El Cantante

Though they don't look much alike, slight actor-singer Marc Anthony was born to play robust salsa sensation Héctor Lavoe. In addition to similar ancestry and vocal skills, Anthony has been building a respectable cinematic resume with roles in Big Night and Martin Scorsese's Bringing out the Dead. The title of El Cantante comes from a number Rubén Blades wrote for The Singer. Lavoe would make it his signature song. In the film, Anthony's wife, producer Jennifer Lopez, plays Puchi, the Nuyorican beauty who won Lavoe's heart. She narrates their story from the perspective of 2002 (the real-life Puchi passed away shortly afterwards). Leon Ichaso (Piñero) contrasts Lavoe's rise from Puerto Rican street singer to New York superstar with his fall from innocent immigrant to heroin-addicted ladies man. By the mid-1980s, Lavoe's popularity hit its peak, and Ichaso spends the rest of the time ticking off the tragedies of his final years: the break with trombonist Willie Colón (John Ortiz), stay in a mental ward, etc. It's a dynamic portrait, and Anthony and Lopez work well together, but despite the urban setting and Latin-flavored soundtrack, El Cantante follows virtually the same trajectory as Ray and Walk the Line (Ichaso has also directed biopics of Jimi Hendrix and Muhammad Ali). His movie looks and sounds authentic, but Lavoe's story might've been better served as nonfiction. There's a sense that there was more to the man than what appears on screen. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Customer Review: El cantante sings!
I loved this movie and I also love JLo and Marc Anthony! I think this movie was underrated. If you are truly interested in Hector Lavoe, you will love it. If you buy it just cause you want to see JLo and Marc, you probably won't like it. They are good in the movie but the story is what made it for me. Of course, it goes without saying, Marc Anthony's voice is supberb!
Customer Review: WONDERFUL....
I rented this film recently and was surprised at how good it was. The story depicts the stormy life and tragic end to the great salsa legend Hector Lavoe. This movie hits you in the heart from the start. It makes you care about the character and his music. I now own a cd of Hector Lavoe and I never knew I could like salsa. Who knew?? His music is amazing and the tragic events of his life makes you want to know the person behind the prose of his songs. My ears know good music when it hears it and this man was a icon. Hector Lavoe.......rest in peace! I'm not much of a fan of Jennifer Lopez but she played a good role. However, another actress (a more popular one) would have made this film more marketable to the non-Hispanic population ( mass audience).

This article has a soundtrack. You can't hear it right now, but I can. As I sit here typing, Dvorak's Slavonic Dance, Op. 72 No. 6, fills the air here in my home office. I'm streaming it from a Web radio station that is situated in Chula Vista, Mexico.

XLNC has a regular broadcast station on 90.7 FM, serving the Tijuana-San Diego area. The reason I'm able to enjoy it here in North Carolina is because of XLNC's Internet stream. (In an unusual turn of events, XLNC was actually started as a Web radio station, only later adding an over-the-air component.)

XLNC's sound is gorgeous. The audio stream coming through my PC speakers is as good and possibly a bit better than the local classical music station that I can listen to on my home stereo system.

Classical music broadcasting has made something of a comeback in recent years, thanks in part to satellite radio (XM and Sirius), and thanks in part to the Internet. Classical music has always had a devoted following, but one that was relatively small. As a consequence, it was in danger of disappearing from radio altogether.

At one time, you could be certain of hearing classical music on almost any public radio station you tuned to. But over time, even these stations began shifting away from classical to more popular music forms such as folk, bluegrass, Celtic, blues, etc. Or, they became more talk-oriented.

Nowadays, though, classical music fans can breathe easier. As long as they are connected to the Internet (or have a satellite radio subscription), they can find an abundant choice of classical music stations to enjoy. I found the XLNC link through a Web site that listed and described 100 Internet radio stations whose programming is wholly or in large part devoted to classical music.

Classical music is not dead. It is alive and healthy--on Internet radio. Why not give it a listen and hear it for yourself?

Stefan Smith is a radio junkie who writes on entertainment and related subjects for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Recently, he has written an extensive review of new software that anyone can use to capture music audio streams from Internet radio broadcasts and break them up into individual mp3 song files--a legal way to download virtually free music. Read the review at: http://www.solid-gold.info/radio2mp3.html

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