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FREESTYLE FOREVER- A NIGHT AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

By Luis Vazquez
ElBoricua.com

On Thursday night April, 20, 2006, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, will be witness to a rebirth of sorts. Don’t call it a comeback because the talent that will be displayed on this evening never left. The Title of this event is “The Freestyle Extravaganza Reunion”. It will be part of a tour of several cities including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, as well as Florida. The producers of this event include promoter Adam Torres and his Latin Entertainment Group. The New York part of this event will have added support from RMP-Ralph Mercado Presents.

The acts that will perform were the top names of the genre known as Freestyle in the 80’s to the mid 90’s. When this form of Music was ready to bust out to the next level the media got cold feet and suddenly got off the bandwagon.

However men like Sal Abbatiello, who was instrumental in getting these artists to the top and kept them working through the lean years has to be credited with maintaining interest and finding the way to garner attention through proven success at shows like the Mohegan Sun, which drew great numbers when Freestyle acts were combined on special event shows. “These are the nicest people. I know all of them. I’ve met their kids. It took 22 years to get this music heard at Madison Square Garden. Now that it is in its classic stage the numbers bare that out”, says Sal.

He helped get the attention of groups who now made history by inviting the artists to a venue like Madison Square Garden, which has never been host to a Freestyle event. The legends will be there- Shannon, Judy Torres, Cynthia, Lisa Lisa, Noel, TKA/K7, Lissette Melendez, the Cover Girls, Coro, George Lamond, Nice and Wild, and Stevie B.

These artists constituted some of the top songs of a decade in Music. Its uneasy relationship to Hip-Hop is summed up by K-7, “Freestyle had the attitude of Hip-Hop, the balls of Hip-Hop and in some cases the anger, the passion if you will. It is a distant family member to Hip-Hop. A lot of people won’t like the reference to it, but as an artist I know where it came from.”

The immensity of this event is starting is to show as we get closer to the event. The artists who are for the most part in their 30’s or early 40’s have just entered their prime and are as capable as they were at 16 or 17. They will show old and new fans alike what has been missing for the past decade as other forms of music have played themselves in and played themselves out. Evelyn of the Cover Girls feels blessed “We are very appreciative. The people that have supported us and gotten us to Madison Square Garden, they show that they have kept the faith. We’re going to be around for awhile and we’re not going anywhere, except upwards and forward.”

K-7 added to this sentiment, “I feel everything falls into place at the right moment. The fact that this show is happening for this style of music, I feel it’s a welcome thing.” Judy Torres reminds us to, “Never abandon your Music, because like Salsa, Freestyle is your music and they have to remember that was part of a time when we felt really proud. The words that are sung in Freestyle are from the minds of what we wanted to say years ago. It was always genuine. It stayed real.”

In closing Sal Abbatiello, who continues the tradition with his next show at the Copa on May 28, 2006 had this to say. “Going through four genres of music, a pioneer of Freestyle, it never had that second length. Can you name a style of music that was on top for eight years then for thirty years never had a dead period? The Legacy of Freestyle is in its Longevity. The music looks like it’s going to be forever. It’s everlasting.”