LEHMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS and
GOYA FOODS presents
THE LATINO CONCERT SERIES
Celebrating over 30 Years of Freestyle Music with 13 Groups!
FOREVER FREESTYLE 12
Featuring TKA, Judy Torres, C-Bank, Cynthia, Coro,
Cover Girls, Johnny O, Lisette Melendez, David Nice N Wild,
Sweet Sensation, Pretty Poison, Soave, Soul Sonic Force.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and Goya Foods in association with SAL ABBATIELLO of Fever Records presents for the twelfth year in a row the Latin-flavored Dance Music Sensation, with FOREVER FREESTYLE 12 on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 at 8pm. To Latino teenagers in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Freestyle, a hybrid of Hip Hop and disco, was known simply as “Our Music.” Returning to Lehman Center for the twelfth year in a row, the concert will feature performances by 13 groups: TKA “Maria”, JUDY TORRES “No Reason To Cry”, C-BANK “One More Shot“, CYNTHIA “Change On Me”, CORO “Where Are You Tonight”, COVER GIRLS “Show Me”, JOHNNY O “Memories”, LISETTE MELENDEZ “Together Forever”, DAVID NICE N WILD “Diamond Girl”, SWEET SENSATION “I’m Hooked On You”, PRETTY POISON “Catch Me I’m Falling”, SOAVE “Crying Over You”, and SOUL SONIC FORCE “Planet Rock”. Hosted by SAL ABBATIELLO & SPEEDY. Music by DJ LUCHO & DJ SOLO. Produced by Lehman Center and Sal Abbatiello....
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LEHMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS and
GOYA FOODS presents
THE LATINO CONCERT SERIES
Celebrating over 30 Years of Freestyle Music with 13 Groups!
FOREVER FREESTYLE 12
Featuring TKA, Judy Torres, C-Bank, Cynthia, Coro,
Cover Girls, Johnny O, Lisette Melendez, David Nice N Wild,
Sweet Sensation, Pretty Poison, Soave, Soul Sonic Force.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts and Goya Foods in association with SAL ABBATIELLO of Fever Records presents for the twelfth year in a row the Latin-flavored Dance Music Sensation, with FOREVER FREESTYLE 12 on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 at 8pm. To Latino teenagers in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Freestyle, a hybrid of Hip Hop and disco, was known simply as “Our Music.” Returning to Lehman Center for the twelfth year in a row, the concert will feature performances by 13 groups: TKA “Maria”, JUDY TORRES “No Reason To Cry”, C-BANK “One More Shot“, CYNTHIA “Change On Me”, CORO “Where Are You Tonight”, COVER GIRLS “Show Me”, JOHNNY O “Memories”, LISETTE MELENDEZ “Together Forever”, DAVID NICE N WILD “Diamond Girl”, SWEET SENSATION “I’m Hooked On You”, PRETTY POISON “Catch Me I’m Falling”, SOAVE “Crying Over You”, and SOUL SONIC FORCE “Planet Rock”. Hosted by SAL ABBATIELLO & SPEEDY. Music by DJ LUCHO & DJ SOLO. Produced by Lehman Center and Sal Abbatiello.
SAL ABBATIELLO, one of the pioneers of Hip Hop, discovered many rappers and DJs such as Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and Run-D.M.C. at the legendary night club Disco Fever. Abbatiello’s Bronx Latin dance club, The Devils Nest, is where Latin Hip Hop was born and is now called Freestyle. There he discovered Little Louie Vega, TKA, The Cover Girls, Lisette Melendez and many more. Abbatiello’s record label Fever Records is credited with releasing the first Freestyle recording in 1984, Nayobe’s “Please Don’t Go”. He is now known as the “Godfather of Freestyle” and has been promoting Freestyle concerts for over 30 years.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for FOREVER FREESTYLE 12 on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 at 8pm are $100, $65, $60, and $55 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718-960-8833 (Monday through Thursday, 10am–5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.
TKA is a Latin-influenced Spanish Harlem hip-hop group that garnered success in the early ‘90s with their hit “Come Baby Come.” Other hits include “Maria” (1982), “One Way Love” and “Tears May Fall” (1987), “You Are The One” (1989) and “Louder Than Love.” Led by K7 (Louis “Kayel” Sharpe), the former lead vocalist of the Freestyle super-group TKA, TKA/K7 also features Tre Duece and LOS.
JUDY TORRES, known as the “Queen of Freestyle,” was discovered at age 18 in her hometown of the Bronx and quickly became a star with such hits as “No Reason to Cry” (1986) and “Come Into My Arms” (1987). Her second album produced the hit single “I Love You for All Seasons.” In late 2005, she released popular hit cover of a song by the band Journey titled “Faithfully.” Her most recent release is 2010’s MP3 album Stay.
