Que pasa?

Latin Beat Magazine, Dec, 1998 by Rudy Mangual

In the spirit of the season, Los Angeles goes all out with numerous celebrations and activities to cater to all tastes during this festive season. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission celebrates its 39th Annual Holiday Celebration on December 24th. This free presentation, a gift to the community at large, is six hours of music, dance and theater, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. This annual activity is produced by the county in cooperation with KCET-TV, Channel 28. The party will run from 3-9 p.m., Thursday, December 24th. This year's highlights include four different approaches to the story of "The Nutcracker." The Chocolate Nutcracker, narrated by Debbie Allen; the teenagers of the Long Beach Ballet Theater will tender their version of the Snow Scene from the classical ballet version; the jazz Tap Ensemble will tell the story in rhythm tap; and the JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble will use Duke Ellington's musical setting for their performance. Among other performances representing the multi-cultural population of the city, the show will include Mexican folkloric dances by Agua Luna Dance Company and Grupo Folklorico Paso de Oro; Hawaiian songs from Amahau o Kaleponi Hawaiian Civic Club; traditional dances of Korea by the Korean Dance Academy; contemporary and traditional Jewish ballads and folk songs from Brandeis Bardin Klezmer Ensemble, and the Latin jazz flavors of the Bobby Rodríguez Band. Detailed information is available through the Holiday Celebration Hotline, (213) 974-1396 or the Los Angeles County Arts Commission's website, www.lacountyarts.org.

Retila Magazine announces its 4th Annual Retila Rock Awards to be held on Friday, December 11, 1998, at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Headlining will be renowned international rockeros Los Prisioneros, from Chile; Los Divididos, from Argentina; CUCA (Cucaracha) from Mexico, and Las 15 Letras, locals from Los Angeles. For more info on this activity contact Reyes Entertainment at (323) 852-1525 email: lamariluz@aol.com.

Albert Torres Productions will be celebrating the arrival of 1999 at the Hollywood Park & Casino in Inglewood on Thursday, December 31, from 8 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., to the sounds of the Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad and DJ Frank. The evening's festivities will include a succulent buffet dinner, party favorites, champagne toast, and free valet parking. For reservations or more info call (310) 450-8770 or (818) 990-3606.

El Floridita Restaurant in Hollywood will also be celebrating their Annual New Year's Party on December 31, from 8 p.m. till closing with a special dinner menu, live music by the group Cubanacan, and a champagne toast at midnight. Reservations required. (See ad in magazine for more information) Monday nights at El Floridita continue to be the hot spot in town for Latin music, but space is limited and reservations are difficult to obtain unless they have been made weeks in advance. But do not give up hope, it's well worth the effort.

Some new bands in town worth checking out are Oskar Cartaya's Enclave, sort of an experimental venture a la Salsoul. This excellent bass player/bandleader has surrounded himself with some of the best musicians in town, taking their craft to the extreme. The group Son Candela is another newcomer to the LA scene. They were part of this year's Latin Jazz Caravan, performing at Club Cava. Bobby Rodríguez (by no means a newcomer) has been making a lot of music with his latest Latin jazz band around the city. They were also part of the Latin Jazz Caravan performing at Miceli's in Hollywood.

Many other major and not so major clubs and restaurants will be celebrating the holiday season festivities throughout the city (and your neck of the woods). So please support your local venues during this holiday season wherever you choose to be. Be safe, be jolly, be responsible, and have a terrific holiday season. Season's Greetings from the staff of Latin Beat Magazine.