Cheo Feliciano – Vintage Salsa From a Suave Crooner and Percussive Rhymer From: nytimes.com

Cheo Feliciano, a singer who helped define salsa’s golden age, celebrated what he cheerfully called “the first 50 years” of his career at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, joined by collaborators and admirers.

Mr. Feliciano, who turns 73 on July 3, is still a formidable singer at any speed. His baritone voice sounds richly assured, even when he sings, as he often does, about the pains of love. Backed with the rumbas and guaguancós of salsa dura (hard salsa), he is a sonero who volleys percussive syllables and improvised rhymes over the beat. Easing the tempo back to bolero, he is an equally skillful romantic crooner steeped in Latin ballads, with a touch of Sinatra, who’s suave yet still rhythmically unpredictable. Guests joined Mr. Feliciano for duets, some improvising their own rhymes of praise for him. None outsang him.”*

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