Hector LaVoe

Franklin and DJ Peña at Franklyn’s CD in Jamaica Plain saw it. Didn’t really like it. Digna Gerena from Boston Latino TV was curious to see what I thought about it. Susan P. from Lynn, a regular listener of “¡Con Salsa!” was thinking of seeing it until she heard me comment that Willie Colón had written about it on his web-page and that he was somewhat upset to say the least.

Divina and I watched “El Cantante” this last Sunday evening. I can understand why the movie starring Marc Anthony as Hector LaVoe and Jennifer Lopez as his wife Nilda Georgina Roman, known as “Puchi” has stirred a hornets nest of discussion and controversy in Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. Before I dive in with my comments regarding the film, I’ll share some memories of Hector LaVoe.

I was twenty years old when I came to the United States during the fall of 1970. Like so many others who have left their homeland for foreign soil, I quickly became homesick for my parents, family, friends, neighborhood, food, music and everything that was Puerto Rico. A few months after my arrival on campus at Antioch College, my father mailed me my record collection. Thanks to his wisdom, the familiar sounds of Cortijo y su Combo, Ismael Rivera, Tito Rodríguez, Tito Puente, El Gran Combo and hundreds of others made it possible for me to survive culture shock.

During Christmas break in 1971 I traveled back to the Island to visit my family. While walking the streets of Old San Juan, where I was born, I heard music blaring from a jukebox along Calle San Sebastian. It was the trombone of Willie Colón as Hector sang “La Murga” with Yomo Toro on the cuatro guitar. That Christmas album, “Asalto Navideño”, would become a Salsa classic and prominently displayed Hector’s talent as a singer who could bridge the Jíbaro styles of Ramito and Chuito with the New York brand of Salsa. This is what made him so unique amongst the scores of other singers during that period. And for a homesick Boricua… the album became an instant favorite to this day!

I had the pleasure of seeing Hector perform on a number of occasions. I remember that he was witty and had a great sense of humor. Sometimes people took his wit and sarcasm to be rude and offensive, especially when he was needling someone or pegando un vellon as we would say back in Puerto Rico. His partner, Willie Colón was both a witness and victim/participant of many of the fights that broke out between Hector and some of the machos in the audience. But for the most part his audience enjoyed his humor and loved him to no end. He had the uncanny knack of quickly seizing on anything and everything happening around him on stage and in particular on the dance floor as inspiration for his comments or his singing.

Divina reminded me that back in 1980, I was the emcee for a Mother’s Day dance at the old Bradford Hotel Ballroom in Boston (today it’s known as the Roxy). Divina was nine months pregnant and during one of his songs, as we danced in front of the stage, Hector was soneando (improvising) when he noticed Divina and sang “es un varon…ese nene va ser varon” (it’s a boy…. that baby is a boy) to Divina’s delight. A few weeks later, on May 25th, our son José Fabio, nicknamed Butchie was born.

We also saw him perform as a member of the Fania All-Stars and with his band at Madison Square Garden on several occasions during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. In 1982 at the 7th annual New York Salsa Festival celebrating El Gran Combo’s 20th anniversary. That concert featured Oscar D’Leon from Venezuela, Johnny Ventura from the Dominican Republic, Willie Colón and Hector. We also have photos with him back stage during another concert in 1982 dedicated to Cheo Feliciano’s 25th Anniversary that featured Cheo, Rubén Blades and Seis del Solar, Eddie Palmieri, Celia Cruz and Hector LaVoe.

We also remember Hector for living up to his legend for showing up late to his gigs…causing promoters fits and band members a high degree of anxiety. That was the case as a sold out audience sat waiting for him to perform at Ralph Mercado’s 10th New York Salsa Festival at the Garden in 1985. El Gran Combo, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, and Tito Puente performed followed by a long interlude. As we all grew restless, suddenly without any introduction we heard him singing off stage accompanied by the Brazilian sounds of “La Vida Es Bonita” from his 1985 recording “Revento”. A huge chorus of dozens and dozens of children dressed in white and red sang along as they appeared on stage with him to a standing ovation as the closing act of a stellar evening of soneros.

We would see him for the last time at the 12th New York Salsa Festival at the Garden in 1987 featuring El Gran Combo celebrating their 25th anniversary with Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Cheo Feliciano, Oscar D’Leon and Hector.

In 1989, Hector was announced as part of the line up for Ralph Mercado’s annual Festival de Salsa at the Garden in New York. Because of his health problems, he had been away from the stage and was clearly the main attraction although Rubén Blades was the headliner for this second edition of El Festival de los Soneros. Eddie Santiago, Hector LaVoe, Luis Enrique, Oscar D’Leon, José Alberto “El Canario”, Tito Nieves, Tony Vega and two surprise guest – Frankie Ruiz and Andy Montañez were also on the bill. Hector never made it. There were rumors that he was gravely ill and some even thought that he had died.