Timba
in Miami!
Manolín, el Médico de la Salsa at Rancho Gaspar
March 28,
2004 by
Well,
it doesn't happen very often, but every now and then we Timba
fanatics can actually hear Timba in Miami, and Sunday, March
28th, 2004 was one of those days out at the beautiful Rancho
Gaspar. It isn't easy to find this place, out in the middle
of the "boondocks", so if you haven't been there before, take
either the 826 or the Turnpike to Okeechobee Road. The first street
entrance west of the Turnpike overpass is not even marked with a street
sign, but that little entrance is what you take and it doubles back
east before turning north down a street lined with litter and garbage
that has been illegally dumped. Just when you are certain you have gotten
lost, you will see a white fence on the left as you head north and that
is the parking area for Rancho Gaspar. Once inside, it is quite nice.
There is a covered outdoor patio area for dancing or enjoying some chicharones,
tostones, masitas de puerco or congrí while listening
to the music. There is some seating under the big old shade trees and
there were even pony rides for the kiddies.
Here
in this unlikely place way out in the middle of nowhere is the
only venue I know of where you can hear Timba in Miami!
It
was a slightly overcast day, not too hot, not cold at all, the
crowd was mellow (good security!) and Timba was in the air! The
concert started around 6 p.m. and Manolín had the crowd
dancing despelote right off the bat with many of his
old hits.
Manolín
was accompanied by some of his old band members, like Eduardo
Nápoles "Chaka" on keyboards and Armando Gola
on bass.
Left
to right: Gola,
Reinier Guerra,
Hamed Barroso
Manolín
and
Jeáns Valdés
Luis
Bu
Hamed
Barroso
The
entire first set was solid Timba until he brought in an old friend,
Amaury Gutiérrez, and the crowd went wild!
Quite the voice!
But
shortly thereafter he invited "El Padrino"
up on stage, one of the members of the original Orquesta
Revé. This guy improvised soneando for
more than 20 minutes! It was really amazing!
Manolín
closed the first set with this improv and left us all wanting
more!
The
second set opened with his controversial but very popular song,
El Puente.
The
party continued until nearly midnight with people dancing Timba
as their drug of choice!
I
can honestly tell you that I am addicted to Timba!
Well,
it doesn't happen very often, but every now and then we Timba
fanatics can actually hear Timba in Miami, and Sunday, March
28th, 2004 was one of those days out at the beautiful Rancho
Gaspar. It isn't easy to find this place, out in the middle
of the "boondocks", so if you haven't been there before, take
either the 826 or the Turnpike to Okeechobee Road. The first street
entrance west of the Turnpike overpass is not even marked with a street
sign, but that little entrance is what you take and it doubles back
east before turning north down a street lined with litter and garbage
that has been illegally dumped. Just when you are certain you have gotten
lost, you will see a white fence on the left as you head north and that
is the parking area for Rancho Gaspar. Once inside, it is quite nice.
There is a covered outdoor patio area for dancing or enjoying some chicharones,
tostones, masitas de puerco or congrí while listening
to the music. There is some seating under the big old shade trees and
there were even pony rides for the kiddies.
