Glen Cove showed off its moves when Jose Trombone and Conjunto Rumbon came to Downtown Sounds Friday. With the highest showing of the season thus far, attendees came ready to salsa around downtown.
It was clear from concerts before that Glen Cove loved to dance, but Friday took the cake. Attendees were determined to dance, some with partners, strangers, babies and even strollers.
Jose Trombone and Conjunto Rumbon turned the streets of Glen Cove into a stage to a display some of the city’s rich culture. According to Data USA 30.8% of Glen Cove’s population is Hispanic, making it the second most common ethnic group in the city. The music group took the stage with a high energy and treated attendees to a mix of salsa gorda music. Between songs the group spoke to the crowd in Spanish and was happy to take requests that kept the audience involved.
Jose Trombone and Conjunto Rumbon are keepers of the iconic salsa gorda sound that emerged in New York City during the golden era of salsa. Jose Rivera is a long-time trombonist who started his music career with his family band in East New York. Jose was born in Puerto Rico and raised in both cultures. Jose started on percussion at age 6 and trombone at 13 in his father, Enrique Rivera’s family band with his wife and six children in the early 1960s. He became his father’s partner in composing their original music. As the family band evolved in the ’70s, a fourth female musician joined, and later married Jose. Jose is currently the leader of Conjunto Rumbon and continues to arrange and integrate his original music into the performances.
The Downtown Sounds concert series takes place every Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Village Square. The next concert will be August 18, with classic rock music by Arena Rock. The Downtown B.I.D. also would like to thank the Dominican Deli and Grill for being August 11’s restaurant sponsor.
