Issac Delgado i Miami

Her er Diane Padro frå Salsapower sin rapport frå Issac Delgado sin konsert i Miami 23. juni 2007.

" Ok- I`ll admit it- I`m one of those long-time traditional salsa fans who occasionally listen and dance to Timba, but it`s not really my thing, so i`m probably one of the contributing reasons why this style of cuban music has not really hit it big in this country. And true to my Puerto Rican/ New York style salsa roots, I was looking forward on the way to this concert, to hearing and seeing a live performance of Issac Delgado`s Mujer que mas te duele, one of the tracks on his first U.S. released CD, En Primera Plana( La Calle Records, May 2007.) It`s a fine tune- a cathy duet with salsa great Victor Manuelle- and has been getting a lot of play on the local radio stations.

Little did I know, that by the end of the evening, it wouldn`t even matter to me that Issac did not perform this song last night. I was too busy enjoying every moment of his Timba!

It was a triumphant night for the former lead singer from NG La Banda. Issac, after years of much success and popularity in his native Cuba, and in Europe( and up to now, marginally in the U.S.), quietly defected this past year."

The Knight Center was packed solid, but there were pleanty of empty seats- their occupants were all standing, dancing, singing, wawing their arms, and cheering Issac on, with every song Issac chose to sing.

He chose them well. Let me explain: Thanks to the definitive salsa- hit maker, producer Sergio George, En Primera Plana is already on it`s way to becoming another possible Grammy nomination for Delgado. It was, of course, a wise decision to cater to mass appeal by including some great songs( and some great names), in the traditional salsa style in this cd.

But the heart of Issac Delgado is Timba, and Timba was mostly what he performed.

Kind of a really cool bait and switch scheme- sell them salsa, but give them timba live!

And it is surely through his live performances, that Issac will win over the hard-core salsa public to include and support this genre more than ever before.

He´s just so good at at it. Issac has such a way with the audience. He`s gracious, personal and inviting. Last night he easily acquired nearly 4500 more back-up singers, as he invited fans to join in. They didn`t need much encouraging- they sang loudly, clearly, in tune and on clave, to every timba selection. It was quite amazing to experience this sea of people moving and singing in unison with Issac.

To my surprise, during some of the digressions from timba- ballads interspersed with( sometimes too long) commentary, I found myself counting the minutes to the next timba song. Obviously, so was the rest of the audience, because, without fail, it was the driving timba rythms and infectious lyrics that kept the place really jumping.

Last night, Issac Delgado took Miami, and me, by storm."