C-BANK, an electric studio project by musician, composer, production and remix legend John Robie was led by vocalist Jenny Burton, is best known for their 1983 hit “One More Shot”.
CYNTHIA hails from New York City’s Spanish Harlem and started singing at age sixteen in a group with Safire. Her first album Cynthia (1989) featured the hit singles “Change On Me,” “Endless Nights” and “Thief of Hearts.” A year later Cynthia II was released which included the hit songs “Break Up To Make Up,” “Love Me Tonight” and the hit duet with Johnny O, “Dream Boy/Dream Girl” that reached #53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
CORO got his start in the entertainment business playing numerous roles in TV shows such as Miami Vice. He went on to work with pop artist, Stevie B. In 1998, Coro got his big break with the song “Where Are You Tonight,” a huge hit in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., reaching Top-25 on Billboard's Club Chart, and #1 on DMA's Dance Chart. He is also known for his hit dance songs “Can’t Let You Go” (1990) and “My Fallen Angel” (1991).
COVER GIRLS were formed by Sal Abbatiello, the Fever music promoter and owner of the famed club Disco Fever, after an extensive talent search. Both glamorous and talented, they lit up the domestic and international charts with their first single “Show Me,” followed by “Because of You” and “Wishing on a Star.” Other major hits include “My Heart Skips a Beat” and “We Can’t Go Wrong.” Originally from the Bronx, the group released four albums, selling over 3 million records, with 11 charted singles in a row on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
JOHNNY O (Juan Ortiz) was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and is of Cuban/Puerto Rican Descent. His debut 1988 album, the self-titled Johnny O, featured the famous Freestyle song “Fantasy Girl” as well as the hits “Memories” and “Highways of Love.” 1990 saw his hit duet with Cynthia, “Dream Boy/Dream Girl,” and in 1993 his single “Runaway Love” made it to #4 on the Billboard Dance chart and to #87 on the Hot 100.
LISETTE MELENDEZ grew up in East Harlem and in high school formed her first singing group, which led to her discovery by producer Carlos Berrios. Her Fever Records debut, A Day in My Life, made the Hot 100 Album chart and had two Hot 100 singles, including “Together Forever” and "A Day in My Life Without You.”
DAVID NICE N WILD rose to freestyle fame with the release of their single “Diamond Girl” in 1986. Band members included David Torres, Reggie Pierre, and Remy Palacios. In 1987, they released two additional singles on Atlantic Records, “Obsession” and “Oh Baby” as well as the album Energy, Love and Unity.
SWEET SENSATION is a trio from the Bronx that included Betty “Dee” LeBron and sisters Maggie and Mari Fernandez. Sweet Sensation was one of the biggest groups in the Freestyle genre. The ladies skyrocketed to fame with their 1986 club smash “Hooked On You,” which was rereleased in 1988 on their album Take It While It’s Hot that also included the hits “Victim of Love,” “Never Let You Go” and “Sincerely Yours.” In 1989, Mari left the group and was replaced by Sheila Vega. Their 1990 album Love Child included the ballad “If Wishes Came True,” which reached #1 on Billboard Hot 100.
PRETTY POISON is an American dance music group based out of Philadelphia, PA. that consisted of Jade Starling (lead vocals), Whey Cooler (keyboards and guitar), and Kaya Pryor (percussion). Their fourth single “Nighttime” charted at #14 on the Billboard Dance Club Chart in 1984. Their 1987 hit “Catch Me I’m Falling” was featured in the Jon Cryer movie Hiding Out and went to #1 on the Dance Club Chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
SOAVE, who was born Jeffery Martinez in 1968 in Jersey City, NJ of Puerto Rican descent, is best known for his smash Freestyle classic “Crying Over You.” His follow-up hits included “If You Want Me,” “Don't Look Back” and “Where Did We Go Wrong?”
SOUL SONIC FORCE is an American electro-funk and early hip-hop group led by Afrika Bambaataa and are known for the songs “Planet Rock” (1982), “Looking for the Perfect Beat” (1983), and “Renegades of Funk” (1984).
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council. The 2018 Winter/Spring Season is made possible by Goya Foods, Con Edison, TD Bank, the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, the Rudin Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, and the friends of Lehman Center.
For high resolution photos, click these links:
TKA - http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/tkak7/
Judy Torres - http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/judy-torres-2017/
Cynthia - http://lehmancenter.org/th_gallery/cynthia2017/
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