La rumba no termina...

This is what's it's all about folks. I don't like to say too much when a simple video can explain it better. Real rumba, Nicky, Felix, Angel on quinto among others...

Tribute to GENE GOLDEN, just a little snippet.

(BERTA JOTTAR VIDEO)

Rumba en Camaradas, with Caja Dura

(Video Credit: JUNES05)



(Video Credit: JUNES05)

Anya Ade / Susan Sanabria

Anya Ade plays bata for Obatala at the 12th Annual Conference of the Egbe Omo Obatala. Susan Sanabria dances for Obatala. On stage left to right: Amma, Oloriwa, Olu Dare, Jonathan, Emery, Oluo Felix, Nicky & Bembecito.



(Video Credit: Nicky Laboy)

Ta Ta - Caja Dura

More youtube clips courtesy of ARGpercussion:

Jose Rivera on guagua
Pete Conga on tumba
Nicky Laboy on tres dos
Apache on quinto
Abi Holiday on chekere
Max Valdez, coro
Barry Cox, coro
Papote, lead vocals

Anya Ade @ The Obatala Conference

I forgot to mention that these videos are from Nicky Laboy's youtube page.

More Caja Dura...

(Caja Dura: Maximo Valdez-Lead Vocals, Barry & Papote-coro, Pete Conga-tres dos, Niko Laboy-tumbador, Abi Holliday-quinto, ?-guagua, Video Credit: RobetoSuave)

CAJA DURA

(Caja Dura - Abi Holliday, Jose "Apache" Rivera, Papote Jimenez, Max Valdez, Barry Cox, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

Rumba is spontaneity, it is not planned, it is not over analyzed and formalized, if it happens it happens, and if it doesn't, well you know...If the right people show up, and the mood is right then you can have a great rumba. So this is the constant ebb and flow in which the rumba exists, and if you love the art form you will have attended your share of bad rumbas, and good rumbas, such is life.

Every once in a while a group of rumberos get together and formally organize into a group with the purpose of playing together and learning from each other, a la "Ilu Aye", "Los Afortunados", "Quinto Mayor", "Los Inolvidables", "Los Rumbero All Stars, etc... If the group is composed of the right players than there is no question as to whether the rumba will be good, because you know it will.

It looks like "Caja Dura" is going to be no exception. They have been holding court at Camaradas as part of a cigar/rumba night on Tuesday's. Let's meet the members shall we?

(Abidoaye Holliday, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

Son of the late great Ted Holliday Sr, and brother to Teddy Holliday Jr, Abi has been playing bata and percussion for quite some time now. He is considered by some as one of the best cajeros in all of the States, and has played with numerous groups such as "Los Afortunados", Totico's Anya crew, I believe he has also played with Coyude among others.

(Apache, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

Jose "Apache" Rivera is known as one of the best craftsman of cajones and shekeres around. Those in the know, know that you can't beat an Apache cajon, and if you've heard Apache play one of his famous cajones at a bembe, than you know that the man is not only original but downright nasty at what he does. I've asked around as to how his alias came about, but no one has been able to tell me, maybe one day we'll find out.

(Nicholas "Niko" Laboy, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

What else can I say about Nicky? You gotta ask, "what doesn't he play?". As if it wasn't enough to play various percussion instruments and styles, but how about playing them the way they were meant to be played. Well that's where Nicky comes in. Few play with as much ibiono as our man Nicky.

(Papote Jimenez, Maximo Valdez, Barry Cox, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

Papote Jimenez is probably one of the most talented singers in NYC. He has sung with "Zon del Barrio", "Cachimba Inolvidable", among others. Papote, a son of the Loisaida has a tendency to magnetize when he is at the helm.

Maximo Valdez and Barry Cox, are two distinct people, but they have sung together for so long that it almost an injustice to speak of them separately. Following in the great tradition of duos such as Saldiguera and Virulilla, El Negro Triana and Lazaro Rizo and countless others. When it comes to harmony and downright knowledge of song, Max and Barry got it covered.

(Pete Conga Jr, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)

I met Pete, when I went to NY last year at one of Ilu Aye's gigs. He didn't sit in, but he was definitely a guy in the know. A couple of months back I put up some videos taken for Pete Sr's birthday that Nicky had on his site. I hope to hear more from him in the future.

If you are in the NYC area and have a chance to see them, don't miss out.

