Los Afortunados - "Beny More"

(Abraham Rodriguez, Photo Credit: muratphoto)

In my personal opinion, Abraham Rodriguez is probably one of the most underrated rumba singers still alive. His great voice and skillful delivery make for a killer combination. He has sang with the best of the best and has more than held his own. He has sung duo with Puntilla, Totico, and Manuel "El Llanero" to name a few. He can sing in English just as easily as he can in Spanish. Check out his duo with Manuel on Los Afortunados unreleased tribute to, "El Beny".

Frankie Rodriguez

(Frank Colon, ?, Julito Collazo, Frankie Rodriguez, Steve Berrios, Photo Credit: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/)

The importance of Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorkino can't be overstated. They influenced countless musicians and more importantly (at least for me) rumberos. They were creating and recording ideas that had not yet been touched upon and their message was being heard loud and clear among rumberos in the city.

(check out: http://sentimientomanana.blogspot.com/2008/08/gfyenstill-going-strong.html for more Grupo info and goodies)

One of those Grupo standouts that is no longer here is the late Frankie Rodriguez. Frankie was a great singer of rumba and santo, and these examples can be heard to great extent on Grupo's first recording "Concepts in Unity", (at least his guiro singing).


In my opinion Frankie wasn't a polished singer like lets say, Eugenio "Totico" Arango or an Abraham Rodriguez, but what he lacked in tone he more than made up for in ibiono and all out raw delivery. When you hear Frank sing you know he is definitely singing from the heart. This is one of the main reasons why I gravitated to his style when I first heard him on Grupo's stuff.

(Tony Jimenez, Pablito Rosario, Frankie Rodriguez, Photo Credit: Pablito Rosario)

Frankie at some point is playing with Julito Collazo y su Tambor. He plays conga with Ismael Miranda's group, Revelacion. Frankie then goes to Puerto Rico where he helps form "Zaperoko" along with the late Penalty and Edwin "Zaperoko" Feliciano. This early group featured Frank on vocals along with, Edwin Feliciano on Trombone, John "Penalty" Oliva on congas, William Cepeda on trombone, Ray Concepcion (on piano I believe), among others. This group definitely had swing, click on the album below to download their rare out of print LP, "Cosa de Locos" on the Montuno Records Label.

Frankie sang in Jerry's early Fort Apache recordings and he sings a great rumba on, "El Rio Esta Hondo", on Fort Apache's "Obatala" recording.

Sadly, that is really all the info I have on Frankie Rodriguez for now, if and when I get more, I will definitely put it out there. In the meantime enjoy this little video clip, with a young Giovanni Hidalgo on congas, and Frankie on vocals tearing it up.

("Zaperokero", Video Credit: 1zaperoko)

*thanks to Jorge Ginorio for identifying the okonkolero in the first pic

La Rumba No Es Como Ayer - Blogsite

At work this morning (yeah I know) I was updating info on my blog and checking out Barry's excellent blog (Vamos a Guarachar!), as I usually do at least a couple of times a week. Every couple of days or so he will have some great info and rare music to download. I was very happy to read the blog this particular morning because he has a link to a great new blog called "La Rumba No Es Como Ayer". Barry and his partner in crime Patricio are compiling info on rumberos/rumberas/groups and putting it all on one site for the masses. This is great news, especially since something like this is right down my alley. Hopefully with what Barry and Patricio are doing on their side, what Tony is doing on his end, what Mark is doing in his corner, and what I am doing in my nook, we will be able to cover what needs to be covered. Enjoy!!!

(Virulilla, Photo Credit: Unknown)

Also check out this great interview w/ Ned Sublette and Ivor Miller (Voice of the Leopard):

http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/116/

I got this song off of Barry's site: (For all that want to know what "Sentimiento Manana" means, I'll let Miguel Angel Aspirina explain)