Adelante! was happy to be featured for the final installment of the 2014 Summer Sunset Concert Concert/Master The Music Series of the Adult School of Montclair.   Here is a nice preview from several weeks before the event, done by Valerie Block:  Q and A with Mike Kaplan, Founder of Adelante!  

The event took place in the beautiful garden setting behind the scenic Van Vleck Estate.  The country setting belied the fact that Van Vleck is just blocks from the bustling Bloomfield Avenue.

Our regular sonero David Oquendo, was called out of town at the last minute.  However his hand-picked replacement for the evening, Rolando (Roly) de los Rios wowed the large and enthusiastic crowd from his first notes from his vocal pipes.

The band mixed instrumental and vocal material…. both modern and traditional.  Roly had the romantics in the crowd going with the classic bolero “Alma Con Alma”.   Adelante’s version of the Conjunto Libre arrangement of Arsenio Rodriguez’ “Porque Tu Sufres” got the dancers up.

Trombonist Ben Williams and keyboardist Nicki Denner got a chance to shine on second set opener, Chano Pozo’s “Tin Tin Deo”.  Our original arrangement mixed the tipico with the progressive… the tune’s extended intro featured our percussionist Manuel Alejandro Carro on bata drums and he and the other drummers on traditional chants to the Orishas.  During our version of the Adalberto Alvarez/Son 14 song “Agua Que Cae del Cielo”, the band actually conjured up a slight drizzle from the skies…. but not enough to stop the proceedings.