(Looks like the other Jose Rivera on shekere, and Tito Sandoval dancing, Photo Credit: Caja Dura)



(Caja Dura @ Camaradas, Video Credit: RobetoSuave)



(Caja Dura @ Camaradas - Flaco Navaja, Video Credit: RobetoSuave)



(Caja Dura @ Camaradas, Video Credit: RobetoSuave)

Beats, Eats, Tabaco & Percusion

If you want to listen to some cajon with Nicky at the helm, head out to Camaradas tonight for some cajon and tabaco.

The End of an Era, or ?

(Yerbabuena, Photo Credit: Julian Gerena-Quinones)

I was seeing posts everywhere that the Thursday night Yerbabuena spot at Camaradas was coming to an end. Any of you who are in the NY City area know that the YB's have held court on Thursday nights at one of El Barrio's favorite watering holes for a couple of years now and so much to the point where the Yerbabuena and Camaradas name have become synonymous. When I heard the Thursday nights were coming to an end, I was scramblin' to find info as to whether they would be calling it quits at Camaradas completely or just moving to another night, fortunately the latter proved to hold true.

(Yerbabuena, Photo Credit: Julian Gerena-Quinones)

Few groups bring the kind of energy that the YB's do, but after lookin' at their roster, comprised of young Nuyorican's and city dwellers alike, it really doesn't seem so surprising. It is just a matter of expressing the way they talk, walk, live, eat and breathe, just in the form of bomba and plena. Tradition and Modernity, Old and New, coming together in a form so cohesive that you can no longer separate the two. No more labels people, it just is what it is.

So that said, let me just pose a question? Yo Tato, when are we going to get another recording from the YB Camp?

Oh, and if you want to catch the Yerbabuena crew do what they do best, you will need to troop it out to Camaradas on their new night on every last Saturday of the month where you can see Tato, Flaco, Melissa, Julissa, Aubrey on vocals, Guillo on bass, Hector on cuatro, Bebo and Nick on barriles, and the crew of dancers whom without we could not call it bomba y plena.

Camaradas
2241 First Avenue
El Barrio, NYC 10029
212-348-2703



(Yerbabuena in action, Bebo and Nick on barriles, Video Credit: maldonadojustin)

Cajon

I was doing some youtubin' and came across a video, which while unfortunately has pretty bad sound quality you get to see the ever elusive Jose "Apache" Rivera in action at a Cajon ceremony (on caja). Nicky Laboy is on cajon as well (mula). I am not familiar with the other players, maybe someone can kindly drop that information. Abi Holiday goes from the cachimbo to get on guataca a couple of minutes into the song and takes the lead singing as gallo.

(We previously had a clip of the video embedded on the page, but opted to remove said clip out of respect to those in attendance at the ceremony).

If you still want to see the clip you can catch it here

Rumba at Pete's Crib

More clips from the rumba, with Nicky on tumbas and Abi on quinto

(Video Credit: twistednyc2)

Si se trata del Gallo...

So apparently it seems that I have come across footage of how it's going down at "Los Gallos Social Club", in El Barrio. From the clip it looks like Nicky is on chekere, it looks like Izzy Davila with his back to the camera, but can anyone name the drummers? The tumbador looks familiar.

(Rumba at Los Gallos, video credit: jaysonmacho)

It looks like someone has provided some names (anonymously)...On quinto is Tony Rosa, on tumbador as I suspected is Abi Holiday, the tres dos player has yet to be identified though. Read the comment section for this post for the anonymous tip.

Nicky Laboy

I wanted to share some videos showcasing the talents of Nicky "Niko" Laboy. A son of "El Barrio", Nicky has been playing for quite some time, and at a relatively young age has reached a pretty high technical proficiency on the drums. Nicky is at the forefront of a young group of drummers which are keeping the traditional alive and well.

In talking to Willie the other day, we were discussing the exuberant video of Anya Ade at the tambor in the BX, and one of the conclusions Willie came up with was that the "drum" was in good hands.

(per Nicky: this video was taken at Pete Congas house for his birthday. Segundo y Cajon - N. Laboy, Tumbador- Pete "El Gordo", Cajon- Abi Holiday, Quinto - Tito Ogbeate, Dancing - Tito Sandoval & Lisa, Video Credit: exquisitemambo)

(Nick "messing around" on a vintage Valje drum that he fixed up, video credit: twistednyc2)

Bembe 2 Iyesa

I had to put this up, in case you haven't been to La Pregunta to catch Ilu Aye, this is what you are missing.
Bembesito - akpwon, Danny Maldonado- atchere, Fidel Tavarez (?) - bells, Jonathan Troncoso- mula, Camilo Molina- caja, Nicky Laboy- cachimbo, Susan Sanabria - dancing for Ochosi....

