About Armando
Armando enjoys providing music for belly dancers and lovers of the genre with the band Sirocco. He gives bellydancers a chance to shine with his support and encouragement.
Armando Mafufo is a drummer to the core. He has dedicated more than 30 years to performing the music of the Mediterranean and North African peoples. He has toured the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan, produced five
celebrated albums of his own music, and instructional DVDs and CDs on the playing of Arabic percussion instruments.
An exciting and innovative powerhouse player, Armando, as Uncle Mafufo, is also a respected teacher of Middle Eastern percussion, his unique style of communicating rhythm counts and nuances has made him a treasured instructor from coast to coast and beyond. Armando teaches percussion for doumbek and frame drums with clear information about the rhythms relating to Middle Eastern music in his own distinctive style, relaxed and friendly with humor and sensitivity. His instructional DVDs and CDs reflect the same patience and care.
Armando is a recording artist and performer who works and records with national and international musicians. His own original compositions on CD reveal the possibilities of rhythm as a focal point in music as well as the beauty of the rhythms themselves. As lead percussionist in the band Sirocco, Armando is a melodic doumbek player and master of shading and textures on the Arabic drum. Sirocco has been Delilah’s favored band since their initial collaboration in 1991 and is featured on her DVDs. Besides Sirocco, Armando also plays with musical groups Nuba (Tunisian music), Orient’al (Egyptian), Dulce (Puerto Rican and Cuban), The Juan L. Sanchez Ensemble (popular Spanish) and with various small musical groups in Santa Cruz, California. He has been invited as performer and teacher for shows, workshops, and seminars nationally and internationally since 1980. |
