Around five years ago, I first met Chino, Eddie, Hensy, and Tosso when they were part of a traditional Cuban band named Conjunto Guantanamo. They performed regularly at one of my favorite bars near my work in DUMBO.

Chino and I became close friends shortly after, giving me tips on everything from the clave, to West Village pizza joints and jam sessions, to seeking shelter during penniless times under the Manhattan Bridge (some tips more useful than others, but all memorable). And by introducing me to New York’s incredible Latin music scene, he helped pry open an unexpected chapter of my life: as a passably decent amateur musician. In my craziest times, I pulled my violin out as often as five nights a week with a variety of Cuban and salsa bands in the city and met dozens of awesome musicians and dancers, before exhaustion caught up with me and I realized I couldn’t do that anymore while I still had a day job.

A terrific singer and spectacular dancer from Cuba, he now leads his friends in a band named Grupo Irék, which for years now has performed Saturday nights in Carroll Gardens at a restaurant named Pane e Vino. It’s a great night of music that draws many awesome dancers, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the area and looking for something to do on Saturday night.

Performing a mix of originals, classic Salsa tracks from the likes of Héctor Lavoe and Rúben Blades, and Buena Vista Social Club standards, they also gig at the Boom Boom Room at the top of the near impossibly swanky Standard Hotel (Hensy, the bassist, recounted one guest putting down $4,000 on a single bottle of champagne), and the chic Thom’s Bar in SoHo. I haven’t seen them perform at either of those spots, but I think Grupo Irék is at their best with smooth-moving dancers filling the floor in front of them, and not as the background music to expensive martini sipping (though, I’d wager the latter pays better).

I remember one gig maybe four years ago at the Upper East Side club Session 73 at one of their Monday Salsa nights. The band was filled out with the incomparable trombonist Reut Regev, and a pianist, with barely enough room for me nestled behind the sound board to stand and await a solo, watching a hundred excellent, excellent dancers move like I’d never seen before. But then the coro reached its end, the band stepped back, and I gulped and stepped forward. Terrifying, fun, exhilarating, and unforgettable.

Incidentally, years later, they sound better than ever. Please go check them out, as they are awesome!