After all, vocalist Rod Evans, whose tenure with band ended at the same time as Simper's, is being honored, in spite of controversy and a lawsuit around fraudulent use of the band name.
(Chinen) EDDIE PALMIERI Y LA PERFECTA/ and RAY BARRETTO (Tomorrow) Mr. Palmieri, salsa's pioneering pianist, leads a legacy version of the band that made his reputation; Mr. Barretto, the celebrated conga player, reunites with Fania All-Star vocalist Adalberto Santiago for his own salsa set.
All the principal vocalists turned in admirable efforts on Friday.
Miranda Lambert is up to the task on the title track, despite a strange, almost proggy solo from Tom Morello, and Zac Brown's faithful reading of "Bad Moon Rising" (of all the guest vocalists, he sounds the most like a young Fogerty) is also a standout.
Despite all the star vocalists gathered at Carnegie Hall on Sunday for Marilyn Horne's 70th birthday celebration, the concert opened on a somber note as Ms. Horne acknowledged the death of Carnegie's executive and artistic director, Robert Harth, 47, just two days earlier.
But what no one was expecting was Minaj's attack, in which she slammed all the male vocalists on this season of "American Idol" after dissing Velez.
After almost four glorious hours, the Orchestra close with Sun Ra's Space Is the Place, joined by all the vocalists, poet Anthony Joseph and Kinetika Bloco (a youth marching band founded by late Orchestra alumnus Mat Fox) for an ecstatic, majestic, cacophonic riot that continues even as the musicians file offstage, through the audience and out into the foyer.
They're not all big vocalists, but I'm just excited musically by what they do.
"It would take six months to organize a party because I had to track down all the vocalists and musicians and convince them to play.