Classic Anya Ade pics...

Here are "vintage", Anya Ade pics showing most of the regulars that play with Felix's tambor ( I got this off of Felix's facebook).

(Top L-R: Danny Maldonado, David, Echi (?), "Oso"(?), Jonathan Troncoso. BottomL-R: Nicky Laboy, Oludare Bernard, "Bembesito" Lora, Photo Credit Felix Sanabria)



(L-R: Echi (?), Jonathan Troncoso, Oludare Bernard, "Bembesito" Lora, Emery Damon, Photo Credit: Felix Sanabria)

From La Yuma to Ilu Aye

(Danny Maldonado, Camilo Molina, JBlak, Photo Credit: Harold Martinez)

Without question Ilu Aye is one of the NY Folkloric music Scene's most important groups. Not only are they playing Afro Caribbean music of the highest caliber, but the group has been fertile ground for other young new talents (besides the mainstays). Those that make up the roster of Ilu Aye belong to an extended family of percussionists, dancers, historians, artisans, photographers, videographers, designers (graphic, etc...), singers, that all share and co-exist among each other. Your almost guaranteed to see members of Ilu Aye playing with Alma Moyo, and vice versa, much in the same way you wouldn't be surprised to see Julia Gutierrez (LP21) dancing at a gig in which Ilu Aye is playing.

I posed the question to Jonathan Troncoso, and this is what he had to say about the beginnings of Ilu Aye (03'):

"The first members of "La Yuma" were me, Nicky (Nicky Laboy), Bembe (Osvaldo Lora), Papote (Papote Jimenez, member of Cachimba Inolvidable), David Gomez (timbalero and batalero extraordinaire), Ramin (Ramin Quintana, currently in Tampa and playing with Rene Lopez II) and Oba (Obanilu Allende), but --- tried to change the name to "Tambu Ire" and we had a big argument and because of the argument we asked our muertos, "What was going to be the name?" And we started putting in names like "Ilu Ire", and the muerto said no, then we asked what about "Ilu Ara Aye" and the muerto said no, and then we asked about "Ilu Aye" and the muerto said yes with flying colors..." (JBlak, 09)

When you look at the how the group started probably not one of the members were over 30, and many probably weren't even over 25 if that. If you are in NY area, and Ilu Aye is playing, you need to catch them. More info to come...

...Jonathan just sent me some more info to clarify, just in case my post was misleading in any way.

Hey just for the info, Norka (Nadal) owns the barriles and she's been a member for 2 and half years and Oba (Obanilu Allende) is not in the group and Julia (Gutierrez) is not a member as well. Just in case the actual members are me, Nicky (Laboy), Bembe (Osvaldo Lora), Camilo (Molina), Norka Nadal, Fidelito Tavares and Danny Maldonado..." (JBlak, 09)

A taste of Columbia @ the Sport's Bar, Bronx NY

Sport's Bar, on Castle Hill in the Bronx, 4/6/05

Rockin' Rumba @ the Sports Bar 4/10/05 Bronx, NY

There was some serious intensity on dsplay in this segment of the regular Sunday night rumba held at the Castle Hill Sports Bar. I'll let the video speak for itself. All the usual suspects were in attendance.

Nicky Laboy

(Nicky Laboy, Photo Credit: Harold M. Martinez)

Afro Caribbean percussion has an established history in NYC. We are speaking of tradition that has been passed along for a couple of generations already. With each generation more knowledge is ascertained and subsequently created upon, making the next generation of percussionist more proficient than the last. Enter Nicky Laboy.

Nicky Laboy plays it all, rumba, bata, palo, guiro, palo Dominicano, salve, congo Dominicano, bomba, plena, house, latin jazz, you name it. It seems that with the resurgence of young percussionists, Nicky is definitely playing a central role. He plays with pretty much every important folkloric group in the city (i.e. Ilu Aye, Anya Ade, Yerbabuena, among others), he has recorded with the likes of Lil' Louie Vega, and does work with House of Rhumba.

