2023-07-23 20:06:13
With a spatula
Puerto Rican salsa musician Tito Nieves offered an exciting concert this weekend at Madrid’s Botanical Nights festival and brought together hundreds of Latinos who gathered to dance and sing to the rhythms that marked their childhood.
Nieves (Puerto Rico, 1958) is considered an icon by thousands of Latin Americans, since he was one of the main salseros of the late eighties, who was in charge of introducing this musical style in the United States.
Yesterday’s event at the Noches del Botánico held at Madrid’s Complutense brought together hundreds of Latinos, mainly from Central America and Colombia, who were moved by Nieves’ rhythms.
One of them was Simón Rodríguez, a Colombian who has lived in Spain since he was a child, who told EFE that enjoying Tito Nieves in Spain is a “privilege”, since he symbolizes a lot for Latin Americans.
“His figure is almost that of an ambassador of culture for all Latinos around the world,” he said.
For Rodríguez, the concert was “something exceptional”, which he did not think would happen, and he believes that more and more Latin American culture is merging with Spanish culture and more and more Spaniards are enjoying salsa.
One of them is Sara Astarloa, a 33-year-old and passionate about salsa, who has been following the Puerto Rican’s career and music for years: “Seeing Tito is seeing a living legend who is fully in his faculties, active and in better shape than ever.”
“THE PAVAROTTI OF THE SAUCE”
Nieves is considered the “Pavarotti of Salsa” for his powerful and spectacular voice, which has left its mark on salsa throughout the world and has hundreds of followers throughout all countries.
During the concert, one of the most emotional moments was when “Fabricando fantasías” was played, an emotional danceable salsa that narrates the most tragic moment of her life, the death of her son.
“I would like to write a book so that I don’t forget what I experienced with you,” says one of the phrases of his most personal song, where the musician narrates the mourning process.
With a group in a purple jacket and a large orchestra at his side, the composer performed his best-known songs, such as “De mí enamorate” or “Como ese niño celoso”, which brought him fame more than thirty years ago and moved the public present.
Before Nieves, the Cuban musician Alain Pérez & La Orquesta offered the first ‘show’ of the night, where salsa and dances also flooded the space of the Complutense botanical garden.
The poster on Saturday had its raison d’être, since in 1977 two events took place that would mark these two artists: Tito Nieves associated with Héctor Lavoe in New York, while Alain Pérez was born in Cuba.
For this reason, last night’s show in the center of Madrid was a sample of the past, present and future of salsa, a genre that continues to have millions of followers around the world despite the passage of time. EFE
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