Fruko y Sus Tesos

Go to any Colombian party on New Year's Eve and you'll hear it. Give it just five seconds and watch it summon all within its audible reach to the dance floor. It's name is "El Preso" ("The Prisoner"), and it's a Colombian classic. Keyboards and trumpets intertwine behind the clave rhythm to make way for Wilson Manyoma's voice; altogether, it's one of salsa's most recognizable sounds. Rightly dubbed Fruko y Sus Tesos (Fruko and His Badasses), the band is a staple of the traditional Colombian party. In 1970, the group was formed as Colombia's answer to the New York-based Fania All-Stars. After almost 40 years, Fruko has gone through many transformations, but it hasn't lost the ability to fill a dance floor with shaking booties — at least in digital form, it hasn't. On July 20, to celebrate 197 years of Colombian independence, Fruko and His Badasses will try to prove they still have it live when they take over Congas Nightclub & Restaurant, where they'll force their brand of salsa on the rhythmically inclined. Armed with their irresistibly danceable tunes "Tabaco y Ron," "Barranquillero Arrebatao," and "Cachondea" plus a houseful of aguardiente (that's firewater in gringo speak), Broward's Colombian community will have a home away from home. Los Latin Brothers (salsa), Grupo Macondo (cumbia), and Los Principes del Vallenato (vallenato) complete a grocery list of Colombian music made especially for a South Florida audience. Bon appetit.