NFAND Episode 19 - 123 Andrés, musician, children’s music artist and 2x Latin Grammy nominee

My dear Francisco Serrano, who is one of those people I consider a genius, calls me up a few weeks back to tell me I have to listen to the guy that his little daughter Isabel (3) is obsessed with. “She just can’t get enough of him.” Parents and love, love, love…I am not a mother, but I love enthusiastic parents.

So I went ahead and listened and tuned in for a few hours of Google video watching. Turns out that 123 Andrés (Andrés Salguero) has a Spanish/English music shtick, with substance, for kids and he’s etching a himself a respectable career. So much so that, for two consecutive years he’s been a Latin Grammy ® nominee for Best Children’s Album. Last year with his debut album ¡Uno, dos, tres Andrés! and this year with Arriba Abajo (Above Below).

123 Andrés is not a one-man band, Christina Sanabria, his wife, completes the power house team behind all the fanfare. The band expands and “shrinks” depending on the gig and though they themselves are Colombians, their other bandmates represent Latin America and the Caribbean in various forms.

The bilingual element in 123 Andrés is intentional, smart, and fun. He puts out vallenato, rock, cha-cha-cha, cumbia and much more. Andrés is a skilled music man with a doctorate degree and all. His mission is to educate and validate children. In this episode #19 Andres and I talk bilingualism, being Latino in the U.S., seeing children learn, parenting and a bunch of other stuff. We became friends.

During these times of such grotesque political behavior I search for things to hold on to and I think of the work Patricia Zárate and Danilo Pérez are doing with hundreds of children in Panama in the City of Knowledge; or the elegant campaign and action Paola Mendoza and Michael Skolnick are engaged in, in the U.S. with undocumented children to bring attention to immigration reform; and the commitment of Andres Salguero and Christina Sanabria to use music and language to educate children of all backgrounds on the wonder and beauty of the Latin American continent, it amazes and comforts me.

With people like them, the world is a better place.