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Valentine's Day at the Paradise Banquet Hall
The Mighty Sparrow's coming
International School - Theatre Guild play coming up

Gallery & Museum Guide

Leony Herrera, who largely makes her living by singing for cruise ship tourists

Party season began on St. Valentine's Day

photos and review by Eric Jackson

Is the truth to be told? Of course --- this is The Panama News.

And one of the truths of the matter is that, had this reporter been living in the Detroit area rather than Panama, he'd have spent the evening of St. Valentine's Day not catching some live music, but tuned into one of those UHF television stations that plays gangster movies all day on February 14. ("Honest --- I'd never rat on da Poiples!" and so on....)

The larger not-readily-apparent truth that needs to be told about the Valentine's Day party at the Paradise Banquet Hall is that, in an evening whose performances ranged from good to amazingly excellent, the superlatives belong to musicians who weren't even listed in the advertising and who were difficult to reasonably photograph with the little Kodak I brought with me.

See, it's like this: Daniel Bulgin, the singer for the Soul Fantastics way back when, was brilliant. But the band that played behind him and several of the night's other performers, Alejandro Duncan y los Muchachos de la Provincia de Colon --- better known as just Alex Duncan's Band --- was the best of all. Do they say that Los Santos is the cultural heartland of Panama? Well, these Colon buays made the case for a contrary proposition.

Guitarist and band leader Alejandro Duncan,

partially hidden behind the microphone

Daniel Bulgin started with the hit that he made with the Soul

Fantastics way back when, Mujer, and got even better --- did

you know that there's a Spanish version of Last Kiss? This

reporter now does, after having listened to Bulgin's set

The night's entertainment began with a younger generation of musicians,

in the person of Alex Reyes and his band Shorty & Slim....

...and ended with the youth movement, with Kali, the Afro-Panamanian from

New York who started out soca rather than reggaeton for the mostly older crowd

Their junior colleagues were most interested in what they could

appreciate and learn from veterans like Samuel Archer

Yuli covered the Frank Sinatra hit, My Way...

...and later in the night, Toribio Samuel, singing a duet with Alfredito Payne,

covered that same song in its Spanish version, En Mi Manera

Alfredito Payne, a consummate soul crooner in that unmistakable

Combos Nacionales style, has a voice with an amazing range

Yes, it was far better than a night of watching Al Capone massacre his rivals, Vito Corleone educating his son Michael and the rise and fall of the Purple Gang.

Better yet, those of you who read this story early enough will get some opportunities to listen for yourself. Most of these acts will be appearing at the Paradise Banquet Hall on February 24, as warm-ups for The Mighty Sparrow. A lot of them will also be playing on the Afro-Panamanian stage at the Panama City Carnival site along the Transistmica.

And really, isn't that one of the wonderful things about Panama's Carnival? A lot of very good performing artists who have to rely on other jobs to support their music get paid to work at this time of the year. And make no mistake about it: although our national media barons and the international recording industry rarely take notice, this country is very rich in musical talent.

Valentine's Day at the Paradise Banquet Hall
The Mighty Sparrow's coming
International School - Theatre Guild play coming up

Gallery & Museum Guide