If you’re a Latin music fan, you’d better start getting ready for the big show that is like Christmas in March.
Calle Ocho, the huge street party that concludes the three-week Carnaval Miami festival run by Kiwanis of Little Havana, is only a week away.
On March 14, more than a million people are expected for the annual “open house” that takes up 23 city blocks and is the largest Hispanic festival in the United States.
Before everyone takes to the street, Carnaval Miami holds its annual preview aimed at Latin audiences elsewhere. At 7 p.m. on March 13, Carnaval Miami Internacional takes place at Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami.
The show, televised on the Telemundo network’s local and international broadcasts, will feature performances by a host of big stars.
But the real party comes March 14 on Calle Ocho.
That’s when Southwest Eighth Street from Fourth to 27th avenues in Miami will be carpeted by throngs of revelers moving between stages featuring salsa and merengue bands, Tejano musical acts and Latin pop singers.
It’s virtually impossible to see all of the bands at Calle Ocho because there are so many groups performing on different stages and the crowd is difficult to navigate. So unless you want to finish the day tired and frustrated, sample a few acts early then get to where your favorite groups will be and camp out. Programs will be available the day of the show.
Here are a few acts I’d want to check out:
Elvis Crespo — Anyone compiling a list of the most promising male Latin vocalists to emerge in recent years would have to place Crespo near the top of his list.
The former lead singer for the Puerto Rican merengue act Grupo Mania has been a big hit since striking out on his own. His first CD on Sony Discos, Suavemente (Smoothly), has been at or near the top of Billboard magazine’s Latin 50 for months and sold more than 600,000 copies. The album, released in 1998, has also produced two big hits, Suavemente — one of last year’s most popular dance tunes — and Tu Sonrisa (Your Smile).
Born in New York City, Crespo moved to Puerto Rico at age 6. Though he long wanted to be a baseball player, he turned his attention to music, and joined a merengue band at 17. Before long, he was singing in the band of Tono Rosario, where he stayed for six years.
The 27-year-old singer had an excellent run with Grupo Mania, but had always wanted to become a soloist. He’s developed a big following in Latin America, Spain and the United Statessince going solo and is destined for stardom. Proyecto Uno — Ever wonder when Latin dance music would produce the kind of hip, street-smart sound found in New York’s hip-hop scene?
The time for such cultural juxtaposition is now. And if there’s one group that exemplifies the bold new cross-cultural style it is Proyecto Uno, the quartet from Manhattan’s Lower East Side that is immensely popular in Latin America and is fast gaining fans here in the States.
Proyecto Uno got its start in the 1980s, when Nelson Zapata and Magic Juan, two young Dominicans, joined forces with Puerto Ricans Erik Morales and Johnny Salgado. At first, the group tried mixing merengue with the music of New York City by making a Spanish-language take of Blackbox’s Everybody Everybody.
Eventually they blended tropical music into the mix, creating a new style that used merengue, bilingual rap and rhythm & blues. The group made a name for itself in 1996, with the album In Da House, which featured the hit single El Tiburon (The Shark).
Since then, Proyecto Uno has signed with famed producer Jellybean Benitez, whose new compay H.O.L.A. Recordings (for Home of Latin Artists) aims at producing a hip, bilingual music that caters to a growing Hispanic market while also offering mainstream America a taste of Latino rhythms and lyrics. The group is the real deal.
Tito Rojas — Latin fans looking for a more traditional sound will want to check out Rojas, the Puerto Rican salsa singer known as “El Gallo” (the rooster) who has been performing for more than a quarter of a century.
The 46-year-old singer got his start with Puerto Rican band leader Pedro Conga, who hired Rojas as a singer in his International Orchestra. His solo career got under way nearly a decade ago, with the song Siempre Sere (I Will Always Be) from his album Sensual.
Since then, Rojas has released several albums. The one I like best was the 1992 self-titled LP that contained the hit singles Porque Este Amor (Because This Love) and Condename a Tu Amor (Condemn Me to Your Love).
His later releases haven’t quite measured up to those first two successes, but Rojas remains a dynamic performer. He sings with a throaty tenor, belting out melodies and singing in a call-and-response sonero style. The songs he performs are midtempo with arrangements that are dominated by horns and percussion.
Other scheduled performers include Eddie Santiago, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Sergio Vargas, Grupo Niche, Hector Tricoche, MDO, Ashely, Mattizz, Banda Blanca, Silver Stars, Grupo Karis, Gisselle, Banda Gorda, Grupo Mateos, Don Rhingo, Strings, Priscilla y sus Balas de Plata, Maria, Victor Roque y la Gran Manzana, Los Hijos de Puerto Rico, La Gran Union and Hansel y Raul.
The show begins at 11 a.m. and lasts all day.
Organizers recommend that festival attendees take Metrorail to the downtown or Brickell Avenue stations and catch the shuttle bus. Park free at any Metrorail station and ride the train for $1.25 to downtown Miami’s Brickell Station.
As of press time, information on shuttle buses to and from Brickell Station was not available.
Tri-Rail service will be available to Bayfront Park on March 13 and to Calle Ocho on March 14. The cost is $4, but discount tickets are $2 for students, children ages 5-12, senior citizens, people with disabilities and Medicare recipients. The last northbound train from Miami leaves at 9:27 p.m. on March 13 and 7:57 p.m. on March 14.
No details available yet on shuttle service.
Parking will be available at Orange Bowl, 1501 NW Third St. Neighborhood parking also is available on side streets or municipal lots for $5 to $10, depending on the proximity to the festival, but finding a spot is difficult.
For more information, call 305-644-8888.
Bolero queen
There’s nothing quite like the bolero, the fiery Latin ballad perfected by Mexican and Cuban singers, to describe a lost love, a tale of passion or pain. A great singer can make the melodramatic love songs into works of art.
That’s what Olga Guillot has done for six decades. On Saturday, the woman known as the Queen of the Bolero performs at the Tropigala nightclub at the FontainebleauHilton, 4441 Collins Ave., Miami Beach.
The 73-year-old singer, who has been performing since age 9, has one of the most memorable voices in Cuban music. She has recorded more than 70 albums, many of them gold.
Her show, which will be a treat, begins after the Tropigala’s regular show of dancers and singers and after a performance by Gaby Gabriel and his band.
Doors open at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $50. Call 305-672-7469.
Caribbean hot spot
The once popular nightclub long known as the Stinger Lounge has reopened under a new name.
Stingerz, 6029 Miramar Parkway, Miramar, reopened on Feb. 11 after extensive remodeling.
Eddy Edwards, promotions director of Phase II Entertainment, which runs Stingerz, says patrons will see a more spacious club featuring a new bar, new furniture and improved facilities. The club has been a mainstay in the Caribbean community since 1985, when Richard “Billy T” Elcock, Edwards and Ron Burke began promoting Caribbean Sundays there, with reggae, soca/calypso, r&b; and ’70s disco music. Call 954-981-0272.
Staff writer David Czares’ Latin/world beat column appears every other week in Showtime. Please send information to World Beat, Sun-Sentinel, 1800 N. Commerce Parkway, Weston, FL 33326. Call 954-385-7922 or e-mail .
