)
Jean Luis Guerra* (boring poetic bachata/Christian Latin music)
Enrique Iglesias* (boring bilingual pop)
India* (80s club queen gone salsa)
Inquietos de Norte (d/k)
Ivy Queen (la reina del reggaeton, Puerto Rican)
Juanes (hate this guy)
K-Paz de la Sierra (Mexican, poppy banda mixed other stuff?)
La 5A Estaction (alt-rock from Mexico or maybe Spain)
La Arrolladora Banda El Lima (d/k)
La Factoria (pop reggaeton w/two female vocalists)
Hector Lavoe (well, duh)
Los Creadorez (norteño - saw a video by these guys the other day)
Los Cuates de Sinaloa (d/k--I assume these bands with Mexican place names in their names are Mexican)
Los Enanitos Verdes (alt-rock, kinda fun in a Dead Milkmen/Blink 182 way)
Los Originales de San Juan (d/k)
Los Pikadientes de Caborca (d/k)
Los Primos de Durango (norteño)
Los Rieleros del Norte (d/k)
Los Super Reyes (some weird mix of cumbia and clubtronica)
Los Temerarios (norteño/Tejano)
Los Tigres del Norte (norteño - I have 38 albums by these guys in my iPod)
Los Tucanes de Tijuana (more norteño - I own two 2-disc best ofs)
Eddy Lover (reggaeton)
Mana (the Nickelback of rock en español)
Victor Manuelle (salsa, often considered "salsa monga" (or soft or literally "retarded" salsa) but considered a legit. sonero by some--also does some Latin pop, Puerto Rican)
Ricky Martin (bilingual pop)
Mercyme (d/k)
Luis Miguel!! (Mexican pop balladeer)
Montez de Durango (d/k)
Tito Nieves (primarily salsa, but has charted with Latin house and recorded in some other genres, Puerto Rican)
Don Omar (Puerto Rican reggaeton)
Yolanda Perez (Mexican pop banda - never heard her)
Pesado (d/k)
Rakim y Keny (reggaeton--like any name that looks kind of like that)
RBD (Latin pop? or just very watery rock en espanol?)
Reik (Mexican alt-rock, ballad division)
Diana Reyes (d/k)
Jenni Rivera (sort of a Tejano Mary J. Blige)
Lupilla Rivera (I know the name but can't remember the sound)
Paulina Rubio (Mexican pop - totally insane and awesome)
Adan Salina Sanchez (d/k)
Gilberto Santa Rosa (salsa, often on the salsa romantica/salsa monga side of things, but clearly a strong talent in more traditional styles of the music, Puerto Rican, frequently collaborates with Victor Manuelle on various recording projects)
Alejandro Sanz* (Spanish pop balladeer)
Joan Sebastian (d/k)
Marco Antonio Solis!! (Mexican pop of some sort, not too bad)
Olga Tanon (merengue, though I believe she is from Puerto Rico)
Tierra Cali (d/k)
Gloria Trevi (Mexican pop, super sexy in her heyday but now post-prison not lookin' so hot)
Tropical Fantasia (d/k)
Sergio Vega (d/k)
Julieta Venegas (Mexican alt-rock)
Alicia Villareal (Mexican balladeer)
Wisin y Yandel!! (Puerto Rican reggaeton, now doing bad house music with increasing frequency)
Xtreme (pop reggaeton very much in the Aventura vein)
Yuridia (up and coming Mexican pop singer).

do not care, love aventura + xtreme

and agree with the general sentiment of manuelle, i can only take it in small doses at this point

i don't know where this original list is coming from but have n'klabe and ng2 already been hit?

also, can't have a list with reggaeton artists without mentioning dj blass, nelson, or joe

fauxmarc, Christgau made the original list from big-selling artists that he was not that familar with, and he posted the list on a website linked to above.

Chuck, not to be overly nitpicky and run this into the ground, but yea, I'm fine with Bob Christgau saying he's not into latin ballads here (and whatever in his book), but your or his attempt to lump his sentence(s) about that with his dislike of Juanes does not follow for me, as Juanes is not just a schmaltzy balladeer. He may not rock like many a rock en espanol or English act, but some of his material is way more upbeat (if still slickly produced) and to me, is very comparable to lots of new wave or contemporay pop-rock that Christgau has reviewed over the years (but just not in English).

faumarc and unperson:

I gave Aventura a mixed but largely favorable live review for the Washington Post once. I did not expect to like 'em as much as I did, although I can see how their polished pop-bachata and heartthrob schtick might rub some the wrong way.

