Saturday, August 10, 2019

A propósito de lo ocurrido en Puerto Rico

A propósito de lo ocurrido en Puerto Rico y el ataque de los medios a Willie Colón por su postura ante lo ocurrido. Y es que en el mundo de hoy ser coherente te convierte en enemigo público.-Julio Quiñones‎ 



Hace poco Willie Colón recibió una lluvia de criticas e insultos por un mensaje de Twitter donde él condenaba no las protestas que se llevaron a cabo en Puerto Rico, sino un aspecto específico de ellas.

Ese aspecto específico fue que la izquierda aprovechó el furor del pueblo y, como bien lo dijo Willie, "secuestró el discurso público" para beneficio de su agenda política, valiéndose mayormente de dos mentiras clave: las supuestas homofobia y misoginia del gobernador Roselló.

Ante esa denuncia sectores de izquierda y comentaristas desapercibidos le hicieron una encerrona mediática. Algunos de ellos se atrevieron a decir que Willie <<insultó a nuestro país>>. Desde luego que no. Lo que él sí hizo fue alertar al país. Él no usó la frase "ola de estupidez" en el vacío para referirse a los reclamos legítimos del pueblo contra la corrupción ( eso sí sería un insulto ) la usó para referirse a esas dos ideas falsas y embrutecedoras que el sector soberanista implantó viciosamente en la mente de parte del pueblo. Dijo Willie: "Creo que un gobernador corrupto a la larga nos cuesta menos que un pueblo enardecido en el falso testimonio". Ni siquiera estaba defendiendo a Roselló.

Ahora, lo más importante...

Considérelo usted: Acaso no es embrutecedor sacar a gritos de homofóbico y misógino a un gobernador electo democráticamente por haber usado en privado frases que no lo dan por más homofóbico ni misógino que cualquier puertorriqueño promedio, y sobre todo ante su desempeño como gobernador, donde ha favorecido a la mujer y a la comunidad LGBTT. ( Hasta se ganó la enemistad de las iglesias por sus decretos en favor de la comunidad LGBTT. )

Miles de boricuas coinciden en las redes con lo dicho por WILLIE, pero ni una sola figura pública. Esa desproporción demuestra que el discurso público sí ha sido secuestrado. Gracias, Willie Colón, por luchar a favor de la libertad de expresión en Puerto Rico.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

WILLIE COLÓN: SALSA IS AN OPEN CONCEPT

On a whim nearly 25 years ago, I bought a salsa LP, which at the time was a genre of music I knew virtually nothing about. The record was Tiempo Pa’ Matar, a 1984 album by someone named Willie Colón. I had no idea who Willie Colón was or what the significance was of that album. But I do remember listening to it and thinking that it didn’t completely sound like what I imagined salsa would sound like. Something was different, but I couldn’t quite figure out what.
A few years later I became friends with Orlando Fiol, an extremely versatile pianist who was then playing in the salsa band of his father, Henry Fiol. I asked Orlando what salsa records I should buy. He immediately recommended Siembra by Willie Colón and Ruben Blades, and for that matter any of the earlier Willie Colón records which featured singing by Hector LaVoe. There was Willie Colón again. Within a couple of weeks I had gotten a hold of Siembra and several of the Colón-LaVoe albums—The Good, The Bad, The UglyLa Gran Fuga, and one that quickly became my favorite, Lo Mato Si No Compra Esta LP. (The English translation of that is “I’ll Kill Him If You Don’t Buy This Record” and the cover features Willie Colón holding a gun to someone’s head.)
Every one of those records raised more questions than it answered in my attempt to get a grasp of what salsa was. Colón seemed to be changing the rules with each album, but I soon started to realize that was the point. His very first record, El Maloincorporates jazz and soul. On La Gran Fuga, traditional West African drumming and a Mexican fiesta enter his sound world. On Lo Mato there’s some really crazy chromaticism. Good Bad Ugly has prog rock moments. Tiempo Pa’ Matar breaks with tradition by featuring women in the call-and-response choruses of the songs (what salseros call “singing coro”) instead of men. And Siembra, with its conjuring of Weill and Brecht, a wide variety of sound effects, and a seamless metric modulation from disco to salsa, completely defies shorthand description.
Read the Conversation:


