Alfredo De La Fé at the JVC Jazz Festival 2003 in Miami Beach

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The JVC Jazz Festival is a yearly event in Miami Beach and they always bring in top-notch artists, so I was thrilled to find out that my good friend, Alfredo De La Fé was finally coming to town!

Why, you might ask, did I not announce this on the SalsaPower Local Events page for South Florida? The reason is very simple. The promoter for the event, Arturo Campa, stated he did not "need" anyone and spoke very disparagingly of SalsaPower, saying something to the effect of that "nobody reads that web page anyway." I guess he doesn't know that we just won the Golden Web Awards for 2003-2004, in recognition of creativity, integrity and excellence on the Web and that a heck of a lot of people read SalsaPower every week! During the month of April 2003, we had 1,126,939 hits, so I guess that makes a lot of "nobodies" who read SalsaPower!

Before the concert, there were already some grumblings. Alfredo had been told there would be two rehearsals with the local musicians, but when he arrived in south Florida, there was only one rehearsal scheduled. Arturo picked up Alfredo half an hour late at the airport and didn't even offer to take him to get something to eat before whisking him off to the rehearsal. This did not make Alfredo a very happy camper, but since he is a consummate professional, he rehearsed and waited until nearly midnight that evening to eat lunch.

He also insisted that Arturo schedule a second rehearsal, which he did, albeit begrudgingly, on Saturday afternoon.

The night of the concert Alfredo asked Arturo for four complementary tickets for his family. Arturo told him that there were no comp tickets and that it didn't matter if it was his mother, even she would have to pay. After further, rather heated discussion, Arturo eventually gave in and gave Alfredo 4 comp tickets.

Geez! Would someone teach this guy some manners? To avoid having to discuss it again with Arturo, Alfredo offered to pay for MY ticket to get in to see the show, in spite of the fact that I was there to do a concert review, and in virtually every other show, the press is given a complementary pass. Obviously, it is to most people's advantage to have their events reviewed in the press, right? Ah, but I forgot that Arturo Campa doesn't need any of us. That must be why he greeted almost everyone at the door with a sour-puss look on his face and a gruff manner stating, "That will be $30 each."

Wouldn't it have been more gracious to say, "Good Evening, welcome to the show!" or "Please come in and have a nice evening!"? He was even rude to a family member of the Colombian ambassador to Israel, an elegant woman who is definitely not accustomed to being treated in this fashion. But then, WHO IS?

Virtually everyone I spoke with commented about "That rude guy at the door", or said, "Oh, that's just Arturo Campa. He's always like that. It doesn't surprise me at all." A very good friend of mine, who at his request shall remain anonymous, came to the show with a comp ticket that was from WDNA, the most progressive radio station in Miami. Arturo and my friend are distant acquaintances, and when Arturo saw my friend he said, "You don't work for WDNA. You can't use this comp ticket". Now, first of all, WDNA had received a certain amount of comp tickets from the JVC Jazz Festival organizers, and I would assume that they could do with them as they pleased. But my friend is a gentleman and decided that Arturo was not worth the hassle and was ready and willing to buy a ticket anyway, just to see Alfredo De La Fé, so he handed Arturo his credit card. Arturo then started attending other people and left my friend standing in the doorway. Finally my friend had had enough. He requested his card back and Arturo tried to tell him he had to wait, and not only that, he had to wait "over there" because he couldn't have him blocking the doorway.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back and my friend demanded his card be returned immediately or else he was ready to make a scene. He left without seeing the show, but he came very close to slamming his fist into Arturo's face. He was not the only one.

When I arrived and Arturo tried to charge me at the door, I told him that Alfredo had offered to pay for my ticket. Arturo looked at me rather taken aback and said, "He did?" and I told him that if he wanted to verify it with Alfredo that I would gladly stand right there in the door and wait for him to do it. He then acquiesced and allowed me to enter saying, "No, that's OK, I'll just take it out of his pay." To Arturo's credit (or perhaps due to his lack of short-term memory), he did not take the fee for my ticket out of Alfredo's pay at the end of the evening. I will say, however, that I held off publishing this article to make sure that Alfredo's paycheck cleared the bank!

In addition, the concert took place in a restaurant venue. It was, in my opinion, not a very good place to hold a concert. There were only about 10 tables that had any kind of decent view of the stage, the rest were blocked by support poles or railings. I found a vantage point upstairs, but had to lean over the railings to take any pictures. Also it was very hot up there, apparently because they were having trouble with the air conditioner.

To make matters worse, there weren't very many people there who came in just for the show. They even announced just before the show began that if you were there eating dinner and decided to stay, that you would be charged an additional fee of $30 to stay and watch the show. What about the folks who had gotten there to eat a late dinner and didn't have any idea there was an event being held there that night? Did they have to rush to finish eating just so they wouldn't be charged? That part was not very well planned.

