Andy Garcia

Israel "Cachao" Lopez, the Cuban bassist and composer who is credited with pioneering the mambo style of music, died Saturday at a Miami-area hospital. He was 89. Known simply as Cachao, the Grammy-winning musician had fallen ill last week and died surrounded by family members at Coral Gables Hospital, spokesman Nelson Albareda said. Cuban American actor Andy Garcia, who made a 1993 documentary about the bassist's career, credited Cachao with being a major influence in Cuban musical history and said his passing marked the end of an era. "Cachao is our musical father.

DogFIGHTS and Mexican tough guys worked great together in the hard-boiled drama "Amores Perros" a few years ago. Now Disney is using those elements plus several more family-friendly ones in its new release, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Will the combination make viewers sit up and beg for more? Andy Garcia, George Lopez and Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo sat down recently to talk about making the dramatic comedy, which opened Friday.

LIKE a lot of proud fathers, actor Andy Garcia keeps a drawing made by his daughter, Dominik, pinned to the wall behind his busy desk. It's a sketch of Havana's iconic sea wall, with a billowy blue sea splashing below the city's historic skyline. The precocious painter, a Valley girl by birth, had never been to Havana, but she knew how much the city meant to her father.

There's a good reason why actors are drawn to playing artists -- many famous painters and sculptors have led tortured, troubled lives.

I've decided not to shave, just like the time-honored tradition the players follow, until the Kings are eliminated from the playoffs or carry the Stanley Cup above their heads. This is going to cause problems with the wife, who says she won't kiss me unless I shave, but I know this, if Andy Garcia had a full beard and was willing to make out, she wouldn't be around to kiss me anyway. NOW WITH so much riding on every playoff game--my neck is already beginning to itch--I went to the Kings' morning skate Thursday at the Pepsi Center and talked puck with Jason Allison, our best player.

The floating Andy Warhol party moved to Beverly Hills on Thursday night, where bright, scrawling images covered the otherwise blank walls of the overcrowded Gagosian Gallery. Few guests seemed to notice the art. There was hardly room to move, let alone scrutinize the paintings, and the place was filled with a thousand conversations and the scent of white wine. "You like the paintings?" one man asked his companion. "What I can see of them," came the answer.

About six years ago, a quartet of America's most acclaimed Latino actors converged on a Studio City deli. "It was very funny; it looked like a Mafia meeting," said director Marcos Zurinaga, who was also there. "Everybody looked at us like, 'What's going on? These Latins are getting together. Oh-oh. Scary.' " For nearly five hours, Raul Julia, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia and Ruben Blades tossed around movie ideas with Puerto Rican director Zurinaga.