Kerubanda

Kerubanda, headed by accordionist Kerube Ortiz, is a Merengue Tipico band from the Dominican Republic. They are known for their authentic Perico Ripiao, their rendition of Negro Cruz y Tono Colon, and rivalries with fellow musicians Geovanny Polanco and, especially, El Prodigio. Many within the group Kerubanda were originally members of the band headed by Krency Garcia (El Prodigio) but broke contract to play with Kerube Ortiz. This caused a lot of internal frustration within the genre and bad blood within band leaders, but things worked themselves out eventually.(Their band includes guira, tambora, accordion, bass, saxophone, conga, electric piano, and 3 vocalists (each for different rhythms of the music).

History

Kerube Ortiz, the band's leader and accordionist, was born in Santiago Rodriguez in the Dominican Republic. While growing up as a child, his father bought him his first accordion which had 10 notes. With practice Kerube became a good player and performed at small parties and social gatherings. In the 1990s, Kerube formed Kerube Ortiz y su Cojunto Tipico in New York, whose population of Dominican merengue tipico musicians was starting to boom. Later, he formed "La Kerubanda", and made his debut on June 9, 2004 on a TV show called "El Show de Nelson" and made his first appearance live in Santiago Rodriguez, Dominican republic, on June 18, 2004. Growing up, his idols were famed merengue tipico accordionists El Ciego de Nagua and Tatico Henriquez, who also influenced El Prodigio.

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=FVHQcFvXceo Video of Kerubanda (spelled Querubanda) performing on youtube]
* [http://kerubanda.net Kerubanda's website (Spanish only)]