Palo Dominicano

(Ilu Aye playing Palo at La Pregunta, Video Credit: Nicky Laboy)

El baile que no termina...

(Los Afortunados at El Vacilon, Susan Sanabria - yemaya, Gene Golden- okonkolo, Felix Sanabria- iya, Brandon Rosser- itotele, Photo Credit: Susan Sanabria)

In Afro Cuban music, you cannot separate music and dance. Dance makes up an important third of the Song, Drum, Dance, triumvirate. Dancers such as Susan Sanabria, Pupy Insua, Rosalia Gamboa, Xiomara Rodriguez, have played a major role in keeping the traditions alive and well in NYC. I want to start highlighting a bit of the history behind several of the dancers that make up the NY scene. Hopefully I will be back with more info soon...

More info regarding a rare Yoruba Andabo recording...

If you are a regular "Sentimiento" follower than you are probably already checking out "Vamos a Guarachar", Barry Cox's site who has been doing this kind of thing for sometime now. Barry's site includes alot of rare information and even rarer music downloads like the aforementioned "Cajones Bullangueros" recording that you can still get off of his site I believe.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

The Story of "Cajones Bullangueros"

(Versión en español aquí.)

My very first post when I started this blog was a link to some recordings by Yoruba Andabo I call "Cajones Bullangueros." A friend gave me a cassette copy of the recordings a few years earlier and it quickly became one of my favorite rumba records.

I digitized the tape, put the tracks on a CD and designed a little cover, calling the whole thing "Cajones Bullangueros," which I thought was an apt title, considering the instrumentation used and the inclusion of a standout track by that name. (Most of the other songs were later released (in different versions) on their classic "El callejón de los rumberos.")

(you want to read the rest, click here)

Vintage Los Afortunados

This was posted to Facebook by Susan Richardson-Sanabria's, Felix's wife. It is a great group pic and she even included some names. Wanted to share this piece of history with everyone.

(Photo Credit: Susan Richardson-Sanabria)

Per Susan:

Uh oh, I don't think I can name everyone in this picture. Los Afortunados and guest artists performed in Great Barrington, MA. Kneeling - Abe (Rodriguez), Pupi (Insua) and producer/ standing - Evelyn (Smart), Gina (Iyaleo), Felix (Sanabria), Carlos, Anita, Rita, Eddie, Xiomara, Susan (Sanabria)/ back row - Michael (Sotolongo), Victor (Jaraslov), musician, Orlando, trumpet, musician, Manuel. I tried with the names.