Manolín & Pututi II at La Cecilia

This is flat-out one of the hottest things I've ever seen. It's probably February 1997 but I'm not sure. Pututi II looks a bit older than he does here. Apparently Pututi I, who was playing drumset on the Marianao video, was out sick with la gripa, so his brother, who normally played timbales, had to play both drums and timbales on short notice. This is itself is not such a feat - many bands, like Van Van and el Trabuco, require their drummers to do this every night, but to do it on the fly - and to do it like THIS is just mind-boggling. Pututi II, and the güiro player, and the whole band, are just out of their minds. I saw Manolín at this same Quinta Avenida outdoor nightclub the very first night I ever spent in Cuba (Feb. 1999) - a concert that led to the creation of timba.com (and the loss of my sanity). There was something truly magical about that outdoor venue that seemed to set every band on fire. The camera stays on the percussion but if you listen carefully you can hear that Issac Delgado is sitting in on two songs.

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