  • Sounds Grating Against Each Other
  • An Alternative to Corporate Salsa
  • For Colón, all of these ingredients can be viable in salsa, but putting all these musics together was a way of making a statement that was as much sociopolitical as it was musical. And as a result of his putting all these ingredients into this music, salsa evolved into one of the most exciting and unpredictable genres of American music. While some have decried salsa as a nonexistent genre that’s just a hybrid of Cuban music, salsa is a conscious amalgamation of musical elements from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Domincan Republic, and beyond, that could only have happened in a place where people from all of these places lived together—here in the United States. And Willie Colón has been this music’s most versatile practitioner for well over 40 years. In fact, the sophistication of Colón’s compositions and arrangements, as well as his instrumental solos (on trombone and bass trumpet) and vocals, matches what we treasure in the realms of contemporary jazz and post-classical music.
    Over the last decade, though, Willie Colón has been musically silent, getting involved in politics and other causes. Happily, while still actively pursuing a wide range of extramusical endeavors, Colón decided to return to the recording studio and create a brand new album, El Malo, Volume II which continues to mine new territory—some of the new songs incorporate reggaeton and one track could best be described as musique concrète. So it seemed the perfect time to talk to him about his five-decade career of musical innovation.

    Monday, June 17, 2019

    let’s make today a renewed oath to fulfilling our purpose —strengthening our families and communities.

    Hey, Hey, Hey...It’s America’s Dad...I know it’s late, but to all of the Dads... It’s an honor to be called a Father, so let’s make today a renewed oath to fulfilling our purpose —strengthening our families and communities.


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    if it says video format not supported REFRESH PAGE and it will play.















    Thursday, June 13, 2019

    A big part of poverty is in the mind.

    We must break away from the indoctrination of decades of identity politics and victimization that allows politicians to get us all amped up and vote and get nothing but symbolism and rhetoric in return. What do you have after they pull all the statues down? Nothing.
    A big part of poverty is in the mind. The powerless mindset of "I can't" do anything by myself is a dangerous thing. 

    If you take everything away from some people and put them out there with nothing, some will get it all back. 

    We must continue to encourage each other to strive and pursue our dreams.


    Cesar Herrera

    EL GUATEQUE DE CÉSAR ... mi opinión sobre....

    "La Cachetada de Willie Colón " Esta semana el salsero Willie Colón volvió a ocupar numerosos espacios de la prensa latina, por razones de escándalo.

    Lamentablemente, luego de brillar el sábado pasado al cerrar el concierto “La Salsa Vive” celebrado en el Madison Square Garden de Nueva York, presentando un maravilloso espectáculo, del que luego por cierto fue elogiado por el prestigioso productor Héctor Maisonave como “el mejor del evento”, no pasó mucho tiempo para generar polémica.

    Éste lunes, El Malo del Bronx le propinó una cachetada al presentador Eliezer Marte, del programa de farándula “Sal y pimienta” de Univision. Durante una entrevista, Marte le preguntó si estaba distanciado de su hijo Patrick, quien en el 2011 fue arrestado por posesión de pornografía infantil cuando tenía 21 años, a lo que Willie respondió, “no, quiero a todos mis hijos igual, no hay ninguna distancia, y ya te pasaste”. Luego se levantó para abandonar la entrevista y aunque sonreía, le dio la mano derecha a Marte, y con la izquierda lo abofeteó.

    Del hecho, salieron adeptos y detractores pero sobretodo muchos medios quienes replicaron la noticia, enjuiciando a Colón y recordando antecedentes violentos. A mi juicio, Willie sólo devolvió la cachetada que recibió primero. Muchos entrevistadores, no respetan al entrevistado, buscan raiting con amarillismo y escándalo, y se pasan de la raya metiéndose en temas que a pocos interesan.

    Hay tantas cosas que hablar con un artista con una trayectoria tan dilatada como la de Willie Colón, como para meterse con su hijo o en temas delicados de vida privada, que sólo demuestran la poca seriedad y flojera de investigador así como poco profesionalismo, tanto de quien elabora el cuestionario y como del que hace la pregunta ¡Esta vez, yo le doy el punto a favor de Willie!


    **Publicado en el Diario TAL CUAL (Venezuela) jueves 30-10-2014

    ‪#‎ElGuatequedeCesar

    FAKE LIBERAL HATE CRIMES

















    UGLY

    Utah Gay Hate Crime Was a Hoax












    via fox13now.com


    The Utah man who claimed in April that he was robbed twice by bigots who force-fed him bleach and carved “Die Fag” into his arms now says he made everything up. Rick Jones, who co-owns his family’s Delta, Utah, pizzeria told authorities he was bluffing when he said robbers attacked him before tossing a Molotov cocktail into his bedroom. The Millard County Sheriff’s Department said it may now press charges against the 21-year-old man for the fake report after inconsistencies were discovered. Jones’s lawyer, Brett Tollman, said his client has been seeking medical treatment and acknowledged that the attack tale spiraled out of control once it received national attention.
    — M.L. Nestel














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