The propulsive rhythms of The Mambo Kings will land them at The College at Brockport for a concert on Friday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Mambo Kings will treat the audience to new arrangements of various pop songs including “Just the Two of Us,” and other covers that have appeared on their three CDs, as well as original compositions by Richard DeLaney, the group’s musical director. Since their formation in 1996, the ensemble has gained a national reputation through their recordings, as well as sharing the stage with the symphony orchestras of Rochester, Dallas, Detroit, Baltimore and Vancouver.
DeLaney explains that even though they highlight Latin tempos, they incorporate many of the principles that make jazz so distinctive. “The group improvisation is still there. The call and response, the beats, and the harmonics, too. The only difference is that the songs all remain dance tunes, whether a rhumba, a cha cha, a mambo.”
In all the years that DeLaney has been arranging Latin jazz, he admits there’s only been one song he couldn’t resolve musically: “The Beatles’ ‘And I Love Her.’ I tried it real slow and it didn’t work. Then I tried it as a rhumba, and it still didn’t work. They were both sounding too hokey.”
In addition to DeLaney on piano, the other Mambo Kings are Wilfredo Colon, percussion; Hector Diaz, bass; John Viavattine, saxophone; and Tony Padilla, conga drums.
The concert takes place in the Tower Fine Arts Center Mainstage, 180 Holley Street, Brockport. Tickets are $17/General, $12/Seniors, Alumni, Faculty and Staff, and $9/Students. They are available online at fineartstix.brockport.edu, by phone at 395-2787, or at the Tower Fine Arts Center box office.
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