Here's the latest Beyond Salsa video with lots of amusing stuff for non-musicians - with live footage from two Issac and two Charanga Habanera concerts and a bit of Havana d'Primera thrown in for good measure. Also, a guest cameo from JS Bach. 

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If Issac's performance on this early arrangement of Solar de la California doesn't take you on an emotional journey from tears to euphoria, check your pulse. Of Issac's many epic live bands, the Alain/Melón, Yoel/Joel, and Piloto/Pérez incarnations are probably the most famous, but the Spring 2000 group was just as amazing in its own way.

Before Bombón Reyes became the founding drummer/arranger of Pupy y Los Que Son Son and Pupy's spot in Van Van was taken by Roberto "Cucurucho" Valdés, both of these phenomenal musicians played in this short-lived but historically great Issac Delgado Group, along with the ubiquitous bass master Frank Rubio, conguero Denis "Papacho" Savón and many others.

This concert includes the original arrangements of El Solar de la California and Amor sin ética and two tremendous guest vocals by Mayito Rivera. Manolín is on hand, and, doing what he does better than anyone, he adds coros, rather than guías, to the proceedings. Don't forget that you can use the links in the video descriptions to jump from song to song. For Beyond Salsa geeks, this band was the heavyweight champion in the categories of efectos and signals. The rhythm section here is as brilliantly loose and creative as the piano and bass were in the Melón-Alain band of 1997. The '00 band's sello is based on that of the '99 band that played the Y2K Concert that we added last week, but they added their own sello to the inherited sello - you'll see what I mean. Enjoy! If the response is good I'll add another show, two days earlier at the same club, with Robertón sitting in.

And Bay Areans - Gente de Zona will be in Alameda Sunday for their Bay Area premiere. It's supposed to be a full band of live musicians - will they force us to change our name to regueton punto com? [Kevin Moore]

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Highlights: Luz viajera vocal improv (both of them) (Y2K), Tirso's guest spot on No me mires (Y2K), Tomasito and Yoel's songo con efectos all through Noche de Cristal (autumn 98 I believe).

Seriously - Issac just KILLS it on Luz viajera - the best vocal improvising I've heard.

The fourth contender for the title - the amazing April 2000 Marina Hemingway show - is coming soon, but in the meantime, here's an honorable mention. This is from the same July 1997 Festival at which Charanga Habanera was suspended. All CH did was to perform their regular nightclub show, but Issac omitted the dance contest from Por qué paró. Compare the version here to this one. but the hottest Por qué paró (no video) is this one. And for a full comparison, there's also this one. Which do you like best and why? (please answer in the comments section)

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Narrated by: James Earl Jones (he had a bad cold)
Directed by: Martin Scorsese (he was really drunk)

Actually, this is just another Beyond Salsa preview video but it runs 30 minutes and has a lot of "video within video" and history of Issac and timba in general.

                                            Pablo Menéndez and El Capitán (click for Pt. 1)

Ocatvio Rodríguez and José Hermida (click for Pt. 2)

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