From the Editor - Artículo Breve

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2000

Issue Volume 10, # 6, August 2000, Remembering Tito Puente, is so far one of the year's favorites, generating a lot of mail from fans expressing their love and admiration for the late "King of the Timbal." We thank and acknowledge all the letters and calls and regret not being able to print them all due to lack of space in the magazine.

This month's cover article is a feature on the legendary duo of salsa music, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz. For several years we have been trying to interview this dynamic duo with no luck. Finally, we are able to bring to light answers to questions concerning the disappearance of these two incredible artists of salsa music. I caught up with pianist/bandleader Richie Ray on the island of Curacao and had a wonderful time with this gentleman of the keyboards.

In this issue we also bring you two stories by Max Salazar one titled "The Day The Legend Missed the Plane to Venezuela," a fun story of the fast-paced life of Tito Puente on the road. The other one should interest salsa dancers who did their thing in the days of the Palladium and then the Corso nightclubs.

Also in these pages you can enjoy an article on the late jazz trumpeter Fats Navarro by Carlos A. Iramain. Despite his short stay on this earth Fats left his mark in the world of jazz music.

Percussionist/bandleader Pete Escovedo also speaks out about his latest production and Latin jazz music in San Francisco's Bay Area. We cover the 11th Annual Curacao Salsa Festival, a tradition now for the small Dutch Caribbean island and one of the top international salsa festivals in the world - plus lots of more information about the world of Latin music.

Please join us for Latin Beat Magazine's 10th Anniversary celebration on the West Coast. Co-sponsored by the Conga Room in Los Angeles, the event will take place on Thursday, October 19, 2000, at the popular Conga Room nightclub. Doors will open to the general public at 9:30 p.m.; come out and meet some of the contributors and dance the night away to the music of Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad. The following night (Friday, October 20), we'll continue the party at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, dancing to the music of salsa superstar Tito Nieves. Hope to see you all there.

Note: In last months issue, Volume 10, # 6, August 2000, we incorrectly labeled a photograph of saxophonist/bandleader David Sánchez on page 4 (contents page) as that of Esai Morales.