Couples Jam the Floor at L.A. Salsa Celebration

Saturday night at Hollywood Park Casino, salsa promoter Albert Torres stopped moving around for a moment and surveyed the scene.

Thousands of couples were crowding the dance floor, outdoing one another with all sorts of dazzling pirouettes. On a patio outside the ballroom, a dance troupe from Japan was performing choreography reminiscent of a ‘50s musical. On the stage inside, legendary Puerto Rican singer Andy Montan~ez and his band were getting ready for a rare L.A. appearance.

Torres smiled as he watched his dream of gathering salsa fanatics from all over the planet for a weekend of wild parranda (partying) finally reach the level he’d envisioned.

Judging by the huge turnout, the Torres-organized Bacardi West Coast Salsa Congress was a bona fide hit in its second year. It was a symbolic triumph for Torres, who began organizing shows years ago just to see some of his favorite salsa musicians live. He brought in Cuban group Los Van Van before the Buena Vista Social Club even existed; he reunited the Fania All Stars; he organized salsa cruises and promoted shows regularly at the El Rey, the Sportsmen’s Lodge and the Hollywood Palladium.

With a reported attendance of 3,000 people from 24 countries, this year’s three-day congress, which was scheduled to conclude Sunday, also demonstrated that salsa, once thought of as a strictly East Coast phenomenon, has become part of the Latin mainstream in California.

Like many Torres events, Saturday’s party was a marathon, with most of the attention on the dance troupes, who presenting carefully rehearsed numbers to a highly appreciative crowd of connoisseurs. The routines ranged from the mind-bogglingly acrobatic to the unabashedly kitschy.

The choice of Montan~ez as the main musical attraction was appropriate. Throughout his solo career, the former lead singer of El Gran Combo has specialized in a style of salsa that has the dancer’s pleasure as its ultimate goal. Montan~ez combines supple beats and smooth brass riffs with the raw growl of his distinctive tenor. His straight-ahead Puerto Rican salsa has an innate pop sensibility about it, without sacrificing the tightness and flavor of the arrangements.

Although Montan~ez’s set felt a bit crammed in between the dance exhibitions, he delivered the goods from the opening song, an ode to the joys of the rumba. On hits such as the bouncy “Me Gusta,” the band’s biggest asset was the rich vocal harmonies provided by Montan~ez’s two sons and daughter.

There was something heartwarming about seeing this veteran performer sharing the salsa ritual with his kids, echoing Torres’ view of Afro-Cuban aficionados as members of an extended familia.

The promoter has often described the way this music brought peace to a life that was once plagued by personal problems. It would appear that through events like this that Torres has redeemed himself while bringing joy to thousands of Latin music fans.