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PBS Presents 'Unity-- The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson' Hosted by Sheila E. (October 9, 2015)

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<heading id="article-heading" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">PBS Presents 'Unity - The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson' Hosted by Sheila E. (October 9, 2015)

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By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and ActAugust 31, 2015 at 7:32PM


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Celebrating its fifth season, the 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival brings international music superstar Gloria Estefan back to television alongside top Hispanic artists including legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera and world-renowned percussionist Sheila E. The seven-time Grammy Award-winner hosts the Festival each Friday for eight weeks, starting October 9 at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings).

The series kicks off with the "Unity - The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson," featuring Michael Jackson&#8217;s greatest hits interpreted by award-winning Latin artists in a concert hosted by celebrated percussionist Sheila E. "Unity" is said to be a passion project for Peruvian-born, Miami-raised producer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Succar, who also produced and arranged the chart-topping album of the same name. Signature Jackson songs like &#8220;Smooth Criminal,&#8221; &#8220;I Want You Back,&#8221; &#8220;Billie Jean&#8221; and others, will be "reimagined" by top musicians from throughout Latin America. Performers include Jon Secada, Tito Nieves, Michael Stuart, Obie Bermúdez, Jennifer Peña, Kevin Ceballo, Judith Hill, Jean Rodriguez, and more.
Click here for more information on the full 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival, and here to learn more about how PBS is honoring Hispanic Heritage Month.

The full Hispanic Heritage Month programming lineup is listed below:

AMERICAN MASTERS &#8220;Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer&#8217;s Journey&#8221;
Discover the life and work of Mexican-American photographer Pedro E. Guerrero, who collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright and sculptors Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson. A special presentation of AMERICAN MASTERS and VOCES. --Friday, September 18, 9:00&#8211;10:00 p.m. ET
POV &#8220;Don&#8217;t Tell Anyone&#8221; (&#8220;No Le Digas a Nadie&#8221;)
Meet immigrant activist Angy Rivera, the country&#8217;s only advice columnist for undocumented youth. In a community where silence is often seen as necessary for survival, she steps out of the shadows to share her own parallel experiences of being undocumented and sexually abused. -- Monday, September 21, 10:00&#8211;11:30 p.m. ET

ON TWO FRONTS &#8211; LATINOS & VIETNAM
Examine the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on the working class. Framing the documentary are memoirs of two siblings who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one a POW and the other a protestor at home. --Tuesday, September 22, 10:00&#8211; 11:30 p.m. ET

THE WOMEN&#8217;S LIST: AMERICAN MASTERS
Meet 15 women who define contemporary American culture in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders&#8217; new &#8220;List&#8221; film featuring Madeleine Albright, Gloria Allred, Laurie Anderson, Sara Blakely, Margaret Cho, Edie Falco, Elizabeth Holmes, Betsey Johnson, Alicia Keys, Aimee Mullins, Nancy Pelosi, Rosie Perez, Shonda Rhimes, Wendy Williams and Nia Wordlaw. -- Friday, September 25, 2015, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET

PBS ARTS FALL FESTIVAL: UNITY &#8211; THE LATIN TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON
World-class drummer and percussionist Sheila E. hosts a concert special that showcases award-winning Latin artists and a 37-piece orchestra performing Latin-infused arrangements of the songs on Tony Succar&#8217;s album Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson. The concert features 10 classic songs from the hit 12-track album, such as &#8220;Smooth Criminal,&#8221; &#8220;I Want You Back&#8221; and &#8220;Billie Jean&#8221; re-imagined by musicians from all over Latin America. On its release in April 2015, the album topped the Amazon Latin World Music Charts, the iTunes World Music Charts and the Billboard Tropical Charts at #1. Produced by Unity Entertainment Corporation and Oregon Public Broadcasting in association with Universal Music Classics. -- Friday, October 9, 9:00&#8211;10:00 p.m. ET

THE HISPANIC HERITAGE AWARDS
Join host Rita Moreno for a celebration of the country&#8217;s highest tribute to Latinos by Latinos. The program includes performances and appearances by celebrated Hispanic artists. Talent and honorees TBA. -- Friday, October 9, 10:00 &#8211;11:00 p.m. ET

