Guao! Esto si es salsa… diría yo que este combo, este gran combo, fue y sigue siendo uno de las mejores orquestas de salsa de toda la historia del género. Me acuerdo, de teenager en Miami, cuando en una fiesta, lo que en la década de los 70 en Miami llamaban un «baile cubano», escuché por primera vez al Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. Su hit en ese entonces era «Don Goyo«… pero cuando sacaron «La eliminación de los feos«, madre mía, se acabó aquello. Aqui os las dejo para que me digáis lo que pensáis de estas canciones y del Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
From the studio album Go to Heaven released in 1980. And the Dead had to record a studio album before they were allowed to release another live one, and this is a band that you had to see live. A Grateful Dead studio recording is only a little taste of the band, to get the full flavour you had to be there.
«Althea» became the favourite of concerts and considered one of the best songs by the lads. Actually Stereogum considers it the fifth best Grateful Dead song.
Here is the studio version:
And the live version from 1981:
(1981)
Now just to remind those who may not recall, here are ten things that were happening in the world back in 1981…
First Greece enters the European Union.
A suspect named Peter Sutcliffe was arrested by British police suspected of being the «Yorkshire ripper’.
Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as President of the United States.
Coup attempt takes place in Spain when Colonel Antonio Tejero Molina and members of the Guardia Civil storm the congress. There were no injuries to anyone.
US President Reagan survives an assassination attempt.
First space shuttle mission is launched in the US, the «Columbia».
Bobby Sands dies in a British prison after 66 days of hunger strike. He was 27 years old and represented the IRA.
François Mitterrand wins in France.
MTV launches its first transmission with the video by The Buggles, «Video Killed the Radio Star».
On the 6th of October in Egypt, President Anwar el-Sadat is assassinated.
(Foto: Francisco Bravo Cabrera/OCS Valencia/Derechos Reservados)
Cuatrocientas personas desalojadas en Badalona. Diríamos mejor que fueron 400 okupas que ilegalmente se albergaron donde no tenían derecho a hacerlo. Si emigras, o te refugias en un país extranjero, tienes, obligadamente, que obedecer la ley, cumplir con las normas de la ciudad donde has llegado, y sobre todo, adaptarte al idioma, y mucho más a la cultura. Si vienes de países muy distintos, en costumbres y cultura, tienes que hacer un esfuerzo mayor.
Europa es un continente cristiano, y España un país con una tradición Católica, Apostólica y Romana. Eso no lo cambia nadie. Y eso, el inmigrante, o refugiado, tiene que respetarlo. Nadie le pide que cambie su religion por la nuestra, ni que se olvide de sus tradiciones, pero si se le puede pedir que las guarde en privado. No podemos dejar que debido a esta inmigración masiva y descontrolada se nos vaya aguar nuestra cultura occidental. Y esto no es chauvinismo ni ocho cuartos, es la verdad.
Además, si el gobierno está dejando entrar, de esta manera irresponsable y detrimental, (al resto de los ciudadanos españoles y europeos), debe proveer por estos (y deben buscar el dinero bajándose sus propios sueldos). A los que permitan entrar a Europa, y al Reino de España, no los pueden dejar a que sobrevivan al azar ni que anden por ahí a sus anchas. A los indocumentados, e ilegales, hay que, o deportarlos, o ajustarles el estatus, y a los legales y documentados, hay que tratarlos como seres humanos y no dejarlos abandonados a vivir debajo un puente, especialmente en invierno. Son seres humanos y no animales.
¿Será bueno que los artistas se hagan pasar por filósofos?
¿Valdrá la pena componer unos versos o una breve explicación o definición del arte?
¿A quien le importa lo que piensa el artista? Si total, el artista os va a decir que lo que realmente importa es lo que veis sobre el lienzo o el papel.
Y si el mundo es un huevo, ¿de que ave será?
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Is it good that artists assume the role of philosophers?
Is it worth it to compose a few verses or a short narrative to explain what art is?
Who really cares what the artist thinks? After all the artist is only going to tell you that what is important is what is on the canvas or paper.
And if the world is an egg, what bird laid it?
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Obra en acrílico sobre tela ovalada de 35x45cm
Painted with acrylic on oval canvas, 35x45cm
(Propiedad de Francisco Bravo Cabrera, Omnia Caelum Studios València, Derechos Reservados/Property of Francisco Bravo Cabrera, Omnia Caelum Studios València, All Rights Reserved)
(Image: Original artwork by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)
“Comfort Me” (While listening to Handel’s “Messiah”)
A voice breaks the silky silence of the morning, It’s a subtle breath that’s all, that whispers hope where dust had learned only despair. The clouds caress the valley and it stretches before me, the roads are straight, the mountains bend, and I remember, the light returns, I hear the voice I had had forgotten, and the trumpets that were not meant to conquer but to awaken me from dreams. A lamb walks forward crowned in Holy blood, while the powerful unlearn the grammar of their thrones.
Grief kneels and becomes praise. A prayer becomes intention and chains dissolve as trust regains its place among my favours. Death itself inhales and finds no soul to claim, for life has learned to sing beyond the grave.
And when my heart, My voice, My will, Chants the final “Amen”, it fills the air, nothing ends the curtains open. The sun dances in And life begins.
(C.2025, Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 25/12/2025 – Valencia, España)
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Messiah is an English-language oratorio. It was composed by Georg Friedrich Händel in 1741. Oratorios are unstaged musical works for orchestra, choir, and soloists, typically on sacred subjects. Messiah is not a narrative drama with characters interacting onstage. It is a contemplative, scriptural meditation.
The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens based solely on biblical texts taken primarily from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The work is structured in three parts:
• Part I reflects on prophecy and the birth of Christ. • Part II focuses on suffering, crucifixion, resurrection, and redemption. • Part III contemplates the promise of resurrection and eternal life.
Musically, Messiah is a sublime balance between lyrical intimacy and choral writing. Handel’s chorus is a theological voice that proclaims, reflects and rejoices. The famous “Hallelujah” chorus is the epitome of this synthesis of grandeur, clarity, and emotional directness.
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Something about the composer
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) was born in Halle, Germany. He is one of the most important Baroque composers. He spent most of his professional life in England and became a naturalized British citizen.
Although he was initially trained in law, due to his father’s insistence, his love for music soon prevailed. He worked in Germany and Italy then settled in London. There, although he achieved great success as a composer of Italian opera, he, because of financial pressures, later focused entirely on English oratorios. And he excelled.
Handel should be recognised for his productivity, adaptability, and dramatic instinct. Despite periods of illness and professional difficulty, he remained creatively active until late in life.
Messiah was composed in London (1741). It took him only twenty four days to finish the score. Need drove him as his Italian operas were losing popularity in England.
The impetus for Messiah was an invitation to present a series of concerts in Dublin. Charles Jennens had already prepared the libretto, intending it as a serious theological reflection rather than theatrical entertainment. Händel accepted the project. He focused on it with intensity and strength.
And so Messiah was first performed on 13 April 1742 in Dublin, at the Great Music Hall on Fishamble Street, as part of a charity event benefiting prisoners, hospitals, and the poor. The premiere was well received, though Messiah would take time to achieve its later iconic status.
Notably, Messiah was initially more successful in Ireland than in London, where some objected to sacred texts being presented in a concert setting. Over time, however, it became one of the most frequently performed and enduring works in Western music. It is still loved and performed during the Christmas season.
JaZzArt en València 