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This blogger, Richard Gehr, is not an employee of AARP. The opinions expressed in the blog are not necessarily the opinions of AARP and AARP assumes no liability for the content posted by Mr. Gehr or any other participant

November 11, 2007

Richard Gehr | November 11, 2007

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I watched neither the 41st annual "Country Music Association Awards" show Wednesday night nor the eighth annual Latin Grammys Thursday night. Fortunately, others did!

Chet Flippo at CMT.com thinks the Writers Guild of America strike may have had the unintended consequence of highlighting the 20 live performances at the CMA Awards. Flippo praises performances by Miranda Lambert, Alison Krauss, Jennifer Nettles, and Little Big Town. The evening's winners included Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Taylor Swift. However, Flippo notes a dearth of tradition in the proceedings: "I saw a belated fly-by salute to Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Vince Gill, Mel Tillis and Ralph Emery. Dwight Yoakam, in what I wonder was done by his insistence, gave a fitting tribute to the late Hall of Famer Porter Wagoner. But there was no mention at all of another Hall of Famer who had died the day before, the great Hank Thompson."

For a more irreverent take on the show, check out Idolator's real-time version of the event:

8:05 p.m. Miranda Lambert singing "Gunpowder and Lead," one of my favorite songs of the past year, and looking kind of like she just flew in from a Cheryl Tiegs convention. Like, on the wing of whatever plane she was traveling on.

8:07 p.m. Yay, Miranda. Your album deserves to sell more!

Alas, no one seemed to be live-blogging the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas, where Dominican star Juan Luis Guerra walked away with five trophies for album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, best merengue album, and best tropical track. Pick up Guerra's "La Llave de Mi Corazon" if you're curious about what all the fuss is about.

August 20, 2007

Richard Gehr | August 20, 2007

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There are two adequate reasons to see El Cantante, the fidgety and generally unloved biopic about the life and death of salsa star Héctor Lavoe. The first and better reason is if you need an easily digestible synopsis of why salsa was such an important musical style in the seventies and eighties, and why Lavoe, played by the charismatic and mystically cheekboned Marc Anthony, was its most popular performer. The second and less adequate reason would be Jennifer Lopez (Anthony's spouse), who both produced El Cantante and co-stars as Lavoe's feisty wife, Puchi, through whom, for better or worse, his story is told. "The more he grew as an artist, the lower he got as a person," Puchi says, and thus El Cantante's concentration on Lavoe's addictions, infidelities, and general messed-upness.

Although far too much of El Cantante is shot in what resembles a vintage MTV pastiche, things pick up whenever Anthony channels Lavoe's impeccable phrasing amid longtime Lavoe musical partner Willie Colón's brassy electric arrangements. Lavoe's unhappy childhood (his mother died when he was four), emigration from Puerto Rico against his father's fervent wishes at seventeen, rocketlike artistic ascent, and subsequent decline (he attempted suicide before succumbing to AIDS in 1993 at age forty-six) all fail the storytelling mandate of show-don't-tell. This movie's real them is his tumultuous relationship with J-Lo/Puchi.

Check out some primo YouTube footage to really see what made Lavoe salsa's Elvis and Sinatra at once. This vintage 1970-ish performance with Colón's orchestra captures the young, pre-dissolute Lavoe at his best. Lavoe's outfit alone justifies this fine performance of "Mi Gente" with the Fania All-Stars. And he's the consummate rock star in this Venezuela television performance with Tito Puente.

March 19, 2007

Richard Gehr | March 19, 2007

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The Colombia rock band Aterciopelados (meaning "velvety ones") released three of my favorite albums of the past two years. Between singer Andrea Echeverri's 2005 solo album, bassist Hector Buitrago's 2006 Conector, and last year's full-band return, Oye, Aterciopelados have evolved into a music factory reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane's late-sixties barrage of band releases and splinter projects.

Andrea Echeverri, by the group's singing, songwriting frontwoman, is a surprisingly noncloying tribute to the joys of motherhood, creation, and the sense of destiny connecting mother, father, and child. "Since you were born, I've become a better lover," she sings in "A Eme O," blissfully buoyed on a lilting African guitar figure. Buitrago's Conector is a deeper, more complex exploration of Indian and psychedelic sounds. One of its highlights, "Damaquiel," features a pair of famous Colombian traditional singers, who also appear in one of the most gorgeous videos you may ever see.

After delivering these two solo albums and at least one baby, Aterciopelados regrouped and released Oye (Listen) last year. Their sixth album since 1993's Con el Corazon en el Mano (With Heart in Hand) and first since 2000's Gozo Poderoso (Powerful Pleasure), Oye connected the dots between their punk-rock roots, wide-ranging enthusiasm for Latin American musical styles (including mariachi, cumbia, and vallenata), and forthright neo-hippie ideology. But most of all, it's simply a fine rock album, as this video of "Complemento" demonstrates.

And Aterciopelados turned out to be nothing more nor less than a solid rock group last night at SOB's in Manhattan. The club was packed with Colombians, who raised their cell-phone cameras high at every hit. The stage was decorated by three large ear sculptures. And Aterciopelados played stripped-down versions of their music to the hometown-away-from-hometown crowd. It was a good party, but I'll take their albums.