Tijana's Latin Music Blog

One of the problems I have with programs like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance is the music. While the majority of the dances performed are 'Latin', the accompanying music is usually familiar pop tunes that have the appropriate rhythms. It seems to me that if a Latin dance is performed it should be done to Latin music!

That's why I prefer a 'salsa congress.' At a salsa congress, amateur and professional dancers get together and compete for a title. The dancing is teriffic and the music is authentic, with some of the best Latin bands available performing for the competing teams. There are salsa congresses all over the world but I bet the one in Puerto Rico is dynamite.

Although the 'Puerto Rico Salsa Congress' started on Tuesday, it continues through Saturday night and here's the good part: you can watch it live on HITN which will be broadcasting the event on its internet platform. There will be teams from over 30 countries participating and you can participate yourself in the relative safety of your living room.

Simply visit the HITN Website for live feeds through Saturday, July 26, 2008.

If you watched last week's Premios Juventud show, you had the chance to see Spanish pop singer Enrique Iglesias perform with urban bachata's Aventura. As unlikely as the the pairing seems at first glance, the collaboration seemed to work well.

The pairing of the performers was no conincidence as Iglesias and Aventura will be touring together in concert starting in September. If you're a fan of either of these two dynamic acts, you'll be getting double the music for your money when you grab tickets to attend one of the 15 scheduled tour dates.

* Photo courtesy Univision

The 2008 Premios Juventud awards seemed like a tight race between reggaeton's Wisin y Yandel and bachata's Aventura with Wisin y Yandel pulling ahead with 4 awards while Aventura walked away with 3. Last year's big winners were RBD who still made a respectable showing with a win for "The Perfect Combo" (with Jowell y Randy) as well as a non-music category win as the "Most Wanted" in the Pop Culture category.

Even though these awards include categories such as Sports, Cinema, Fashion & Image and Pop Culture, really it's all about the music. For example, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin were the winners of the Fashion & Image awards; all of the Pop Culture winners are also musical artists. And the 2-hour Univision ceremony was a non-stop musical blast with performances by RBD, Luis Fonsi, Enrique Iglesias, PeeWee, Alacranes Musical, Menudo, Belanova, Flex, Angel & Khriz, Fonseca and Gloria Trevi.

There was some interesting pairing as Los Tucanes De Tijuana were joined by Akwid, Enrique Iglesias performed with Aventura and Olga Tanon shared the stage with Tito El Bambino.

Pedro Fernandez performed a lively suite of songs after receiving a "Lifetime Achievement" award. Thalia finished her energetic set by becoming the first recipient of the "Diva" award. But the biggest stars were the young audience who came to see, be seen and cheer their favorites to victory.

Here's the list of winners in the Music category.

• My Favorite Concert: Aventura - KOB Tour
• CD to Die For: Los Extraterrestres - Wisin y Yandel
• Catchiest Tune: "Te Quiero" - Flex
• My Favorite Video: "Sexy Movimiento" - Wisin y Yandel
• The Perfect Combo: "Inalcanzable" - RBD & Jowell y Randy
• Favorite Tropical Artist: Aventura
• Red Hot Artist: Aventura
• My Favorite Ringtone: "Yo Te Quiero" - Wisin y Yandel
• Best Moves: Chayanne
• Best Ballad: "Todo Cambió" - Camila
• Favorite Mexican Artist: Alejandro Fernandez
• Favorite Pop Star: Camila
• Favorite Rock Star: Maná
• Favorite Urban Artist: Wisin y Yandel

For a complete list of winners, photos and videos, visit the Univision website.

*Photo Wisin y Yandel courtesy Univision

DLG (Dark Latin Groove) was one of my favorite groups of the 1990s, featuring an interesting mix of salsa, reggaeton, hip-hop and other urban genres. They broke up in 2000 when lead singer Huey Dunbar decided to go solo. Now they're back with a new lead, Dominican singer Miss YaYa (Yahaira Vargas) who's most widely known for her participation in the musical reality show, Gigantes Del Manana and a new album, Renacer.

As a sidebar, the second cut on the album is a salsa/ hip hop version of one of the most famous of Peruvian folk songs, "Toro Mata" (The Bull Kills). The song has been widely recorded by different artists including popular Peruvian singers Susana Baca and Eva Ayllon. It also gained popularity outside of Peru and became a regular part of Celia Cruz' repetoire. I entertained myself by listening (and sometimes watching) different artists perform "Toro Mata" - including a video of the folk dance by Peru Negro.

If you're interested in hearing the different ways a well-known song can be interpreted, here are some "Toro Mata" renditions for you to enjoy, compare and contrast.

• DLG feat. Miss YaYa, Napoles & Ness
• Susana Baca
• Celia Cruz (video)
• Eva Ayllon (video)
• Peru Negro Dance Company (video)

Now let us know which version you liked best!

* Album cover courtesy La Calle Records

This week brings Latin music lovers 2 tango albums; Mar Dulce by the Gustavo Santaolalla-led cooperative Bajofondo and a collection of tangos sung by Vayo - a man with the perfect voice to this type of melancholy, evocative music.

There's also some reggaeton, bachata, jazz and the ever popular Mexican regional offerings.

* Bajofondo album cover Courtesy Universal Records (Argentina)

For all you fans of Celia Cruz, Willie Colon, Ray Barretto and Johnny Pacheco, Cafe Pilon and iTunes have launched a new website in memory of Celia Cruz and currently offering a playlist download of 6 tunes by these classic Fania label artists. Since I'm listening to it as I write, I can confidently say this is well worth the 5 minutes involved!