On a different subject, I apparently made it to Circuit City's going out of business sale a week too late. Stuff is now 30 % off--only Fania reissue I could find left was Willie Colon and Ruben Blades 1983 The Last Fight that I found later described as follows online:

A movie soundtrack. This sounds like it was cut in a weekend: the two new Blades compositions are tossoffs, and the rest is rearrangements of standards. By this point Blades was seeking to complete his Fania contract as rapidly as possible. But Colón's band is so good even the most mediocre material holds your interest, and Blades' "What Happened" is amusing. (DBW

I'm actually kind of amazed that Christgau doesn't like Juanes, as it seems like Juanes would punch all his white-liberal-guilt buttons: semi-rockin' dude singing about troubles in a foreign land, charity work, pseudo-poetic lyrics, blah blah blah. I fucking hate the guy, but I figured Christgau would love him.

Re Aventura, it's not just the heartthrob schtick that bugs me, it's the guitar sound of pop bachata - I hate it; it's like smooth jazz guitar coupled to cheesy love lyrics. I can see how it would go over well in an arena full of sexy, screaming Latin ladeez.

xp Well, Curmudgeon. all I can say is that Xgau apparently hears Juanes (at least the one Juanes album he checked out )with different ears than you do (not that strange -- he's definitely heard schmaltz in some music that I don't, or where I at least don't mind the schmaltz, over the years, and vice versa.) Either that, or I just made an incorrect assumption in connecting his not-liking-Latin-ballads sentence to his not-liking-Juanes sentence. (Interestingly, "new wave or contemporay pop-rock" is how I would describe what little music I've heard by Mana, who unperson likened above to Nickelback; they reminded me a lot more of the Police, actually, and I thought they sounded okay. Though admittedly that was their earliest music, and I haven't really kept up on their more recent stuff. Also, I should add that what little music I've heard by Juanes -- who I've probably invested even less time in than Xgau has -- actually hit me as more schmaltzy than pop-rocky, which may be part of why I Rorschached Xgau's blurb that way. Out of curiousity, Curmudgeon, what new wavers and pop-rockers who Xgau likes does Juanes remind you of?) (And oh yeah, I don't hate Nickelback so much.)

semi-rockin' dude singing about troubles in a foreign land, charity work, pseudo-poetic lyrics

Well, Xgau doesn't speak Spanish, for one thing.

And he's also way less a sucker for do-gooders and psuedo-poets than you seem to think (in fact, he's been criticizing both types for four decades or so.)

(Which isn't to say that he might not fall for more of them than you or I do -- excepting the fact that heavy metal is one of the most pseudo-poetic genres in human history, that is. But he's actually pretty skeptical about that kinda stuff, believe it or not.)

Some evidence (in reference to an artist that I'm guessing might be fairly comparable to Juanes):

http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=sting

>But he's actually pretty skeptical about that kinda stuff, believe it or not.

He's a lot more susceptible when the artist in question isn't white, is my impression.

Re Aventura, it's not just the heartthrob schtick that bugs me, it's the guitar sound of pop bachata

i can see that, it'd definitely turn me off in most any other genre but coming from just a dancing perspective, bachata rhythms at the core are so simple/understated it's actually a nice addition considering not much is there in the first place.

ahhh i just read the above post about hip-hop domincano is dead... lol, sheesh. i guess they're not all that big (although they've got xemo and villano sam on it so they must be making some waves), and if one wants to squabble about the lines between rap and hip-hop then fine it won't apply but all i have to say in regard to this is: THE EVILTWINZ. if applicable, that recent mixtape they did "we here now" blows this sentiment out of the water.

Christgau made the original list from big-selling artists that he was not that familar with

okay, yeah salsa artists n'klabe and ng2 definitely need to be brought up here - the only reason i've even know about them is because they're up for univision's tropical album of the year award in march. yeah, award shows are always suspect but i tend to give any outlet that's not part of the english us mainstream machine benefit of the doubt, and tried them out - cannot put ng2's album in the running, "con todas las de ganar" down. i think n'klabe's album up for it, "la nueva escuela" is just ok, but then i went back and checked out their 2004 album "salsa contra viento y marea" which KILLS it.

also: reggaeton dude voltiooooooo. his track "ella menea" is actually just a remix off that ng2 album, both versions are on theirs.

