Andy Garcia is a golden god.

First, I'd like to apologize for waiting over 24 hours to post, but once you hear my excuse, I'm sure you will forgive me. This is Kikita and peer pressure still works on me. :-)

A few days ago, I received and email from our blogging buddy Ziva (from Blog for Cuba - a wonderful blog and an amazing woman, but that's not important right now). As it turns out, she had an extra ticket to go see . . . drumroll please . . . ANDY GARCIA & THE CINESON ALL STARS!!

Yes, our beloved Andy does more than just act! (Speaking of his acting, he's going to be in the new Pink Panther which is reason enough to see it, but that too is not important right now)

I was honored (that she would invite me) and excited beyond all reason. When it was the DAY OF, Mami called and asked if I would stop by the house on my way to Hollywood, she had something she wanted me to take . . .

I admit, I was worried Mami was going to give me a signed cookbook that I would have to give to Andy, but that was not it at all.

You see, her camera is broken and the only camera I have is the one from my phone . . . which does not take the best quality pictures. Mami knew I was embarking on a momentous adventure, that this was a big moment in my life (as it would be in anyone's) and all I had to document it was my silly little camera phone . . . so she had gone out and bought a new camera! Not a big and intense and serious one like hers, just a cute little digital thing, but Olympus nonetheless.

Which was perfect!

Yes, it was a dark, jazz club, but I still got pictures thanks to Mami's new camera.

Ok, Andy really is a golden god. He played the bongos, the cowbell, the harmonica, the piano . . . he sang, he danced . . . and all with an ecstatic expression on his face. He introduced every song and he knew it's history. It was great! Being the good Cubana I am, I recognized every song and then had a higher appreciation for each one after getting a history lesson from Andy.

They opened with "Descarga Cachao" in honor to the great musician who is not longer with us.

They did "Lagrimas Negras." They did . . . everything! Danzon, Rumba, Mambo. All the classics.

He was FUNNY too! He sat down at the piano and said, "I'd like to play a song I wrote for a little movie I did called 'The Lost City'" HA! Little? Que humilidad! :-)

This is so hard to blog about because I don't have the words to say what an amazing and fun experience this was.

The two things that I took away from it were:

1. I think Andy is really a musician who acts. (Instead of an actor who plays music.)

2. I LOVE BEING CUBAN! I LOVE CUBAN MUSIC.

And let me just take a moment to tell you about the company I was in . . .

Henry Agueros and Ziva Sahl. I got there a bit late (the traffic took me 2 & 1/2 hours this time - and yes, I took the 405), but when I arrived they caught me up on the conversation. We discussed Cuban music, Cubans today, Cuban politics, Cuban music, Cuban food (Henry actually asked if I was any good at cooking with such a famous cooking mom - "Claro que si!"). I felt so cool having real conversation with such intelligent and passionate people.

(Hey you two! If you ever need a third, I'm in! And Ziva, THANK YOU SO MUCH!)

After dinner as the music started, you know I couldn't sit still, so I was up and out of my sit and dancing in no time . . . meanwhile, I was trying to take pictures for Mami to see what she had missed. Then I did something REALLY cool because Andy was doing something really cool . . .

He did a tribute to Celia! And what a tribute!