El Conjunto Clasico

For over a decade, the New York salsa band Conjunto Clásico have managed to keep the traditional Cuban conjunto format of trumpets (three in their case), conga, bongo, maracas, güiro (scraper), bass, piano, tres (six- or nine-string Cuban guitar) and voices, sounding modern and fresh. The nucleus of the band has been executive producer, chorus singer and percussionist Raymond Castro and composer, producer, chorus singer and percussionist Ramón Rodríguez. Between 1979 and 1990, Clásico released 11 albums on their own Lo Mejor Records label. After the band's 1986 album, lead sin...