When Mexican-born pianist Christian Tumalán isn’t co-leading the Grammy Award-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra, he gets his groove on with the lean and mean Montuno Swing, a hard-driving nine-piece combo that delivers old-school salsa dura (as opposed to swooning salsa romantica). With a double trombone front line harkening back to Eddie Palmieri’s Conjunto La Perfecta, the band puts a contemporary spin on the classic sound that set New York spinning in the 1960s, powered by a stellar percussion section with Venezuelan-born Omar Ledezma Jr., Uruguayan-reared Edgardo Cambón, Oakland’s Gibby Ross, and Peruvian-born Braulio Barrera (who also plays with the Pacific Mambo Orchestra).

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