Amarfis y La Banda de Atakke is a Dominican merengue de calle and mambo band fronted by Amarfis Aquino, formed in New York in 1998 and among the genre’s most durable acts on the Dominican diaspora circuit.

Amarfis Aquino

Born in Sabana Grande de Boyá, in what is now Monte Plata province, Aquino moved to New York as a teenager in the mid-1980s, where he studied engineering and music at City College and trained privately in jazz, R&B, Afro-Caribbean rhythm and composition. He first made his name as an arranger and director for Grupo Flash before writing and arranging hits for Ricky Castro y su Banda Soberbia («El Sun Sun», «La Vecina») and building a client list of merengue de calle acts before starting a band of his own.

«La Banda de Atakke»

The band debuted in 1998 with singles including «El Liqueo» and «Los Grilleros», riding the same wave of horn-driven, street-level merengue that produced acts like Fulanito and Proyecto Uno out of New York’s Dominican community. It went on to record some of the genre’s most recognizable dance hits, among them «El Pollo», from the 2009 album «7ma Sinfonía de Mambo», and «La Langosta».

Legacy

More than two decades after its debut, Amarfis y La Banda de Atakke remains a fixture of merengue de calle’s New York-born, horn-and-percussion sound, still drawing crowds on both sides of the Dominican diaspora.