The thread running through this sixth season of Momentos Musicales, as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, has been to do with how music and musicians travel throughout the geographic region we sometimes call Pan America—a vast area with many borders to be crossed. At times, it can become very difficult to negotiate those borders. I recall June of 1978 being somewhat startled when Prima Ballerina Alicia Alonso and her Cuban National Ballet were allowed to tour Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. where they danced at the Kennedy Center, U.S.-Cuban relations were tense, and the 1978 tour required unusual diplomatic cooperation. This is why the story of Edmund Chester and La Cadena de las Américas, heard in episodes four through six, proved that music could travel far and wide on shortwave signals, no need to physically cross borders.
Even today, radio is an important carrier of music and news crossing borders when other means are difficult. If you have a shortwave receiver—or a lot of patience with an AM radio—you can pick up music from otherwise isolated Cuba. Then there are also physical recordings, LPs, CDs, even cassette tapes still circulating, mostly preserved mixtapes from decades ago. Many of these recordings benefit from distributors who ensure there is still a supply of CDs making a comeback. I'm told, and LPs which are still riding high since their revival a few years ago. According to Carlos and Allison Franzetti, there is still room for all of the above, especially if streaming is added to the mix,
Carlos waxed eloquently about Sunnyside, a label on which both he and Allison have recorded.
“A lot of Latin American music. General Klein, Carolina Calvace, who's a wonderful Colombian composer, and started with me too. And as I said, a ninth of my releases, which encompasses orchestral stuff, some of stuff that we have done together with Allison, some solo CDs, a couple of solo CDs. One is called Mambo Tango, and the other one is In The Key of Tango.”
Carlos goes on to mention Sunnyside producer, François Salakane.
“François Salacane is almost 90 years old. You know, talking about longevity and and work and willing to keep going, and he keeps going. I mean, he’s an amazing producer, and he's one of the few I would say that still releases CDs. So there is a market for CDs. A lot of labels still putting out CDs, and there's a reason for that. You want to have the actual thing and read the liner notes, and play the tracks, and then you want to have the ability to do that at any given time, or even taking it with you. I take several CDs and a small disc player with headphones on the planes and things like that. You know, I do.”
Let's change the track for now and offer some suggestions to those who want to hear Latin American music on its home turf. Allison and Carlos, I'd like you to play the role of travel planners. Where would you recommend the adventurous traveler go to hear music in Latin America, and I already know Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires will be high on your list?
“It's a terrific sounding box, and I like the Velas Artes in Mexico very much, especially with the Tiffany curtain in the back, which is I think the only one in in the world. We also did a recital in Chaco in the middle of nowhere, Argentina, where we had a wonderful Bösendorfer. One fantasy that I have is to visit the theater Manaus [Teatro Amazonas] in Brazil, the Opera Theater, which is amazing to have that in the middle of the Amazon.”
