Recording Rap
The entertainment industry came together again Thursday, September 27 to honor Victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. With the help of Alfredo Oliva, sixty Local 655 musicians donated their time recording "El Ultimo Adios" (The Last Good-bye) at the Hit Factory in North Miami. The song was composed by Emilio Estefan and songwriter Gian Marco in the first days after the attacks on New York and Washington. John Secada wrote the English-language version that he sang at the Dolphins’ home opener. Our Local 655 musician José Antonio Molina wrote the arrangements and conducted the session and member Eugenio VanDerHorst was the copyist.
I was proud as I watched the musicians playing, led by José Antonio Molina in his red shirt, which matched the red in the American flag hung on the wall. All involved in the session donated their time, including recording engineers, sound and lighting people, and the Hit Factory. Later that evening singers Gloria Estefan, Juan Luis Guarra, Carlos Vives, Charlie Zaa, José José, Ricardo Montaner, and El Puma, just to name a few, recorded the song, while in other studios down the hall voices joined in from Mexico and Puerto Rico, piped in through special phone lines. Later that week Arturo Sandoval recorded a solo, and pop stars Shakira, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, and Alejandro Sanz will volunteer their services as well.
Sony Music is donating production of the first 100,000 CDs. Proceeds from sales of the CD (which will include both the Spanish and English version) will go the American Red Cross and the United Way to assist families of the victims. The CDs will be available in record stores.
STAR Campaign Update
The following is the latest STAR Campaign update...the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met on September 8th in San Antonio, Texas. The record companies didn’t show up for the hearings but two of them (WEA Latina and EMI Latin) have signed the Phono Agreement, and Sony Disco’s council has pledged to sign also.
I received an E-mail from past-AFM President Steve Young thanking everyone who helped make the STAR Campaign a success. He thanked Ed Calle and all the Miami musicians that worked on the issues. Call me if you are doing any projects for the new signatories so we can get them on contracts. I will update everyone on Sony Discos status in the next newsletter. In the mean-time call me if you are doing sessions for Sony Discos to see if they have signed.
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