Salsa's sounds bring Caribbean flavor to Brentwood

The rhythmic sound of congas, bongos and timbales fused with trumpets and trombones as salsa music filled the air around Suffolk Avenue in Brentwood on Saturday.

On a beautiful late summer afternoon, residents showed off their footwork and spins dancing on the street to orchestras led by Tito Puente Jr. and Tito Rodriguez Jr. at the 12th annual Brentwood Tropical Salsa Festival.

Organized by Suffolk Legis. Samuel Gonzalez, the festival brings together dozens of vendors and food trucks to accompany the live music and dancing.

Gonzalez, a vocalist who has played salsa music most of his life, said the idea for the festival was to mirror a similar event held in New York City. He wanted to bring that experience to Brentwood.

“I’ve created this, and it gets insane,” he said, adding that the event typically draws between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

What sets salsa music apart, Gonzalez said, is “the combination of the Caribbean, the Afro-Cuban mix.”

J.C. Pavon, of the restaurant Mi Tierrita, which serves authentic Colombian food, said people tend to gravitate to the music performed onstage directly in front of his establishment, which offered rotisserie chicken, rice and beans, and empanadas, and planned to have a roasted pig.

“This always brings the community together,” he said. “Latin Americans, they always push over to the music, and I think that's what makes it special.”

Rafael Santiago Zayas, 67, of Bay Shore, arrived at the festival in style with a hat and shirt emblazoned with Puerto Rican imagery and colors. When it comes to salsa music, he said, there’s no topping the Brentwood festival, even compared to other events, such as the Puerto Rican Hispanic Parade of Long Island.

“This is the best,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Organizers faced an early dilemma Saturday morning when a hydraulic pump malfunctioned on the stage, preventing it from starting on time.

Gonzalez said it was unclear how long a repair might take, so he quickly pivoted and made a call to the Town of Islip, which offered its mobile stage as a replacement.

A group of young performers from East Islip-based Latin Effect Dance Studio took the stage first to help kick off the live performances, followed by La Elegancia de la Salsa.

Brentwood native Andres Gallardo, 37, who lives in Queens, set up a booth where he painted vinyl records, creating images of salsa legends. He showed an example of a stencil he made of salsa legend Tito Puente. He placed it over a record and spray-painted it to create the image.

He said he hadn’t been to the festival in several years but that he recently bumped into Gonzalez, who encouraged him to attend.

“Any chance I get to come home and do some stuff for the community, why not?” he said.

Victoria Black set up a food truck for Cholados y Antojitos selling Colombian desserts and food like cholado, an iced fruit drink. She said it’s her second year at the festival with the truck and she first attended with just a tent and table.

“This festival is amazing because of different kinds of people, different Hispanic Americans,” she said.