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The Bandslots of musicians, lots of great music
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This might be the most organic Band in history. I live on Lake Atitlan, in the Guatemalan highlands, on the edge of paradise. The Gringo trail is close by, so there are always plenty of musicians of every kind traveling through. Some stay for awhile and eventually end up playing with the band for a season or two. The most current incarnation of the band is the one that came together for the Festival Atitlan 2009. It was definitely one of the most eclectic groups that I have had the honor to play with, as the quality of the musicianship and the very interesting lineup made the music very special. Of course, I have been very lucky in that way, and have had the opportunity to play with some amazing musicians through the years. Thank you all for having made things so interesting. This is a very unfinished list!
MAMBO BALAM 2009
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LA TROVA DEL LAGO
On and off, for many years I have backed up Juan Sisay and La Trova del Lago, which is a modern Latin American folk group. It is definitely different for me, as I play mostly unplugged and, in this band, am a background element. |
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MAMBO BALAM 2001
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 Bruce Deselle is a Guitar and Bass player (and a pretty good masseur too!!!) He has just finished recording an Album of his own with Discos Atitlan called " Blink of an Eye"
|  Alvaro Silva is an elf. He plays bass and guitar and blessed us with his smile for awhile a couple of years ago. He is back in Chile, where he is playing in a well known rock band.
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 David Robinson is a well known character around here. He plays drums, piano, and kalimba, and is the former owner of "Las Milpas", the legendary garden place in Santiago. Davy is in Thailand.
|  Cristóbal Ottaviano is a guitar player supreme. Whether playing classical Tango's or hard rock, his guitar stands out clearly. His beautiful humility makes it a great pleasure to work with him. Along with Laura, they
recorded a CD of instrumental Tango´s for Discos Atitlan called "SUR". He is currently
playing in Mexico City
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 Laura Méndez is a small dynamo of a woman who makes up the better half of the Cris and Laura duo. Her saxophone comes at you from all angles.
| We also had Sussannah Morgana, Violeta Luz, and Laura doing backup vocals.... what a great chorus! | |||||||||
Roberto Luz, Flutes
Tim Silven, 12 string guitar:Tim lives across the lake in San Antonio, so it takes a boat trip to get together, and we really don't do it enough, but when we get together the music flows and the times are good.
Louis Lamp, Violin: Louis had just gotten out of the Army, and he was looking for something great to do before continuing on with life, so he decided to come to Guatemala for the festival and celebrate his newfound freedom.
Davy Robinson, Accordeon: Davy moved away from the lake a couple of years ago and moved to Thailand. He just couldn't stand himself and just had to amke his way here for the festival.
Kike, Percussion: Kike has been the beat man for many years, and, ever since he came to the lake, has been a real fun person to play music with.
Brock Wollard, Drums: He rode into town on a bicycle with the Ginger Ninjas, an ecological band from Californis and sat in with us without any practice.... great drummer!
Rolando Simon, Bass: Rolando used to play bass with Crater before he moved to the US with his family. He came for the festival and sat in with the group.
Daniel, Sax: Daniel usually plays with the Lost Coast Marimbas, from California. The rest of the band didn't make it, so we took in Daniel and it was a match made in paradise... this band had 5 lead instruments.. the most fun!!!
This is the original Discos Atitlan Band.... we organized the first Festival Atitlan to feature this band. It was short lived, but spectacular. We even had a girl chorus!