To start off the live music portion of the evening Chico Álvarez and his All-Star band played hot clasic Mambo in the Palladium style proving that the Mambo is alive and kicking. In between sets the rumba ensemble Quinto Mayor, directed by congero Gene Golden, gave the crowd an incredable insight as to the roots of Salsa by playing, singing and dancing Yambus, Rumbas, and Columbias. Other members of Quinto Mayor include, Pedro Pablo Martinez, an award-winning young percussionist and singer from Havana, Cuba and Román Diaz, also a master percussionist from Havana. On vocals are Máximo Valdez & Barry Cox. Another percussionist with the group, Joe Gonzáles, was unable to attend this particular night, and Quinto Mayor's good friend Little Johnny filled in for him. Dancer Pupy was on hand but I did not see him dance. Members of the audience including New York dance instructor Tito Sandoval jumped in to dance. Downsatirs in the hot basement DJ Elvira hypnotized the crowd of dancers to the point that they were unable to climb the stairs and experiance the magic that was occuring on the ground floor.

These photographs were taken on January 30th, 2002 by J. Fernando Lamadrid at Nells nightclub in New York City. All photographs on these pages are copyright justsalsa.com NYC 2002. All rights reserved. Your feedback is welcome.