Philadelphia, the city that loves you back

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 1999 by Ray Collazo

Greetings from "the city that loves you back," Philadelphia --our city, located one hundred miles from the mecca of Latin music, New York City.

In recent years, Philly has become the second city on the East Coast for Latin music. In 1999, every major talent from Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York has visited us. Cuba's Los Van Van and ¡Cubanismo! are frequent visitors. Puerto Rico's Elvis Crespo, Victor Manuelle and others make at least one visit a year. New York's Mark Anthony headlines the flow of artists that appear almost weekly. A major market for consumers of recorded Latin music, and Philly's premier Latin music store for nearly forty years is Centro Musical, located at 5th and Lehigh Ave. Centro's owner, Wilfredo González, will greet you with a smile, just as his father before him did.

Early this year, Radio Tropical, (WTEL 860 AM), shut its doors after nearly forty years. I personally felt that this radio station made little progress in those forty years, so the loss was not greatly felt. To its credit, Mega Broadcasting Company has now taken over the entire Spanish-language radio market broadcasting on both AM and FM with their heavy salsa and merengue formats on 900 AM and 104.9 FM. To fill the void of the older Latin Music listeners, Mega purchased WSSJ (1310 AM) in Camden, New Jersey (across the bridge from Philadelphia). With their Radio Clásico for-mar of oldies from the '60s, '70s and '80s, it helps to fill the void for the older Latin music fans.

This past summer, two huge festivals were held on the same date, August 1. Mega (104.9 FM) and Radio Clásico (1310 AM) held their third annual Fiesta de las Americas on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which drew 40,000 Latin music lovers to Center City. Gilberto Santa Rosa "cooled off the crowd in 99-degree heat. José Alberto "El Canario" and Ray Ruiz were the other headliners. New salsero George Lamond, (the former house singer now following the path of other house singers like La India, Marc Anthony and Brenda K-Starr), also took to the stage. Puerto Rico's hottest rapper Vico C provided a phat show to his fans. A few merengue groups also were showcased including Oro Solido and Sancocho.

Meanwhile, back in El Barrio, the Latino businessman Rey Pastrana held his annual "Plaza América Festival," at American St. and Lehigh Ave. It spread four city blocks and attracted another 40,000 people. Tito Nieves, the man with the big voice, delighted the audience. The Little Giant, Michael Stewart, amazed ali with his sonero ability and charming personality. Ray Sepúlveda and Johnny Rivera, together on stage, energized the crowd. The legendary former member of Fania All Stars and current Philly resident, Pupi Legaretta, played charanga music as only he can, along with local favorites Foto Rodríguez and Charanga La Unica.

During the summer months, most of the Latin music entertainment is relocated to the Philly waterfront on Delaware Ave. On Sunday nights, yours truly presents "The Salsa Sunday Dance Party" at the famous Rock Lobster. Orquesta del Barrio opened the season with their unique Philly salsa sound. On Sunday, August 29, Philadelphian Anthony Colón (formal lead singer for Edgar Joel y su orquesta) participated in a fund-raising event at Rock Lobster for the AMLA organization (Association of Latin American Musicians). With the support of local attorney and Latin music fanatic Rob Bernberg, AMLA put together an unforgettable event.

Under the leadership of its executive director Jessie Bermúdez, AMLA held its 17th annual Feria Del Barrio on Sunday, September 12, with two stages and a plethora of Latin music. Local group Pleneros del Batey performed with a beautiful auditive and visual demonstration of traditional Puerto Rican bomba and plena. Two local salsa bands, César and the Latin Playboys and Miguel Orlando made Philly proud.

North Jersey's Jimmy Bosch and singer Herman Olivera, along with legendary tres guitar player Nelson González, played for two hours to a crowd that appeared to be astounded by Jimmy Bosch's high-energy, pure salsa style. By the end of the set, the crowd was calling out for more, and Jimmy and his band gave them ali they asked for and even more.

As the crowd eagerly awaited for the arrival of superstar Cano Estremera, Puerto Rico's ultimate sonero, Philly's all-fe-male band ELAS played Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban music. Feria del Barrio has presented in previous years such performers as Joe Bataan, Cruz Control, Larry Harlow, and Manny Oquendo and Libre.

But there was even more. On August 12, Celia Cruz, José Alberto, and Bobby Sanabria came together to pay tribute to the late Marco Rizo at Fairmont Park's Mann Music Center: On August 19, Oscar D'León packed the house at the Egypt Club on Delaware Ave. Egypt has a monthly Latin night on Thursdays where Latin music stars such as Johnny Rivera and José Alberto delight the nearly 3,000 Latin music fans. On October 5, Cuba's Los Van Van performed at South St.'s TLA Theater.

And last but certainly not least, on Sept. 7, The King of Latin Music, Tito Puente, closed the Summer Jazz Season sponsored by Jazz 90 (WRTI FM) with the largest crowd of the season, at Wiggins Park in Camden, New Jersey.