Aurora Flores, Founder & Leader, composer, vocalist, small percussion
David N. Fernandez, Musical Director, arranger, keyboards, percussion
Sammy Ayala, Lead vocals
Sammy Rosa, Lead vocals,
Luisito Ayala, coro/percussion
Ruben Lopez, bass
Oreste Abrantes "Hey Kidd", congas
Eduardo "Tito" Gonzalez, bongos
Nelson "Space Mathew" Gonzalez, timbales
YOMO TORO: Guest Artist
Check out our interview over NBC's Weekend Today Show:
REPRESENTIN' ON 5: Zon del Barrio was the official houseband for BOTH the National PR Day Parade & the Hispanic Day Parade up Fifth Avenue: Check out our salute to Ruben Blades as he leads the Panamanian contingency:
Here's a clup of our LIVE rendition of Mi Bandera as we did it for our 100 Years of Latin Music concert @ Flushing Town Hall featuring Yomo Toro & Danza Fiesta:
Influences
Rafael Cortijo
Ismael Rivera
Mon Rivera
Roberto Roena
Eddie Palmieri
Tito Puente
Celia Cruz
Pan American Orchestra
Bobby Capó
Myrta Silva
Flora Purim
Airto
Art Tatum
Oscar Brown, Jr.
Nina Freelon
Pleneros Quinto Olivo
Rafael Cepeda
Familia Ayala
Familia Cepeda
Odilio Gonzalez
La Calandria
Chuito
Ramito
Augosto Coen
Rafael Hernandez
Pedro Flores
Jao Gilberto
Benny Moré
Roberto Faz
Juan Luis Guerra
Convite
Luis Kalaf
Milly Quezada
Chamaco Ramirez
Marvin Santiago
Bobby Valentin
Ruben Blades
Oscar D'Leon
Chucho Valdes
Papo Lucca
Jose Lugo
Truco y Zaperoko
Cachete Maldonado
Ray Barretto
Al Santiago
Alegre All-Stars
La Lupe
Sounds Like
The Future of Salsa: PHAT Sound, Small band, contagious rhythms, catchy songs GET DOWN DANCE MUSIC.
Here we are backing up Johnny Rivera & Frankie Negron during the National Puerto Rican Day Parade where Zon del Barrio was the house band on the main stage:
Here's a short clip from a fan @ the Boston Boricua Festival where we headlined this past Sunday, June 29, 2008 in Franklin Park in Roxberry, Mass. Zon del Barrio performed with Yomo Toro, Sammy Ayala & 10 dancers from Danza Fiesta. This was our finale: Fin de Fiesta and if you look close, you'll see Yomo Toro's nephew Ralph Toro dancing w/ one of the Tall Cabezudos: ¡Wepa!
Performing dance-style classic Afro-Puerto Rican music from the barrios, Aurora & Zon del Barrio bring its foot stomping, funk-based classic salsa, plena, bomba & boogalu to the corners of the Barrio "zones" where Latinos live, work, & play the "son" found throughout the Caribbean.
Aurora & Zon del Barrio have lectured and performed at the Vic Fesenzac Latin Music Festival in Toulouse, France; the Afro-Caribbean Festival in Veracruz, Mexico; at the NYC Road Runners Half Marathon; the NYC CultureFest; the US Hispanic Chamnber of Commerce Gala alongside Danza Fiesta dance troupe and most recently at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. The group was founded and is led by writer, composer, historian and cultural activist Aurora Flores, an in demand lecturer who also teaches a course on Latin music history in New York.
Aurora co-produced a segment over the Latin Music Grammy Awards on Latinos in New York, hosted by Milly Quezada where Zon del Barrio was featured. She is also a historian, cultural writer for major newspapers and magazines, as well as a lecturer and instructor on the history of Latin music. She produces sold out shows, composes music and is proud of her deep Puerto Rican roots.
With Zon del Barrio, she is able to bring the music from the streets of New York to audiences all over the world while showcasing young talent while mixing the folklore of Puerto Rico with salsa rhythms and other musical genres. Our percussive engine is driven by our own master percussionist, Chembo Corniel with musical direction, arrangements, keyboards and other instruments led by multi-instrumentalist David N. Fernandez. To hear a great bomba/jazz tune arranged by David: Go on Chembo Corniel's page: myspace.com/chemboro and check out: Nuevo Bieke
Go on our website and check out our articles, our music, our bios and our videos. Welcome to the barrio zone and visit us at www.zondelbarrio.com Where History Becomes Music & old school gets a new beat.