In spite of all these problems, Alfredo De La Fé and his local musicians put on an excellent show. The local pianist, a Mr. Sosa whose first name I did not catch, was really excellent and held his own even on solos and improvisations. The drummer played his heart out and gave us a couple of good, solid solos as well.

Alfredo's old and dear friend, Carlos Alberto "el Flaco", who he introduced to me as his big brother, came to play güiro and sing chorus. They go back to when Alfredo first started playing with the Fajardo Orchestra in the mid-1960's.

But it was Alfredo who really "wowed" the audience. It is so much more than stage presence... it is electrified magic to hear this guy play in person. I've been a fan of his from way, way back to the Típica 73 days and his time with Eddie Palmieri, the Fania All Stars, and many other artists, but this was the first time I'd heard him live and it was truly a powerful performance.

It so happens that George Benson dropped by to hear Alfredo play. Alfredo has performed with George in the past, but when he discovered he was in the audience he announced that he was going to do an improvisational tune (unrehearsed) in honor of George Benson. He started out with a very Latin interpretation of George Benson's classic tune, On Broadway. He then morphed it to include the chorus from the Los Van Van number, El negro está cocinando, and polished it off with a little ditty from The Sound of Music... all this with no rehearsal! Truly amazing!

The best part about this jazz performance is that Alfredo did not leave us dancers on the sideline. This was DANCEABLE jazz! There were several numbers with strong clave and both salsa and cha-cha-chá rhythms. I was honored to share a table with two new friends, Jordy Gómez, the Musical Director of Tiempo Libre, one of two Timba bands in the Miami area, and his manager, Elizabeth Sobol of IMG Artists, who, by the way, dance a pretty mean Casino-style salsa!

Alfredo and I only met in person a couple of days ago, but we've been speaking on the phone for over a year now, and I feel like he is an old and very dear friend of mine. Long-time SalsaPower readers may recall the campaign that we held requesting that people all over the world send letters in support of allowing Alfredo to return to the United States. Over 300 people wrote letters, and now Alfredo is back!

But I still got all choked up when he raised his hand and looked at me and said, "Esta canción es para tí!". For me??? Wow! I was very surprised!

The song started off softly, with a rhythmical whisper played without any hurry, meandering around the strings of his violin, licking every crevice of the melody with his bow, taking his time, then began to build until it climaxed in a shower of bow strokes, and then it started again with a song that is so familiar to me that it brought tears to my eyes! He moved into an incredibly beautiful rendition of Alfonsina y el Mar, an old Argentine song that he caressed with his violin and played from his heart until it ended in a second musical orgasm, more intense than the first. Gracias, mi amigo! Te pasaste!

The concert lasted two sets and by the end of the second one, half of the audience was on the tiny crowded dance floor in front of the stage. I have blisters on my toes to prove it!

The only thing I would like to request of the JVC Festival organizers is that next time they find a more appropriate venue, where there is a larger capacity and the stage is more visible, as well as a promoter with some social graces.

... and Alfredo, please come back to South Florida soon! We want to hear your innovative salsa music! You have a lot of fans here who would have loved to have seen this show, but never heard about you coming to town!

Please keep your SalsaPower fans posted as to what you are doing, OK?

--Jacira Castro
May 19, 2003

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Alfonsina y el Mar -- de Ariel Ramírez y Felix Luna

Por la blanda arena que lame el mar su pequeña huella no vuelve más y un sendero solo de pena y silencio llegó hasta el agua profunda y un sendero solo de penas puras llegó hasta la espuma Sabe Dios que angustia te acompañó qué dolores viejos calló tu voz para recostarte arrullada en el canto de las caracolas marinas la canción que canta en el fondo oscuro del mar la caracola Te vas Alfonsina con tu soledad ¿qué poemas nuevos fuiste a buscar? Y una voz antigua de viento y de mar te requiebra el alma y la está llamando y te vas, hacia allá como en sueños, dormida Alfonsina, vestida de mar.

Cinco sirenitas te llevarán por caminos de algas y de coral y fosforescentes caballos marinos harán una ronda a tu lado. Y los habitantes del agua van a nadar pronto a tu lado. Bájame la lámpara un poco más déjame que duerma, nodriza en paz y si llama él no le digas que estoy, dile que Alfonsina no vuelve. y si llama él no le digas nunca que estoy, di que me he ido. Te vas Alfonsina con tu soledad ¿qué poemas nuevos fuiste a buscar? Y una voz antigua de viento y de mar te requiebra el alma y la está llamando y te vas, hacia allá como en sueños, dormida Alfonsina, vestida de mar.

 

 

Actualizada el día 04-Mar-2005