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A Musical Moment of Zen From The Latin Grammys: Flor de Toloache And Danay Suarez Jam

The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas is ground zero for Latin Grammy action. Most of the artists are staying here, so the elevator lobbies are jammed with people waiting for a glimpse and a selfie with their favorite pop stars.

I had an Alt.Latino version of a star sighting when I ran into both Cuban vocalist Danay Suarez and members of the band Flor de Toloache in the massive MGM Grand main lobby.

While they have shared space on NPR airwaves as recently as last Sunday, they had never met. Hugs, hellos and felicidades spread quickly as they compared notes between Suarez's first Latin Grammy experience and the mariachi band's second visit. Vocalist Shae Fiol had some sage advice for Suarez: "Eat and sleep when you can! You won't get much of either this week! And definitely wear comfortable shoes!"

Then something magical happened: While doing a Facebook Live interview with NBC Latino's Marisa Arbona-Ruiz (who is also an Alt.Latino contributor), all five of them broke into a spontaneous collaboration right there in the lobby!

The music fan in me can only hope that this sparked something that will land them all in a recording studio together one day.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.