"Catalina" - This is Melón González' tasteful arrangement of the old Cuban standard, originally recorded on the legendary "Rarities" album. It featured an extended virtuosic solo from Rolando Luna which brought the house down, ramping everyone's energy level up yet another notch.

"El solar de la California" - The first of six songs from the
Grammy-nominated "La Fórmula" CD, this stunningly beautiful piece of music was co-written by Issac and Juan Formell and features a brilliantly integrated reference to the American rock anthem "Hotel California", cleverly mixing languages in the already classic coro: "Welcome to the Solar de la California, él de la calle Crespo between, San Lázaro y Colón". The second coro, "En el Solar de la California, baila Lola y bailo yo", is full of no-holds-barred, raw Timba energy and Luna has created an amazing new montuno for this section which adds yet another unforgettable hook to the arrangement.

"Bemba colora" - Issac turned the mike over to Hayla to sing this track from her new CD, with Luna playing some amazing piano montunos which most certainly were not on Celia's version! The new CD is available in Cuba but has yet to be released here.

"Mucho corazón" - This was a short, off-the-cuff improvisation on the old Beny Moré standard, performed by just Issac and Hayla as a vocal duet with guitar accompaniment.

"Pregón del cChocolate" - "La Fórmula" includes a short but exhilarating Joaquín Betancourt arrangement of this older Delgado composition, originally written for La Charanga Habanera's first album, "Love Fever" in 1992. It's now become a regular part of Issac's live shows, where it gets a much more extended treatment. Dominican conguero Chichi Peralta sat in.

"Deja que Roberto te toque" - This has been a staple of Issac's live performances since the mid-90's. It was originally recorded on "Otra Idea".

At this point Issac invited Lázaro Roz to the stage to sing a medley of folkloric songs accompanied by only percussion. Denis Savón was able to simulate a very satisfying batá groove on just two congas and the elderly Roz, also nominated for a Grammy this year, gave a very moving and masterful performance.

"Amor sin ética" - another great track from "La Fórmula".

"Malecón" - In Cuba, this is the title track of the CD released elsewhere as "La Fórmula". The song and Joaquín Betancourt arrangement are equally brilliant in their own way. Actually, all of the "best song" nominees could easily have come from this CD! "Malecón" is a particularly satisfying example of Issac's unparalleled ability to blend beauty and raw fire and this was one of the emotional highlights of the set. The introduction was especially moving, with Delgado's rubato vocal accompanied only by Rolando Luna's stunningly beautiful piano voicings.

"Popurrí para el sonero" was still another nod to traditional Cuban music, although the band, and especially Luna, infused it with plenty of modern timba energy and musical content. This medley of traditional pieces was originally recorded on "El Año Que Viene".

The set concluded with a short version of Issac's runaway hit of 1999, "La Vida es un Carnaval", but even after almost two and a half hours, the crowd erupted into a rock concert style ovation and demanded an encore, with a spirited Torres leading the cheers from the microphone. The encore, of course, was the title track of "La Fórmula", which is also nominated as best song. Issac's song, and Joel Domínguez brilliant arrangement, which seamlessly combines a brilliant original song with half a dozen musical interludes from various artists who influenced Delgado's career. By the time it reached the homage to Candido Fabré, "y lo que no sabes tú no lo sabe nadie", Delgado himself was visibly moved and everyone in the room was on a powerful musical high that would have lasted well into the following day's Grammy ceremony had it not been abruptly extinguished by the horrible and tragic events that occurred on the East Coast only a few short hours later.

©2001 Kevin Moore