|
A merengue moment
Merengazo pa'l Millenium celebrates the wave that is overtaking salsa as the dance of choice in Latin clubs.
By MICHAEL CANNING
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 2000
Listen for the whistle. You'll hear it if things get really hot at Merengazo pa'l Millenium, a Tribute to Johnny Ventura.
Ciso Saavedra, organizer of Sunday's merengue music festival at the Tampa Port Authority, blows his Jamaican constable's whistle when everything, the music, the crowd, the dancing, feels just right. There should be a bounty of those elements at Merengazo, with a musical lineup that includes major merengue acts Kinito Mendez, Cana Brava and Rikarena, and food vendors selling dishes from all across Latin America.
Saavedra has had some time to develop his feel for events. In fact, he worked with the event's honoree, Ventura, when he started his music promoting career in the early '60s. At the time, Saavedra was a recent transplant from Cuba and an active nightclub impressario in his adopted Bronx. Meanwhile, Ventura had just modernized the merengue, the traditional folk dance and music of the Dominican Republic that dates back to the mid 18th century.
It was the dawning of a new era in Latin American music, when the supremacy of Cuban and Puerto Rican-based styles such as mambo and salsa would be challenged by modern merengue. And it was only a matter of time before one pioneer would meet up with the other.
"A friend of mine advised me to go to (Dominican Republic capital) Santo Domingo," said Saavedra, "to see about this black guy, skinny, tall, who was kicking a-- with his music."
Saavedra recalls wending his way through a dark, crowded Santo Domingo nightclub and beholding the striking sight of Ventura. He stood tall, scraping out a frenzied rhythm on a guiro while flanked by musicians wearing tight outfits and high boots. Women in the audience chanted "John-ny, John-ny, John-ny." "I said, "Oh, s---, this guy's big!' Since the first time I met this guy, I knew he was going to be a big money-making thing everywhere," Saavedra recalled.
Saavedra and Ventura were introduced after the show and soon struck up a business alliance. Over the ensuing years, they would bring the new sound of merengue to many parts of Africa, South America and the U.S. "I was the one who introduced him to New York," Saavedra said. "We introduced merengue in Central America, we introduced it in L.A. and Chicago."
Eventually, merengue would dominate salsa on many fronts in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
"Ventura was the one who began what we called the invasion of the merengue from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico," Saavedra said. "It got to the point (by the '70s) that the Puerto Rican union of musicians wanted to stop the Dominican bands coming into Puerto Rico. That's why now we have so many merengue bands out of Puerto Rico, and only a few a salsa bands"
The '90s brought major change for Saavedra and his famous associate. Saavedra moved to Tampa in 1994 after tiring of the New York music scene. In 1998 Ventura, long removed from the vanguard of merengue but still revered as its godfather, became one of many entertainment celebrities in the Caribbean to fight growing voter apathy by running for office. He won his bid for mayor of Santo Domingo.
Not long after settling here, Saavedra found himself promoting Latin dance nights at local nightclubs and organizing Latin music concerts. He says he did so just as merengue surpassed salsa in the nightclubs and music venues of Florida. "Tampa is a merengue town," Saavedra said. "I have brought here all the big salseros. Made nothing. Now, when you bring the big merengues, I pack the place."
Most agree on why merengue dominates salsa: It's easier to dance to. Local Latin disc jockey Johnnie Rivera, who will spin at Merengazo, estimates that his current playlist comes out to 65 percent merengue and 35 percent salsa. "More American people are starting to come to the clubs now," Rivera said. "Everybody can dance to merengue. It's a one-two, one-two step. As long as you can move your hips, you're good to go. And with salsa, it's a little more classical dancing."
"The salsa has all the gyrations," Saavedra said, "all the different styles you see in the movies. It's easier for the newcomers to dance merengue. If you go to a club now, and you play salsa, maybe 20 couples hit the dance floor. You play merengue, 70 couples hit the dance floor, immediately."
Saavedra added that he's called a favor in from his old friend Ventura. He's hoping that the merengue godfather will make an appearance at Merengazo, ideally during the set of Kinito Mendez's, who recorded a Ventura tribute album. Ventura had not confirmed at press time.
But the festival is scheduled to receive a proclamation from Mayor Dick Greco's office.
MUSIC PREVIEW
Merengazo pa'l Millenium, a Tribute to Johnny Ventura
Who: With Kinito Mendez, Rikarena, Cana Brava, Kariz, Grupo Zache, Los Inocentescq, Ray Perdomo, Bacharengue, Los Mambo Dancers, Wepa-G, Rita, Eddy C.
When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday Where: Tampa Port Authority, Terminal 6, Channelside Drive.
Cost: $7, under 12 free.
Information: (813) 908-1265.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