Look us up on Youtube and check out our LIVE performances: http://www.youtube.com/aurorazdb
To read an essay on Ismael Rivera go to: Ecua Jei: Ismael Rivera, El Sonero Mayor @ http://www.zondelbarrio.com/Press_Releases.html
Bomba on B'way, Zon del Barrio @ the Hudson Theater ..
..Carnaval w/Zon del Barrio: Severa
"ELIMINANDO TODO LO NEGATIVO SERA EL PASO IMPORTANTE PARA ASI GALOPIAR DIA A DIA Y PODER ENFOCAR LINDAS PERPECTIVAS PARA PASAR UNA SEMANA MARAVILLOSAMENTE BELLA" !!!!!BESOS!!!!! ♥MIMI♥
Zon del Barrio on the mainstage of the Hispanic Day Parade playing "La Murga de Panama" as Ruben Blades lead the Panamanian contingency up Fifth Avenue on Sunday, October 12, 2008. Sammy Rosa sings lead:
!NO DEJES QUE LAS TRISTEZAS TE ROBEN LA ALEGRIA DE TU LINDA SONRISA! !CON EL GUIRO, LA CLAVE Y EL BONGO TE SONEEN LA MELODIA QUE TE HARAN DISFRUTAR! !QUE TENGAS UN RICO FIN DE SEMANA! "TE DESEA CON MUCHO CARIñO" "TU AMIGA DE SIEMPRE" ♥MIMI♥
"SI HAY COSAS EN TU VIDA QUE NO TE PERMITEN ESTAR BIEN NO TENGAS MIEDO... ECHALAS EN UNA BOLSA Y ENVIALAS A LA BASURA" !TOMANDO ESTA ACCION TE SENTIRAS LIBRE DE TODA PRESION PARA ASI OBTENER UNA SEMANA MARAVILLOSAMENTE PROGRESIVA! !SIEMPRE MOSTRANDO TU BELLA SONRISA!
"NO DEJES DE HACER AQUELLO QUE MAS AHNELA" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !QUE ESTA SEMANA LA PASES FABULOSAMENTE A TU NIVEL. SATISFACIENDO TODO LO QUE EN MENTE HAS PLANIFICADO!
!TE DESEA CON MUCHO CARIñO! !TU AMIGA DE SIEMPRE! ♥MIMI♥
“Wear Your Dancing Shoes!” (LA’Ritmo. com) Zon Del Barrio, led by band leader, historian and musician Aurora Flores, features Latin Music legends Sammy Ayala and Yomo Toro joined by the Theatrical Dance Troupe: Danza Fiesta take you through a timeline of 100 years of Latin Music in New York playing an eclectic blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The show culminates in a Latin Carnival procession with twenty dancers interacting with the audience.
Zon del Barrio, dirigido por Aurora Flores, directora de la banda, historeadora y musico presenta las leyendas Latinas Sammy Ayala y Yomo Toro juntos a los bailarines de Danza Fiesta
"LOS BUENOS AMIGOS SE DEBEN BUSCAR COMO SE BUSCAN LOS BUENOS LIBROS. LA FELICIDAD NO ESTA EN QUE SEAN MUCHOS NI MUY CURIOSOS, ESTA EN QUE SEAN POCOS, BUENOS Y BIEN CONOCIDOS" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUE TU SEMANA SEA DE PODER POSITIVO FUERA DE TODA INTENCION DE AVARICIA PARA PODER LOGRAR LO QUE EN MENTE ESTAS PROGRAMANDO!
!SI DONDE TE ENCUENTRAS ESTA ASI! "NO DEJES QUE LA LLUVIA TE QUITE EL ANIMO DE SENTIRTE BELLAMENTE FELIZ. YA TENEMOS EL FIN DE SEMANA PARA SENTIRNOS DE MARAVILLA. ESPERO QUE TU LO PASES DIVINAMENTE DIVERTIDO"
"LA LIBERTAD es SABER, es PODER y es QUERER; y es NO tener MIEDO a CORRER, a VOLAR y a PENSAR" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ DE ESTA MANERA PODRAS TENER UNA SEMANA FUERA DE EVENTOS NEGATIVOS. ASI QUE ESPERO QUE LA PASES A UN ALTO GRADO DE BELLAS SATISFACIONES!
!ESPERO HAYAS PASADO UN FIN DE SEMANA COMO LO PASE YO BIEN BONITO GRACIAS A UNA PERSONA BIEN ESPECIAL PARA MI Y POR TAL RAZON TE DEJO MI ROSA PREFERIDA PARA QUE PUEDAS PASAR UNA SEMANA DE ACTITUD Y MOTIVACION POSITIVA!
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