Also indispensable to the success of the gig was La Timba Loca founder Omar Ledezma, who played bongó y campana while singing strong coro and catching all of those little Michel and Sombrilla interjections that are burned into everyone's brains from listening to the album so many times. Omar is a true timbero de corazón who has every note of Tremendo delirio memorized.

Danny - Omar Ledezma

In the case of timba.com's Mike Lazarus, the only question is whether he spent more time producing the concert or woodshedding Pedro Pablo's glorious bass tumbaos. It was probably the latter, and he nailed them all while having the time of his life in the process.

Mike Lazarus

Los metales: There were only two horns - but that was more than enough. Julius Meléndez has been a staple of the Bay Area scene for years, but who the hell is Roberto Morris? Sounds like a stockbroker, but this Sacramento Cubano can hold his own with the likes of Alexander Abreu and Carmelo Andrés. His sound is so fat, so in-tune, and so in-the-pocket as to defy belief ... a veritable one-man banda gigante.

Julius Meléndez - Roberto Morris

Los invitados: Sitting in on the second set were two legends of the Bay Area music scene. Fito Reinoso is a unique cross between a modern timbero and a classic pregonero in the style of Cándido Fabré. Cándido is famous for being able to take any subject and improvise words and music for 20 minutes without stopping or missing a beat. You've probably seen the famous video of his "duel" with the adolescent Paulito FG. Well, Fito, to my ear, is just as fluid as Cándido with language and quite a bit more melodic. He sat in on De músico, poeta y loco from Danny's Lo mejor de mi corazón album, and while Danny took over on congas, Fito, adapting his every word to the lyrical theme of the song, unleashed an astounding series of completely improvised pregones that had everyone in the club grinning from ear to ear, including Danny, who, not to be outdone, followed it with a very solid Cándido tribute of his own. In fact, by the end of the gig, Danny still had Fito's style echoing in his ear and laid down another impromptu set of pregones on Usa condón. He even showed up the next night at the Cigar Bar to sit in at Fito's gig.

Fito Reinoso - Danny Lozada