(Nicky Laboy, Photo Credit: Harold M. Martinez)

I am not going to speak too much on Nicky because he already has a bio out on his myspace site:

Nicholas Laboy (born June 18, 1980 in Spanish Harlem/ El Barrio, New York) is a driven musician with innate and continuously growing talents, placing him among the top young percussionists in New York City. Niko, as he is known in his professional circles, grew fond of music in his early childhood. His instruction began in a household surrounded by drums, bongos, congas, timbales and many other musical instruments. His father- being his most important influence- would sit with him, teaching him not only skills critical to his technical development, but above all, discipline. Playing on pots and pans as a child enabled Niko to create great sounds, eventually steering him toward formal musical training and cultivating his innate respect and love for the drums. Niko's formal instruction began at the age of 12 when his father enrolled him at the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, a renowned music school highly regarded for its commitment to teaching Latin music and percussion alongside other traditionally esteemed musical genres. Located only a block away from his home in the legendary "Spanish Harlem", Niko eagerly pursued music education at the Harbor, with his father's enthusiastic support. There he later met his mentors and teachers, the acclaimed Johnny Almendra and highly regarded Ramon Rodriguez. Johnny strengthened the potential seen by many and utilized rigorous drills and techniques to sharpen Niko's abilities. Under the guidance of his mentors at the Harbor, Niko obtained skills in Afro-Cuban traditional rhythms, and began the rigorous training which would help improve his stamina and speed on the congas, bongos and timbales Niko earned a Tito Puente Scholarship for 3 years at Boys Harbor, where he eventually went on to meet the legendary Tito Puente, and later began playing professionally with various local groups. Directed by Ricky Ayala at the Third Street Music School on the Lower East Side Manhattan, Niko has gone on to perform with renowned musicians such as Frankie Morales at the Copa Cabana N.Y and Masters at Work with Louie Vega at Opium Gardens Miami FL and NYC. One of his many goals in music as he once said; "To be able to use what I've learned and share with upcoming musical talents… We never stop learning and sharing our knowledge." Niko has worked on spreading the knowledge and has taught various percussion classes and Afro-Caribbean workshops throughout New York City and in Miami, FL. Niko is a current member of several notable Afro-Caribbean popular and sacred performance ensembles, including Puerto Rican roots band, Yerbabuena. Niko is also a founding member of Ilu- Aye, an Afro-Caribbean music collective dedicated to preserving the rich African musical influences in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Among his many noted contributions to these ensembles, is his superb ability to arrange and direct the groups, adding his own innovative touches and musical flavor. His talents have placed him among the most sought after young percussionists and stimulated the interest of numerous bands in including him in their recording projects. Among several bands and artists that he has collaborated with are: Latin Sensation directed by Jose Mangual Jr.; the internationally acclaimed dance music producer and DJ, Louie Vega ( M.A.W Inc.) for whom he recorded the highly praised percussion on "Steel Congo"; Lou Gorbea; Ashe Productions; and Yerbabuena, on whose forthcoming debut album he will appear. Also, most noted recently was his stay in Singapore.On behalf of SteelVybe Ent, Niko was sent to Singapore for 4 months in order to assist in a grand opening of teh super club Clinic located in Clarke Quay. There he joined Stefanie Rene(vocalist) and Kafele Bandele(trumpet), to add a live sound to the deep soulful house vibe the club was trying to engage. There, Niko met, and worked with the staff and management of Ministry of Sound,Clinic,Head kandy Bar, and Cuba Libre. Niko performed live at Clinic 4 times a week. Noted of his stay, got together with Alma Latina. A group of rich musicians ranging from Cuba to Singapore. They performed mostly every night in Clarke Quay, where Niko would come to sit in on a couple of tunes. The most recent, was a replacement for Anthony Carrilo at Pregones Theater. Desmar Guevara, the musical director, recommended that he do the job. Game Over was the name of the play. A live musical play, where Niko had to engage with many different instruments including timpanni,darbuka,barrile de bomba,bata,and minor percussion.

Whenever I give Jose Rivera a call, I always ask him about Nicky and how he's doing. Jose plays with Nicky at times, has a lot of love for him, and tries to look out for him the best he can. We at Sentimiento are very supportive of Nicky and only hope the best for him.

So Nick if you are reading this, keep up the good work bro, we'll be checking for you.

(Nicky on tumbas, Obanilu playing a mean quinto, Bembesito singing, Tito dancing, Video Credit: exquisitemambo)

(Yerbabuena, Video Credit: BarrioMedia)

Rumba en El Bronx

The Bronx has always had it's fair share of rumbas y rumberos. At one time, you could find a rumba on any number of blocks..like Kelly St. or Parks...like St. James. Now for the most part they are relegated to indoor venues like the Sport's Bar on Castle Hill. The drummers, to their credit do their best to keep the outdoor free feel of the real rumba despite the surroundings. Here, members of Ilu Aye and Chino and Cece tear it up. Recorded 4/10/05.