Saturday Night in Washington Heights: SummerStage presents Jose Peña Suazo y La Banda Gorda at Highbridge Park

(Video courtesy JulioGraphHD)

Thursday Night in Washington Heights: SummerStage presents Henry Santos at Highbridge Park

We were busy at work and so were really late for the SummerStage bachata show with K Rose and Grupo 24 Horas in Washington Heights' Highbridge Park.  And then we compounded our lateness by stupidly missing the 168th St stop, so we had to walk all the way down from 181st Street.  We figured we'd missed everything, but we were just at the stage finally when, surprise, Henry Santos was introduced!  Yesterday's show had been canceled due to the downpour, and Henry came back tonight for what proved to be the best concert and free party we went to all summer.

Catherine Fonseca, a really talented photographer, took the photo above of Henry Santos at the show, and she has a whole collection of excellent pics at Fonseca Fotography's Facebook page. On the other hand, our pics with a dumb old cell phone look like this and the remaining ones here:

This show, like most of the Latin music shows we've seen here at Highbridge Park and St. Mary's Park in the South Bronx, was presented in association with Globe Star Media and La Mega 97.9.

Here's what SummerStage said about tonight's dynamite performer in the program notes from last night's postponed show:

Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Henry Santos has helped the bachata group, Aventura achieve phenomenal international success as a singer and composer. His compositions have secured Aventura as one of the most recognizable names in bachata music worldwide, catering to young Latinos in the US as well as audiences across Europe and Latin America. His hybrid “bachata with R&B, hip-hop and big-city attitude” sound has created a “juggernaut,” according to The New York Times. With a successful track record with Aventura, Santos solo debut is highly anticipated by numerous fans.

Each number, to us, seemed better than the next, and the crowd -- especially some teenage girls in front of us -- was extremely enthusiastic. And a lost little kid was brought up on stage and reunited with his family. It was a terrific night, and we walked out of Highbridge Park onto Amsterdam Avenue along with the excited departing crowd, a few of whom were singing a little. We feel lucky we got to see Henry Santos tonight. Here is at last week's Antilliaanse Feesten Hoogstraten 2012 2012, the world's largest Caribbean festival, in Belgium:

Tuesday Night in Washington Heights: SummerStage presents Bachata Heightz at Highbridge Park

We had a fun night at Highbridge Park in Washington Heights seeing the neighborhood natives Bachata Heightz perform their incredibly soulful urban/fusion take on classic Dominican bachata before a packed crowd of fans who gave the group a lot of love.

The concert, like the great 8 y Más and Lavoe All Stars show we saw in the South Bronx last month, was presented by SummerStage in association with Globe Star Media and La Mega 97.9.

We took the L and then the A train to 168th Street and then walked to Highbridge Park where the stage was just off Amsterdam Avenue around 174th Street.

We arrived around 7:30 p.m. when the DJs were starting things off onstage and there were announcements of this week's other shows here: Henry Santos tomorrow and Andy Andy on Thursday.

Bachata Heightz came on around 7:45 p.m. we think, and the crowd was pretty stoked. The band's five members -- Jerry Garcia, Jonathan Garcia, Jeffrey Cruz, Aneudy Hernandez and Diego Capellan -- all related, formed Bachata Heightz to explore their musical interests while staying off the streets.

Tonight they played lots of great music, including some of their most resonant songs from the group's debut album, The First such as "No Sabes Del Amor" and the gorgeous "Te Busco."

And of course they played "Me Puedo Matar" their recording debut with Hector Acosta.

It was a nice cool night in the park, with lots of kids playing with glowing, flying toys as it got dark. (It's getting dark so much earlier now than at the SummerStage shows back in June.)

Highbridge Park has some really wonderful sights, including its namesak New York's oldest bridge over the Harlem River.

Me gusta "Yo Soy El Mejor."

The band will be going on tour in Europe soon, El Poder de tu Musica reports. They also write,

La banda, conformada por Jeffrey Cruz (vocalista), Jerry García (cantante principal), Johnathan García (primera guitarra), Diego Capellán (bajo) y Aneudy Hernández (vocalista), hacen parte de esa estirpe de nuevos intérpretes que mezclan la bachata con el hip hop, r & b y rock.

También a su estilo se suma las vivencias en las calles de Nueva York y las influencias de su crianza latina (sus padres nacieron en la República Dominicana).

Lo que más sorprende de esta banda es que sin ningún apoyo discográfico lograron el éxito y en poco tiempo ya estaban viajando por Europa y Centroamérica.

Jerry García, el líder del grupo, declaró que el proceso de consolidación de Bachata Heightz ha ido de menos a más. “Todo se lo debemos a Internet y a los fans que nos siguen en todas partes. Somos un grupo bendecido por Dios. Lo que empezó como una banda conformada por amigos y familiares con el tiempo se ha convertido en nuestra vida, en nuestro trabajo, en nuestro sueño”.

It was especially delightful to see the amazing 12yo bass player Andrés Bass play with them toward the end.

Somos agradecidos nosotros estábamos en Highbridge Park esta noche a escuchar Bachata Heightz, cinco talentosos jóvenes nacidos y criados en Washington Heights.