Michael Jackson is alive.  Everyone who listened to his music, bought his albums, mimicked his dance moves and felt his message has made sure of that.  Tony Succar is a composer, performer and producer here in Miami who started a project called Unity, a Latin Tribute to the King of Pop.  At TEDxFIU we witnessed this amazing fusion of MJs original music with Tony’s signature latin composition.

“We did this to prove to the world how important Michael is to all of us. Not only his music but his message of unity. I am Peruvian but grew up here and when people ask where I’m from, I say from all over the place.  We are here for one reason, to unite, ” said Tony.

Tony’s Unity Project Band performed two iconic songs at TEDxFIU, Billie Jean and Black & White.  Between performances, Tony reminded us what happens with the fusion of instruments and music influences.

“We have the timbales, the conga and the mambo which come from Afro-Cuba, this all comes from Sub-Saharan Africa, just like the African American electric guitar, this is the soul and funk which Michael was a part of as well … so this is what happens when you fuse the different instruments and music together, that is the beauty of life, fusing different backgrounds from different places.”

We are working on the final produced TEDxFIU video of his performance, in the meantime check out this short clip of the rehearsal: