"One can appreciate this recording on three levels.  First, the amazing focused intensity of the percussion -- which offers density and detail without clouding over or wandering off track.  (Credit Horacio El Negro  Hernandez and Robby Ameen for anchoring the drums on Alto...) Second, the organic melodic flavor -- largely derived form the warm vocals fo Xiomara Laugart and Orlando Puntilla Rios, as well as the full-bodied tenor saxophone of Charles Neville.  And third, the vocal celebration of rhythm, love, and life ... One does not have to speak the language to understand the deeper statement communicated by these artists.  They speak a musical dialect with universal appeal, offering a message that bears repeated listening - and, on occasion, compels one to get up and shake a little booty."
- Nils Jacobson, All About Jazz

DEEP RUMBA
A CALM IN THE FIRE OF DANCES
RUMBA PROFUNDA / ALTA EN LA FIEBRE DE LA RUMBA

EL NEGRO HORACIO HERNANDEZ, ROBBY AMEEN, XIOMARA LAUGART, ANDY GONZALEZ, CHARLES NEVILLE, PUNTILLA ORLANDO RIOS, RICHIE FLORES, PAOLI MEJIAS, ALFREDO TRIFF, GIOVANNI HIDALGO, AMADITO VALDEZ, HAILA MONPIE, ROMAN DIAZ, PEDRO MARTINEZ, CHARLIE FLORES, ABRAHAM RODRIGUEZ,VELIBOR PEDEVSKI, KIP HANRAHAN

Cubana;
Medley: Robby and Negro Open It / Pensamiento;
Bom bom bom bom;
Prelude to Un Golpecito Na' Ma;
Kip Quest; 
Quimbara 2000; 
Charles and Andy discuss the Science of Voodoo and the Voodoo of Science;
Beseme Mucho;
Tradicion;
Sugar and Cotton;
Cantar Maravioso;
Giovannito;
Arabian Nights;
El Solo Nino;
Yambu de las Cocas;
Work and Play (Real Life Dramas)
—sound-bites are underlined—

Produced by Kip Hanrahan
Recorded December 1999 through April 2000
released October 2000
AMCL 1030