PBS ARTS FALL FESTIVAL: GREAT PERFORMANCES &#8220;Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin&#8217; to Do&#8221;
Legendary Broadway performer Chita Rivera has been lighting up international stages for more than 70 years. With starring roles in such iconic Broadway shows as West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie and Chicago, Rivera returned to Broadway in 2015 to star in the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical The Visit. In addition to archival clips from Rivera&#8217;s many shows and TV appearances, this career retrospective also features interviews with Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, Carol Lawrence and many more to tell the story of Rivera&#8217;s peerless show biz virtuosity. --Friday, November 6, 9:00 &#8211;10:00 p.m. ET
Promo below

[video=youtube;fuJqZBiCFwQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuJqZBiCFwQ[/video]

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/pbs-presents-unity-the-latin-tribute-to-michael-jackson-hosted-by-sheila-e-20150831
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UNITY

Celebrating its fifth season, the 2015 PBS Arts Fall Festival brings international music superstar Gloria Estefan back to television alongside top Hispanic artists including legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera and world-renowned percussionist Sheila E. The seven-time Grammy Award-winner hosts the Festival each Friday for eight weeks, starting October 9 at 9 p.m. ET (check local listings).
The series kicks off with the "Unity - The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson," a passion project of Peruvian-born, Miami-raised producer/multi-instrumentalist/arranger Tony Succar, featuring Michael Jackson’s greatest hits interpreted by award-winning Latin artists in a concert hosted by celebrated percussionist Sheila E. "Unity" is said to be a passion project for Peruvian-born, Miami-raised producer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Succar, who also produced and arranged the chart-topping album of the same name. Signature Jackson songs like “Smooth Criminal,” “I Want You Back,” “Billie Jean” and others, will be "reimagined" by top musicians from throughout Latin America. Performers include Jon Secada, Tito Nieves, Michael Stuart, Obie Bermúdez, Jennifer Peña, Kevin Ceballo, Judith Hill, Jean Rodriguez, and more.

“The Unity Project began as an homage to Michael, and to underscore the key messages I always associated with his music: unity and love. These themes drive the album and the concert, and the resulting music has been remarkable,” said Succar. “Every song is true to the essence of the original, but I predict viewers will be inspired to find new moves in their living rooms as salsa and other Latin beats drive their favorite songs.”
“We are kicking off the fifth annual PBS Arts Fall Festival with a truly unique and special musical performance. Sheila E., Tony Succar, and all of the featured artists bring tremendous energy and talent to the stage, and you have never heard Michael Jackson’s songs sound quite like this,” said Donald Thoms, Vice President of Programming for PBS and festival curator. “[It's] is a marvelous testament to the diversity of art and performances being created in the U.S., and we are delighted to showcase that diversity on PBS.”
PBS has released a trailer for the program, which is embedded at the bottom of this post.

[video=youtube;K_Bb6KDTjdI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=18&v=K_Bb6KDTjdI[/video]


 
<header class="header" id="yui_3_18_1_1_1442950477105_1774" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 10px; overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16.25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Michael Jackson Salsa Tribute Album Producer Protests Not Being Eligible for Latin Grammys