NG2 is one of those Victor Manuelle/Gilberto Santa Rosa projects. VM/GSR produce them and they are pretty much a VM/GSR brain-child. VM has written for N'Klabe, as well. I'm not hugely thrilled with either band, and they certainly take a lot of abuse (especially N'Klabe). The first NG2 album was pretty experimental (that might be the 2004 one you mention) in its way, pulling in a lot of stuff from Cuban timba. (My favorite track from that is a salsaton type number.) And I liked "I Love Salsa" probably more than the next guy, but I can't take N'Klabe too seriously.

Incidentally (I hope she doesn't mind me saying this), Nina hasn't reappeared on this thread due to ILX account problems.

huh?

Descarga is now pushing new Orestes Vilató album, his first as leader. Looks good to me.

huh?

I don't know what happned but it sounds like she tried to change her password and didn't get the new one but doesn't remember the old one. Etc. Maybe she'd have to change her e-mail address to re-register, and I doubt she can be bothered.

Another Buena Vista member has passed on--bassist Orlando Cachaito Lopez. R.I.P. (Ned Sublette linked to this Miami Herald article in his e-mail service)

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/02/10/index.php?section=espectaculos&article=a09n1esp

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/v-print/story/896245.html

Posted on Mon, Feb. 09, 2009
Buena Vista Social Club bassist Lopez dead at 76
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, considered the "heartbeat" of Cuba's
legendary Buena Vista Social Club for his internationally acclaimed bass
playing, died Monday of complications from prostate surgery, fellow
musicians said. He was 76.
Lopez, a founding member of the band brought together in the
1990s by American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder, died in a Havana
hospital several days after surgery, said Manuel Galban, a Cuban musician
who played with Lopez for decades.

"We have lost a great companion," said Galban.

Born in Havana in 1933, Lopez became an international sensation
as part of the Buena Vista Social Club - a group of elderly, sometimes
retired, musicians who were living quietly in Cuba before Cooder brought
them together and they became worldwide sensations.

"I will remember him as marvelous, both in his music and as a
person," Galban, a guitarist, said by telephone. "He was extraordinary,
affable, a great bassist."

Lopez died less than a week after turned 76.

"I called him last week because it was his birthday and his
voice didn't sound too good," said musician Amadito Valdes, who added that
Lopez had undergone prostate surgery several days ago. "He was a person who
was always sharing with everyone around him, very noble."

Lopez was held by many to be Buena Vista's heartbeat and had
played to international audiences as part of its touring company.

The group, which plays a mix of traditional Cuban rhythms, has
lost many of its key members of late. Singer Compay Segundo - who was born
Maximo Francisco Repilado Munoz - pianist Ruben Gonzalez, and vocalists
Ibrahim Ferrer and Pio Leyva have all died in recent years.

But Lopez was also a star in his own right, independent of Buena
Vista. His groundbreaking debut album Cachaito won a BBC Radio 3 Award for
World Music in 2002.

Lopez hailed from a family of at least 30 bass players,
including his uncle, legendary bassist Israel "Cachao" Lopez. His nickname
translates to "Little Cachao." His father Orestes played piano and cello in
addition to the bass and was also a composer.

Lopez originally played the violin, but as he said publicly many
times, eventually switched to the bass after his grandfather urged him to
take up the family craft.

He was a pioneer of Cuban mambo, and by 17 was part of a noted
big band group known as Riverside. He later joined Cuba's national symphony.
He also played with a band called "Los Zafiros."

Lopez was at home playing classic as well as popular music but
also dabbled in late night jazz and jazz fusion.

However, he only gained international notoriety when Cooder
brought him together with such standouts as Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer,
Ruben Gonzalez and Omara Portuondo to form Buena Vista.

Later, Wim Wenders released a documentary titled Buena Vista
Social Club, in which he profiled the musicians whose talents had all but
been forgotten.

Family members planned to cremate the body but there was no
immediate word on funeral services.

Ah, he was Cachao's nephew.

And "Macho"'s son. Only outlived his uncle by a year. Didn't know that he had played with Los Zafiros. RIP.

Now there are a couple more good responses (including a very detailed rundown by Carlos Reyes) on that Xgau blog post, btw:

http://www.najp.org/articles/2009/02/anuncios-de-servicio-publico.html#comments

Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta II at Lincoln Center. Man, I wish I had gone to see this.