Los Afortunados tienen su propio son!

As part of Mappy's birthday bash at the Taller....Los Afortunados showed their range of talent by playing an Afro Cuban Son. The crowd grabbed space on the dance floor and the party was on. Courtesy of AAA videos.

Yemaya - Los Afortunados

Here is another great clip from the "AAA." This Afortunados performance at "El Taller Latino Americano" was obviously the place to be on this particular night. They ran the gamut from Yoruba to Rumba to popular (i.e. Son). When Willie told me that Alfie hooked him up with the tape from this night I was pretty excited as I didn't really know what to expect but I knew it would be good. So far we have posted clips showing Los Afortunados doing guiro, bata, rumba tap (with Max Pollack), rumba, and we even put a clip showing the great Abraham Rodriguez singing a rumba number in English as I always wanted to see him do. I'd like to thank Alfie for contributing greatly to the blog and hopefully she will soon be able to post directly.

This particular clip shows Los Afortunados tocando para Yemaya. Abraham is at the helm singing the akpwon part, and Emilio Barretto, Fernando Taboada, Izzy Santiago, Victor Jaraslov are singing the ankori part. The late Michael Rodriguez (ibae) is playing a steady, yet tasteful okonkolo, Brandon Rosser (whom I am very glad to have on tape playing) is laying down a nice segundo and of course Felix is playing a mean caja. If you notice Felix's wife, Susan is dancing for Yemaya. Susan is very humble, yet very knowledgeable of not only her craft (i.e. dancing) but also the history behind the drums and the people that played and so forth.

Abraham Croons @ Mappy's Birthday

Abie and I share another passion...we are Doo Woppers as well as percussionists. In this video we hear Abraham Rodriguez take a classic tune from the American Songbook and put it to guaguanco. This is a AAA video.

More From Mappy's....Max the Rumba Tap Man

More from Mappy's Birthday party........

Just when they thought it was over, just when everyone was ready to call it a night...a Rumba broke out and the festivities continued at least a little while longer. An AAA video.

Los Afortunados @ the Taller Latino Americano 6/1/01

The occasion was Mappy's birthday and she had chosen Felix Sanabria and Los Afortunados to provide the entertainment. I was honored to do a few numbers with them. This video shows the group playing a "Guiro" for Oshun. An extremely versatile group...we will be presenting videos of them playing rumba in its various forms, Bata, Bembe and Son. From the "AAA." Willie...

Of particular distinction is opportunity to see Felix Sanabria's padrino/babalawo, Oluo Siguayu Gerardo Taboada Fernandez (in the cream shirt with white hair between Emilio and Abie). Buffy Drysdale is dancing for Oshun. Felix is playing caja, and Emilio is singing the akpwon part. Victor Jaraslov (blue shirt), Izzy Santiago are included in the ankori section, and our very own Willie is sitting in on chekere. Ralph...