In Support Of The Spoken Word 10/30/98

There are members of my generation who will remember the Last Poets and their particular blend of progressive poetry accented by percussion. Amazingly, more then 35 years later, the Last Poets continue to spread their message. Today, there are any number of both groups and individuals who use the format to express their points of view. In this video we play our instruments in support of a group of young poets who are fighting for better living conditions in their homeland of Indonesia. Kali Ramirez, Victor Montanez, Adrian Garcia and myself are in attendance.

June 26, 1999 Armando's Rumbacera

I remember that evening as being hot as all hell. Folks were embobao from the heat. It took the rumba awhile to get going but once it did it was "sal del medio hay viene el tren." Angel Rodriguez and Jose Rivera are on claves, yours truly is on guagua, "Yambu" Monsanto is on quinto, Armando Costales is on tumbadora and our elder statesmen Jorge Tapia, is on tres golpe. El Chino Venezulano is singing Gallo and Pacheco is to his left and Victor Montanez is to his right singing coro along with several others. Jorge Tapia is a Central Park original. That particular meeting place has been the scene for rumba since the early 60s. Tapia was there from the earliest times. Here he is in his early 70s still holding it down.

Quien te manda?

Who knows why we are drawn to the drum. We rumberos live to play and play to live, it's really that simple. I have dedicated a good portion of my life to the tambor, made many sacrifices, but what I received in return cannot be put into words. Allow me a moment to wax poetically, QUE VIVA LA RUMBA! Willie Russian Rumbero/Documentarian

Rumbacera.....6/4/99

Here are several scenes from Armando's Rumbacera, which was held almost every Saturday, for 20 years, on 182nd St. and Amsterdam Ave. The videos progress from a warm up session to a full blown rumba as people arrived and added their voices or playing abilities to the mix.