In Crowd

In Crowd formed in 2016 lead by Angelo Valentino and wife Ylsa Maj and Friends. The next year the band was asked to play 5 hours of oldies at a cars how. The band decided to go for it, learning over 50 songs in a matter of 2 months. One of the standout songs in Angelo's mind was the Ritchie Valens hit, La Bamba. "people loved dancing to the Latin rhythm. I thought we should definitely do more Latin music" Angelo said. He then thought of another great Latin American performer, who also has he admired, Desi Arnaz. "It would be great if the band could play Babalu," Angelo recalled "but I would have to get one of those big conga drums like Desi played." After months of researching Latin Music, he learned that conga drum was a "Boku", uniquely indigenous to Desi's Hometown Santiago Cuba, he found no one in the free world who still makes these elusive instruments. In the process he also found a deep appreciation for Latin music. "So I brushed off some old high school geometry and took up carpentry and figured out how to build my own Boku" says Angelo. " He disappeared into the basement with a pile of raw lumber and emerged a few days later covered in sawdust, holding a drum that looked just like Desi's" says Ylsa. With Babalu drum in hand, and a newfound love of Latin music, the band decided to add more to the repertoire. So they started writing their own new style of Latin "boogaloo" music Angelo calls this new kind of Boogaloo "Newgaloo".