Mambo Kings, together since 1995, blend Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation. Since their orchestral debut in 1997 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Jeff Tyzik, they have appeared at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and in pops concerts with orchestras in Baltimore, Vancouver, Detroit, and Dallas, among many others, performing both original compositions and arrangements by pianist Richard DeLaney.
    The 2019 season featured performances with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, a sold-out concert at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, and a concert with the Des Moines Symphony. The band weathered the 2020/21 season with online performances with the Austin Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and West Michigan Symphony Orchestras, and a live performance with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to wrap up the year.
    As a quintet, Mambo Kings have appeared as featured artists at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Fest, the Music in the Mountains festival in Colorado, the Lewiston Jazz Festival in New York, and the Bravo! Big Sky Music Festival in Montana. Three self-produced recordings, Nostalgia, Live!, and Marinera, receive radio airplay throughout North America and Puerto Rico.
    Musical Director Richard DeLaney, a native of Lima, Peru, has been active as a jazz pianist, arranger and composer in Rochester since earning a Master's degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1978. He has written and performed music for film, television, the stage, and the concert hall. He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Rochester Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Paquito D'Rivera, Bobby Sanabria, and numerous bandleaders in Rochester. DeLaney joined the piano faculty of the Hochstein School in 1985, received the Faculty Service Award in 1996, and has directed the school's Jazz Combo Program since 2001.
    Percussionist Wilfredo (Freddy) Colón (drums, timbales, bongos) has performed with Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Los Soneros Del Barrio, Johnny Rivera, "El Cano" Estremera, and Paquito Acosta. He has taught percussion at the Eastman School of Music's Community Education Division and as a percussion clinician in the Rochester area.
    Saxophonist John Viavattine has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, including a performance at the 1980 Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C. He has also performed with Chuck and Gap Mangione, Jeff Tyzik and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, The Temptations, Ray Charles, Patti Page, Connie Francis, Vic Damone, and Lou Rawls.
    Bassist Hector Diaz has been playing with bands in the western New York area since the age of 13. He has performed with Ismael Miranda, Hector Tricoche, "El Cano" Estremera, Paquito Acosta, Zafra Negra, Luisito Rosario, Wendell Rivera, and Johnny Rivera. While in the Army, he toured Army bases in South Korea with an all-soldiers show.
    Percussionist Tony Padilla (congas), a self-taught percussionist, began playing at age 12 and has been performing professionally since the age of 14. He has played with such artists as Paquito D'Rivera, Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Arturo Sandoval, Jerry González, Lou Gramm, the Maelström Percussion Ensemble, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1983, he has conducted clinics and workshops for the Eastman School of Music, the New York State Teachers Music Association, and the Percussive Arts Society, among others.