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On Oct. 9, Unity: The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson will air as a concert special on PBS, preceding the channel’s broadcast of the 28th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards. Hosted by Sheila E., the pre-recorded concert, like the 2013 album of the same name, features a big band of seasoned Latin players, and well-known salsa singers including Michael Stuart and Obie Bermudez.
“Iconic songs will be heard like never before -- with inventive, energetic and distinctively Latin twists,” enthuses the PBS promo copy about the concert broadcast.
This Week in Billboard Chart History: 20 Years Ago, Michael Jackson Was 'Alone' at the Top
That’s right, Unity is an album of salsified Michael Jackson covers. The made-in-Miami recording was released in April jointly by Universal Music Classics, Universal Music Latin Entertainment and Universal Music Mexico.
The album began when its producer and arranger, Tony Succar, put together a salsa version of “Thriller” for a Halloween party. The Latin tribute project was subsequently funded by a Kickstarter campaign. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Tropical Albums chart.
But one place where Unity will definitely have no victories at the upcoming Latin Grammys. The album will be not included on the list of nominees that will be revealed tomorrow (Sept. 23). It did not even qualify for consideration.
The reason is clear, according to the rules of the Latin Recording Academy: what’s missing in this album’s “sauce” is the Spanish.
Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson Salsifies 'Smooth Criminal': Watch It Here
“For a recording with vocals to be eligible for a Latin Grammy Award, 51 percent or more of the vocal delivery and lyrical content must be in Spanish or Portuguese,” a spokesperson for the awards told Billboard. “The Latin Recording Academy considers music based on the contents of the recording itself -- the technical elements that go into the art of music making -- not based on how a recording or an artist is marketed externally.”
“I don’t know how much more Latin the project can get,” counters Peruvian-American Succar, who is 29 years old. A drummer and graduate of Florida International University’s School of Music, he was a newcomer to the hard knocks of the music business when he started the project five years ago.
Succar cites the recording’s consecrated Latino musicians, the tropical rhythms, and the salsa arrangements as enough to ensure its “Latin” pedigree.
But the Latin Academy stands by its rules. “The recording in question is 75 percent English...10 of the 12 tracks were recorded in English,” the spokesperson says.
Actually, that’s not exactly true, since other tracks on the album are bilingual. But that still may not bring it up to the 51 percent requirement. Succar says that he calculated Unity is 50.6 percent in English.
In an email to Latin Academy President Gabriel Abaroa protesting the disqualification from the Latin Grammy pre-nomination process, Succar contested the Latin Grammys' ruling in detail. He criticized the Latin Grammys for counting the number of Spanish and English words in his album's songs to determine whether or not it was eligible, decrying, in one surrealistic passage in the email, that even vocal sounds were considered English by the Latin Grammy’s count.
“Uh-huh huh huh huh -- this was counted as four English words,” Succar wrote in the email. “Since when are the words uh and huh considered as English words? To my defense, who says that the singer or background singers are singing 'uh'? If you sound it out, you’ll actually hear 'ah'. If this is the case, then isn’t 'ah' supposed to be considered a Spanish word? When I recorded the song, I made the singers sing 'ah '… and then 'ooo'… but trust me, I definitely was not thinking 'hey, is this Spanish or English?'
"I would like to ask you to please take a step back for a minute and analyze the situation from a more musical perspective, rather than such an obscure arbitrary procedure. For us to have to sit down and literally count word by word to prove a point…which is supposed to be a musical point, this is something I would have never thought in my wildest dream we would ever have to do in order to qualify for a Latin Grammy pre-nomination, especially when dealing with a project where everything about it is Tropical/Latin. Please use the instrument we all use in order to feel the music, our ears."
In this case, the decision is final, and the rules -- clearly stated on the Latin Academy’s website -- are rules. But it does beg the question, at what point is a salsa record not considered a salsa record? And, more generally, how much should Latin music defined by language? Particularly in the U.S., a country whose population, and music, has grown increasingly bilingual in the fifteen years since the Latin Grammys began, how much does language have to do with it? As far as the Latin Grammys are concerned, everything.
“For an album to be considered instrumental, it would need to be pure instrumental without vocals,” explained the spokesperson. “In the case of Unity, based on the instrumentation alone, it’s likely that it would have been submitted in the best salsa album category. However, Unity is not an instrumental album, so it would be inaccurate to ignore the lyrical content and vocal delivery of the recording as they are key components that make up Unity’s musicality.”
“Maybe they want to change the name to the Spanish Grammys,” huffs Succar.


https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/mi...te-album-producer-protests-not-172335442.html
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I saw it on Saturday (Oct 10. Ironic, this was the 23rd Anniversary of Dangerous Tour shown on HBO in 1992 on the same day and date). I loved the show. I cried as well. Miss you Michael. A man who was and is still LOVED.
 
I just watched it, and I was a little disappointed. Maybe I had hyped myself up for it too much. But I saved it, and I'm going to watch it again-and give it another shot. And this time I'll turn it up loud.

I was imagining BEING THERE though, and I think in person, it would have been really different. The audience seemed to be really loving it.
 
Unity Latin Tribute ?@UnityTribute

Tomorrow the Unity Concert Special will be available for download ! #iTunes #Amazon #GooglePlay #UnityPBS
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