Salsa’s Fania All-Stars Lose Their Fire

In the old days, a performance by the Fania All Stars was more than a concert. It was a fully charged cultural event. A happening, in the lingo of the ‘60s, when members of this salsa supergroup sparked a groundswell of excitement for Afro-Caribbean music among a new generation of fans worldwide.

By the mid-’70s, the Fania phenomenon had peaked in the frenzy of a live concert at Yankee Stadium that had to be aborted when fans rushed the stage. The group’s members, a rotating cast of bandleaders and vocalists, had become not just celebrities but also symbols of cultural pride for an ethnic community seeking its voice in American society.

Now, sadly, the group that once electrified the masses seems as passe as the protest politics that energized its original appeal. During its reunion concert Saturday at the eighth annual Hollywood Salsa & Latin Jazz festival at the Hollywood Bowl, the Fania All Stars offered a 70-minute show that amounted to little more than an empty exercise in nostalgia.

The lineup included pianists Larry Harlow and Papo Lucca, singers Cheo Feliciano and Ismael Quintana, percussionists Roberto Roena and Ray Barretto and horn players Lewis Kahn and Hector “Bomberito” Zarzuela. They made an impressive sight, this array of 26 musicians under the direction of their white-haired bandleader, Johnny Pacheco, co-founder of the legendary Fania Records, the label credited with creating a craze for salsa around the world.

As you might expect of musicians who have been playing together on and off for more than 30 years, the group sounded tight and remarkably powerful. Of course, they must know these arrangements in their sleep.

They displayed an occasional flash of instrumental brilliance, such as Lucca’s intriguing keyboard solo during a medley of Quintana’s classics, “Puerto Rico/Adoracion.” The exuberant rendition midway through the set marked the night’s high point, with fans dancing in the aisles and a few unfurling their Puerto Rican flags.

Lead singers have always been Fania’s main attraction, but Saturday they were its woeful weak spot. Age has noticeably impaired the vocal prowess required by salsa of this intensity. Junior Gonzalez, a mediocre singer even in his prime, virtually screeched his improvisations on “La Cartera,” his hit as Harlow’s former vocalist. And a tribute to Pete “Conde” Rodriguez, by the late singer’s son and daughter, only made matters worse, proving that a truly distinctive and gifted voice is rarely inherited.

The failings made you yearn for the great voice that was missing--the one belonging to Ruben Blades. He canceled his appearance, reportedly because the same show in New York earlier this month had gone so late that he didn’t come on until the wee hours.

Ironically, Fania’s set Saturday felt truncated, perhaps owing to the festival’s crowded lineup, which included a dazzling dance exhibition. The headliners started late after opening sets by Gilberto Santa Rosa, the best of the new generation of Puerto Rican salsa singers, and Poncho Sanchez, an L.A. Latin jazz favorite who featured the pure and piercing trumpet of guest soloist Jon Faddis.

The curtain fell abruptly on Fania before 11 p.m., when the rumba was just getting hot. Bongocero Roberto Roena closed with “Ponte Duro,” doing a cowbell solo and a flashy tap dance to demonstrate that time had not stunted his showmanship. But the crowd, about half capacity, was left begging for an encore that never came.