The Rumba Kings

The Rumba Kings were formed in Seattle in June 2015 by producer/musician, Johnny Bacolas, a native of Seattle, WA, and guitarist/bouzouki player George Stevens, a native of Orange County, CA. Guitarist, Teddy Adams; guitarist, Vinnie Uanno; keyboardist Bahaa Sadak; drummer Andrey Zasypkin; and percussionist Tor Dietrichson perform live with the group, as well as perform on several of the band’s recordings.

The band puts a big emphasis on their showmanship. Guitarist, George Stevens says, “I like to integrate a show when I perform, by dancing while I play, and reacting with the crowd. I want to give the audience a heightened experience of not only the music, but also the visual aspect.”

Bacolas and Stevens began writing and recording the band’s debut double-album titled, “The Instrumental & Vocal Sessions, Vol I.” after meeting through a mutual friend, soon after Stevens relocated his family to Seattle from California.  Talking about the band’s music Stevens says, “I’ve never been more inspired to write and perform.  This is the music I’ve always dreamed of recording and performing.”  Bacolas, the band’s bassist and producer says, “I’ve been working on putting together a band like this for years, a cross between the beautiful romantic melodies of Yanni’s music combined with the energy and passion of the Gipsy King’s music with an electrifying live performance.  This has been a long-standing vision and dream of mine.  I feel we did it.”

Critically acclaimed mixing engineer, Martin Feveyear, who co-mixed the debut recordings with Bacolas says, “It’s a bold, spirited, diverse and romantic blend of all that’s great in Latin music, with an added twist of Mediterranean magic!”

As of February 2018, the band is on regular rotation on Seattle’s top Jazz station KNKX 88.5 FM.

The band’s music is available on iTunes and Amazon.