All you have to do is visit the 'Cafe Pilon Loves Celia' website and you'll see Celia's picture. 'Celia' is the password and the instructions will lead you through the download process. Here's the playlist:

• "Besito De Coco" - Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Justo Betancourt, Papo Lucca
• "El Guiro De Macorina" - Johnny Pacheco
• "Ritmo En El Corazon" - Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto
• "Cafe Con Leche" - Ray Barretto
• "Berimbau" - Celia Cruz, Willie Colon
• "Ausencia" - Willie Colon

Orchard Beach in Bronx, NY is currently hosting the 2008 AT&T Tropical Music Festival, a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to Latin music minus the pricetag associated with music concerts. There are over 50 bands and artists participating and performers include XTreme, Yerba Buena, Tito Puente Orchestra, Plena Libre, Hector Tricoche, La Excelencia and lots, lots more.

Here's the schedule of acts; you can get more information by visiting Orchard Beach Concert Series website.

Orchard Beach Music Concerts Series Schedule:
Sundays, Through September 1st, 2008, from 12p-5p

JULY 13TH - "EL DIA COLOMBIANO"

• Ray Castro y El Conjunto Clasico
• Orquesta Canela "Las Ninas de Cali" (Salsa desde Colombia), Tonee Miyaggi, (Reggaeton),
• J T (Merengue & Reggae Pop)
• Tiffany Lynn Martinez (Latin Pop, R&B)
• Gabaluchi (Reggae Pop)
• La Mega's own MC Casper Martinez and DJ Wreck.

JULY 20TH - "EL DIA DEL PUEBLO"

• Plena Libre (Salsa & Plena)
• Yerbabuena (Bomba y Plena)
• Daso (Reggae Pop)
• Robert Rios (Latin Pop & R&B)
• Anthony Rodríguez (Latin Pop, R &B)
• Carlos Jahsir (R&B, Reggae)

JULY 27TH

• Hector Tricoche (Salsa)
• Paradise (salsa)
• Orchard Beach Orchestra
• Los Super Saians (Reggae Pop)
• Julio Frankie (Reggae Pop)
• Castro y Gambino (Reggaeton)

AUGUST 3RD- "EL DIA DE QUISQUEYA"

xtreme (Bachata Pop)

• Los Brother`s Band
• Nueva Era (Bachata Pop)
• Neury Luciano (Merengue)
• Group H 4 (Bachata Pop & Merengue)
• Rameses (Bachata Pop)

AUGUST 10TH - "EL DIA DEL REY"

• Yolanda Duke & The Tito Puentes Orq.
• Frankie Morales & his Orchestra
• La Comisión (Reggaeton)
• Jon Pare (Latin Pop)
• Javier Luis (Salsa)

AUGUST 17TH- FOODBASE/ RAINBOW STORES "SUMMER SPECTACULAR"

AUGUST 24TH - "EL DIA DE LA CHARANGA"

• Eddy Zevrigon y La Orquesta Broadway
• Alex Diaz y Charanga Con Sabor
• Chikamelia (Reggae Pop)
• Jason Cerda (R & B)
• Jann y Marco (Latin Pop)

AUGUST 31ST

• Johnny Ray Orchestra
• La Excelencia (Salsa)
• Manbo Duro (Merengue)
• Wired (Rock)
• Annie D (R&B, and Hip Pop)
• Alex Brocha (Reggaeton)

SEPTEMBER 1ST - "EL DIA DEL MERENGUE"

• Oro Solido (Merengue)
• Magic Juan (Reggae Pop & Merengue)
• Fragancia (Reggae, Bachata & Merengue)
• Bachata Azur Group (Bachata)
• Louizo (Bachata Pop)
• Entregate (Bachata Pop)

* Courtesy RPI

The beginning of July seems to be a vacation time for most labels so this week's list is not that long, but it does have a couple of notable albums that are being released.

Los Temerarios has provided the romantic soundtrack for many people and - after a 6 year hiatus - they're releasing a new studio album. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Cosa Nostra is a documentary about the urban music scene straight from Miami and with interviews from some of Latin hip hop's most enduring artists.

There are also new albums by Javier Torres, El Chapo, Diego Torres and more.

*Album cover courtesy LatinFlow

Summer is finally in full swing and there's no doubt that the Latin music concert scene is swinging right along with it. There are so many good concerts taking place from now until Labor Day that I was in danger of spending all my money just compiling this list! You, of course, have the opportunity of being more discerning (if you so choose). So, instead of a monthly concert list, I've come up with a hot list of concerts that will take you all the way through the end of the season.

Just to give you an idea, the stellar list of acts includes Julieta Venegas, Marc Anthony, Los Lobos with Los Lonely Boys, Alejandro and Vicente Fernandez in separate concerts, Wisin y Yandel, Monchy y Alexandra, Grupo Niche, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Juan Luis Guerra, Jenni and Lupillo Rivera (also separate concerts), K-Paz De La Sierra and more. See what I mean?

By the way, I will be consolidating 2 weeks worth of new releases next week, so stay tuned.

Los Lobos has made lots of fans since they started playing at local events back in 1973. The 3 Garza brothers that make up Los Lonely Boys joined that fan base when they heard the soundtrack from La Bamba.

LLB has released Forgiven this month and, as part of the celebratory tour, invited Los Lobos to tour with them. The real winners are the fans as they get a chance to see both bands in concert this summer as part of the Brotherhood Tour.