Puerto Rico Homage to Ismael Miranda Concert
This post is also available in:
Español
Ismael Miranda has many reasons to feel better today after the “Puerto Rico Saluda a Ismael Miranda” concert. Although still recovering from his 2021 stroke, Ismael enjoyed a concert where various Salsa and pop music stars paid homage to him in a memorable evening.
Puerto Rico Salutes Ismael Miranda
The homage concert “Puerto Rico Saluda a Ismael Miranda” (Puerto Rico Salutes Ismael Miranda) was organized by Puerto Rican salsa star Gilberto Santa Rosa. It included the participation of Tito Nieves, José Alberto “El Canario”, Tony Vega, Andy Montañez, Jerry Rivas, Danny Rivera, Chucho Avellanet, Jerry Rivera, Juan José Hernández, Domingo Quiñones, Alex D’Castro, and reggaetonero Vico C. It also had the participation of longtime Ismael Miranda collaborator Nelson González on the “tres” guitar.
The band that backed up these excellent singers was led by the talented pianist, singer, and arranger Carlos García. Many recognize Carlos from his performances in Norberto Velez’s “Sesiones Desde la Loma“. So it’s not a surprise that several of the concert band musicians were from the “Sesiones” band; all very talented musicians.
A Memorable Homage to Ismael Miranda
The challenge for Gilberto Santa Rosa was to get enough performing time for this constellation of stars. With a 2-hour concert window, Gilberto was able to get all of them to perform a song by not going too long in any of them.
The common theme among the performers was the admiration and love they have for Ismael Miranda. The concert attendees shared this admiration and love.
The performances were heartfelt and produced many memorable moments. Crooner Chucho Avellanet got the standing ovation of the night for his performance of “La Cama Vacía“.
Victor Manuelle followed Chucho with one of the best Salsa performances of the night in “Pa Bravo Yo“. The song, which was written by Ismael Miranda but performed and made popular by Justo Betancourt, provided “el Sonero de la Juventud” with improvisation opportunities, like when Chucho was taking his seat in the front and Victor sang the best “soneo” of the concert…”ahora viene a sentarse Chucho, después que el show se robó“, which rhymes with the chorus of the song.
Rubén Blades couldn’t be there but delivered a beautiful video message shown on the big screen. He talked about how Ismael was one of the first ones to record his songs when he was still trying to make a name for himself in Fania.
Tito Nieves also made the most of “María Luisa“, which included a new chorus that got the people singing and Tito providing great soneos.
Another great performance was that of José Alberto “El Canario” on “Que Sera lo Que Pelean“.
The final song was the Fania All-Stars classic “Quítate Tu” where all the singers took the stage to do one more “soneo” to express their admiration for Ismael Miranda.
Ismael’s Surprise Performance
The concert’s cherry on top was Ismael’s surprise singing in “Borinquen Tiene Montuno“. After “Quítate Tu” Ismael went up to the stage to what everyone expected would be a short thank you message. The band started playing “Borinquen Tiene Montuno” and Ismael didn’t think it twice to start singing. The crowd went crazy! The performers on stage were equally surprised, as you can see in the video shared above.
[Note: for more on Ismael Miranda, see our “Ismael Miranda Music Legend” series for a detailed journey of his career.]
It certainly provides hope to all in the concert hall that Ismael Miranda will continue to get better and perhaps, with God’s blessing, we’ll see him performing again in the not-so-far future.