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Live At The Linda featuring Cecilia Zabala and Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra

Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra
Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra

Each Wednesday and Sunday evening at 8 p.m. “Live At The Linda” brings you some of the best musical acts to grace the stage at The Linda - WAMC's Performing Arts Studio. This week we feature Cecilia Zabala and Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra.

Cecilia Zabala, has been called a rising star on the international music scene. She’s played the Linda a couple of times in the past couple years and it seems to me her start is already pretty bright.

Zabala is an active participant in the musical life of Buenos Aires, performing regularly with many of the top musicians in Argentina. The same is increasingly true of her travels in Europe and the United States. Her music fully integrates a mastery of classical guitar technique with the folkloric music of her native Argentina, in addition to the culturally related traditions of the Nueva Cancion music that spread throughout Latin America during the tumult of the 1960s and 70s, and the more broadly eclectic musical trends of Brazil that have come to be known under the umbrella of Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB).

In 2019, Cecilia Zabala was awarded one of the oldest and most prestigious prizes awarded by the Secretariat of Culture of the government of Argentina, previously bestowed on many of Argentina's most legendary writers and artists, in recognition of artistic excellence, and carrying with it, a one- time monetary award, and a lifetime stipend upon the age of 60. That’s a decade or two away for Cecilia but this concert was rom 2019. Here is Cecilia Zabala Live at the Linda.

Alright, if you have been to a Live Music event in The Capital District I guarantee you you’ve grooved along to Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra, an absolute Capital Region favorite for many years. Formed October 1980 in Amsterdam, this 12 piece orchestra is led by the Bronx-born bassist Alex Torres. They have been present at hundreds of festivals, performing arts centers and events annually to perform their original blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms such as Salsa, Merengue, Cha-cha, Bomba, Plena and Latin Jazz.

Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra have performed for President Bill at the New York State Democratic Convention and also Governor's Pataki and Spitzer's Inauguration. They have shared the stage and billings with such major acts as Tito Puente, Tito Puente Jr., Eddie Palmieri, Andy Montañez, Los Hermanos Moreno, Arturo Sandoval, Branford Marsalis, The Count Basie and Woody Herman Orchestras and everyone else.

The group is also registered with the Arts-In-Education Program of New York State. This program brings the orchestra into schools to showcase cultural diversity and explain the music, instruments and rhythms associated with their music.

This concert comes from the vault and was recorded in 2010. Here is Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra Live at the Linda.

Thanks again for tuning in tonight for “Live At The Linda,” recorded live at The Linda: WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio. Join us next week for our broadcast of Biscuits N’ Gravy from January 2020 and Alexis P. Sutter from March 2017.

For more information on this show or any upcoming event follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or visit thelinda.org.

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Peter Hughes is the General Manager and Programmer/Presenter for The Linda: WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s Live Performing Arts Studio. He is also the on-air host of "Live at the Linda" a twice-weekly variety music program on WAMC on-air and online that broadcasts concerts and content both recorded and live from The Linda studio in Albany NY, but also interviews and conversations with artists of all stripes.