Somehow whenever I hear I am going to play in Puerto Rico I get very excited. It has been cold here in NY and I was looking forward to some sun and surf and good music. I needed that injection of Sun and Salsa to cure a chest cold and this coming winter's blues. My E-ticket was for American Airlines at Kennedy airport at for a 7am departure. So I went to sleep early to awake at 4am , to get my car service at 5 am. I spoke to Junior Gonzalez at 11pm and he assured me he would be at the airport at 5:30 am. My car service did not show on time, so I hailed a gypsy cab. I arrived at 5;30 and went to pick up my e-ticket. I had the locator number and the flight attendant told me that the ticket was NOT paid for. I inquired about Junior's ticket and the news was the same . Soooooo out came the cell phone waking up Leo Tisol's wife in NY to find him in San Juan. After 5 calls backand forth Leo swore he had paid by credit card the ticket the day before. I was not going to miss this flight , which was already delayed a half hour.

I went back on line and finally paid for the ticket with MY credit card..still no Junior to be found. I waited until 7am and called Leo again telling him I am sure that Junior had NO credit card and for him to make arrangements for another flight. I had to be in San Juan for some important meetings as well as rehearse the band that was playing for us. I went to the gate to be greeted by Filipe Luciano and Tito Nieves , who were also on he same flight to the island. We chatted about the demise of Pete Conde Rodriguez .After a 3:45 min flight with 2 babies crying all the way , I arrived in San Juan to be greeted by Leo Tisol and his assistant Juan. We went to the Colonial Hotel in Isla Verde where I checked in . My new Cell Phone did NOT work in Puerto Rico so I ran up a very high Long Distance bill for the 3 days.

The rehearsal was called for 5pm with a 4 pm PU. Of course no one was there when I arrived and the San Juan Chateau had No air turned on.. After an hour of doing nothing the musicians started to arrive. Only a rhythm section and One Trumpet made it to the rehearsal 6 out of 13. With of course NO JUNIOR, who was arriving at 2 am. Sooooooooooo I had to sing all the melodies and run the rehearsal alone. I tried to make it as fast as possible. The musicians in PR are great players and of course the knew all of my hit songs. My friend Sam Santiago from NY together with Luis Maurent and Yvonne Meyers picked me up and took me for dinner in Carolina. The was a Christmas Festival going on and thousands of people having a ball to great Latin Acts on this big stage n the Plaza. We went to a wonderful seafood restaurant and ate for 2 hours. After we got back to my hotel a received a call from Conde's son saying that all the Fania greats are eating at the Normandy Hotel and would I like to join them for desert. So back in the car to the Normandy.

Pete's wife, Francis was depressed and she was being comforted by Cita and Little Pete.. There was Mr and Mrs Johnny Pacheco, Mr and Mrs Papo Lucca, Mr and Mrs. Bobby Valentin, Miranda, Cheo, and cousins and nephews of Pete Rodriguez. He had been cremated the day before and Francis was to take his ashes to NY Friday morning. We all tried to tell great stories of Conde to cheer Francis and ourselves up.

The next morning I met with my lawyers to discuss the upcoming Hommy 2001 concert in San Juan .. Many changes will be taking place in the Opera. Also the is a chance to do it at Radio City Music Hall in NY in the next few months. I went to the beach for a few hours and tried to relax a little. Joe Cuba arrived with his crew from NY and had rehearsals also. Junior awoke hungry and I had lunch with him and Joe Cuba. Now it was time for my meeting with Beatrice Rodriguez, from BEA Promocciones.and Vanessa Matos. She had a concert with the Whalers Sat evening and wants to bring Sofrito to the island for 2 weeks. The meeting lasted 2 hours.. I changed for my show and waited for my ride to the San Juan Chateau. playing with me were Roberto Roena , Tommy Olivencia and Joe Cuba.. A really Good lineup. There was a large crowd wheb I arrived to the Cutty Stark scotch sponsored event. All these beautiful young ladies dressed in Cutty Green... I was supposed to play at 12 midnight by in reality started at 2am....The band and Junior sounded great and we played wonderfully, even though I played on a small piano.. The crowd was very receptive.. I returned to the hotel at 4 am.