The living sauce, the feature film that tells the trip of this rhythm to Cali, from its origins, was presented in Carnegie Hall of New York

A news has excited the caleños these days, and especially the lovers of the sauce, after passing through the South By Southwest Festival of Austin, Texas, and to conquer in other representative spaces of the world of cinema, such as the Seattle, in Washington, and the San Diego Festival, in California, this week arrived at the Carnegie Hall Theater, New York ‘The lives lives’.

The production tells the history of the Latin rhythm that continues to conquer millions of hearts in the world and that became one of the largest symbols of the identity of the caleños, the sauce.

The film, which was directed by Juan Carvajal, appeared on Wednesday in the framework of the Our Sounds Music Festival, which in this version paid tribute to the Latin musical heritage. From there, the Secretary of Tourism and Economic Development of Cali, Mabel Lara, spoke about what meant taking the Caleña essence to the North American country, through an audiovisual.

“This is a documentary that pays tribute to the caleños salsa, but especially to our city. For us, this may be the most important audiovisual document of the generation, because it collects the history of artists and orchestras who have made Cali the permanent scenario of their careers: Rubén Blades, Henry Fiol, Celia Cruz … many more,” he said.

And, from birth in the neighborhoods of New York to its consecration as a cultural emblem in Cali, ‘Salsa lives’ recounts how this musical genre continues to transform lives and became a bridge between two worlds.

“I decided to tell the history of two cities; New York City, which saw the sauce, and the city of Cali, which keeps it alive through a unique ecosystem. That is the genesis of this story,” said Carvajal, after the cheerful announcement of the participation of the film in several scenarios of the world.

He, who has been living in the “Great Manzana” for years, being director of the Colombian Film Festival New York, knew the one who is considered one of the salsa legends of all time, the pianist Larry Harlow, who died during the Covid pandemic.

Of conversations sustained with Harlow, the nostalgia that produced his departure and the love that he has always felt for Cali and the sauce, the idea of ​​the documentary whose production took two years and that will soon reach national film screens was born.

It should be said that while a Colombian delegation prelude to this iconic production in New York, great renowned artists, who participated in production, also echoed their relationship with Cali and the importance of this audiovisual document.

One of them was singer Henry Fiol, the voice behind hymns like ‘Zúmbale’, ‘Changuería’ and ‘Charity’, for whom the highlight of this work is the recognition given to Cali as the world capital of salsa.

“Although in other cities the sauce has lost popularity, over the years, in Cali the opposite occurs: it remains alive, strong, even grows with more clubs, old libraries, more orchestras. A space that brings together all who are part of the industry, with the fair, and that does not have the same,” he said.

Another of them, Rubén Blades, acknowledges that Cali has been fundamental so that salsa as he have an extensive career, pointing out the uniqueness of what he considers a unique phenomenon: the appropriation of gender in the identity of people. “Musically, it is not just a form of fun, the caleños have incorporated the sauce as a way of living: that is priceless. It enriches music, their lives and they enrich the sauce, because they keep it latent and give it future teaching the little ones.”

Juan Carvajal narrated how the creative and production process was: “Like all caleños, I grew up listening to this music,” and in the 80s, when he arrived in New York, he met his origins. It was because of that experience that he decided to tell a story in parallel of two capitals crossed by sound. “In one was born the sauce, and in the other it remains alive.”

He also said that living legends such as Willy Rosario, Fiol or Blades did not hesitate to be part of the project.

“The teacher Blades has a song called ‘The streets’, and in it compares these spaces with pages, because in them the history of the people is written, so I wrote to ask him to let us use it. He had not spent an hour and had already answered me:’ Of course … ” Thus all these heavyweights were added,” he explained.

However, Carvajal was emphatic in saying that the genre has not died, but that “he lives powerful in every street of Cali. Perhaps there is a youth that ignores details of his history, but they are in love with the sauce and interested in learning more from the cultural movement to understand why now artists of other genres are willing to compose new music and pay tribute to their salsa roots, as Bad Bad Badny recently did.”

Finally, he thanked the reception: “It has been incredible to meet fans of salsa, from other parts of the world, who never heard of Cali and discover amazes that there is an entire city that vibrates to the rhythm of the music they love.”