My new project: RUMBEROS DE LA BAHIA !! SF Bay area Rumba!

Well well well.. Rumba is alive and well in the bay area!

My first project in this tradition has materialized... Rumberos de la Bahia, one of the first Rumba troupes in the bay area's rich history, had its inaugural gig.

With all the Cuban talent here in the bay, its a wonder more groups have yet to develop.

There are a couple groups that gig once in a great while, but don't regularly perform, and often play a mix of Cuban folklorico.

Sandy Perez and Jesus Diaz put together an incredibly talented Rumba troupe with Erick Barbaria, Mejail La Brada and Rosita Perez, but it's not a working troupe, per say, as they play very few gigs together.

With that said, we couldn't touch these masters with a ten foot gig and an eternity to rehearse, but we are paying respect with some quality Rumba. Who knows how good it can get. As for now, we are just getting our feet wet.

So, we played the Cinco de Mayo celebration in Windsor Ca, sharing our tradition to the folks up north of the bay area. This is farm country, so many have little experience with this amazing tradition. I feel so proud to have this project up and running, and am honored to carry the flame of Rumba into the future, here in my beloved California.



The gig went well, with the crowd of around 600 applauding and cheering... with a few actually dancing.. not the most typical reaction in farm country, so that was very nice to see.

The lineup: Juan 'Pescao' Stable, Mejail La Brada, 'Pili' Martinez, Jose Camara, Sukare, Papito, 'Irish' Rick and myself.


It was great fun and better experience, as we figured out a few ways to streamline the project, producing a more refigned project by the minute.

I'm putting together a press kit as we speak, and will be booking the act on a regular basis here shortly. Stay tuned for details!!

Tony