ABOUT
THE FILM "LA EPOCA"
Countless
times, we've heard the names of Celia Cruz and Tito Puente,
but how many times have we heard the names of the musicians
who played the music that made them sound so good? "La
Epoca" will certainly expose the legends supporting
those big names!
What
is the Mambo? Who really-really created the Mambo
since there are several figures who are often credited
with being originators of the Mambo, like Israel
"Cachao" Lopez, Perez Prado, Beny More,
Tito Puente and Cuban legend Arsenio Rodriguez -
so then, who really is the creator of the Mambo?
We have the answer documented on film. What is Salsa?
Which is Cuban and which isn't? Which rhythms are
Puerto Rican, Dominican or Panamanian? What's guajira,
guaguancó, montuno, son-montuno, cha-cha-chá
and are they just rhythms or are they dances?
Many of the Latin musician legends such as Celia
Cruz, Tito Puente and Arsenio Rodriguez are no longer
living, but their enormous contributions to the
Afro-Cuban era remain! There are STILL a handful
of Latin musician legends and offspring of internationally
renown legends from this era who have already been
interviewed for this amazing film including Luis
Mangualand Jose Mangual, Jr (both of whom are sons
of |
|
Palladium-era
percussionist Jose Mangual, Sr), Ileana Santamaria (daughter
of internationally known percussionist Mongo Santamaria),
Alfonso "El Panameño" Joseph (bassist
of blind, Cuban mega-legend Arsenio Rodriguez for 8 years
and the last two albums of Arsenio), Julian Lianos (lead
vocalist of Arsenio Rodriguez), Juan "Chiripa"
Emilio (trumpet player whom performed with Celia Cruz),
Leo Flemming (bassist whom performed with Tito Puente),
as well as Freddy Rios and Mike Ramos from the Palladium
Mambo Legends dance-duo.
There
have been several films, recently, which touch upon the
"Palladium" times, in New York City, which mentioned
many other Latin legends like Machito, Beny Moré,
Perez Prado, Tito Rodriguez, and many others. But, "La
Epoca" will take it much, much further into the stories
and the inside-never-heard-before informative details
of the Mambo origins, the relationship between the musicians
and most importantly, the legendary musicians who were
behind the scenes of the major band-leaders. In addition,
the film covers the argumentative points-of-view between
Dancing on the "1" vs. Dancing on the "2."
Who
were these musicians and the dancers? What were they like?
What inspired them? What made them sound so good and dance
so great? Who did they perform with? Who competed with
whom? These are just some of the questions answered in
"La Epoca," about Arsenio Rodriguez, Celia Cruz,
Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Machito, Johnny Pacheco,
Alfonso "El Panameño" Joseph Yomo Toro,
Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Miguelito Valdez, Doc
Cheetham, Alfredo "Chocolate" Armentero, Mauricio
Smith, Richie Ray, Marcelino Guerra and others.
In
fondest memory of Israel "Cachao" Lopez
Cachao,
who died the morning of March 22 in a Florida hospital,
was a Cuban bassist and composer, who was instrumental
in turning Arsenio Rodriguez's "mambo" rhythm
of the "danzon" into the extended mambo rhythm
of present day.
During
the Palladium-era, there were only 2 bassists that shared
the most in-demand style of many orchestras in the New
York music scene: Cachao and Alfonso "El Panameno"
Joseph - both whom have worked with Tito Puente, Celia
Cruz, Machito and many others. In fact, during the early
1960's, while Cachao was performing with Machito's Orchestra,
Alfonso "El Panameno" was performing and recording
with Candido Camero - and when Alfonso left Candido's
band to join Johnny Pacheco, Cachao took his place as
Candido's bassist.
"Cachao's
name was mentioned very often in my family and he'll be
missed," says Executive Producer Josue Joseph of
La Epoca, "Cachao was scheduled to be interviewed
for the film on the afternoon of April 16, '08 - hearing
the news of his death makes me even more sad, not only
because he was a man that I've respected, but also because
I've lost an opportunity to document his legacy and share
it with the world. It is a great loss for all of us."
Cortesia OF www.laepocafilm.com
