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Bruce Springsteen surprise with Little Steven at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park
Bruce Springsteen surprise with Little Steven at the Oct. 26, 2025 TeachRock benefit the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
- E Street Band percussionist Anthony Almonte has released a new solo album titled “Conversando Con La Luna.”
- The album blends salsa with rock, pop and Latin jazz influences.
- It is released on fellow E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records label.
There’s a new beat on E Street.
Anthony Almonte, percussionist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, has just released “Conversando Con La Luna” and it’s full of suavemente salsa beats with splashes of rock, pop and Latin jazz.
“I’ve always loved salsa,” said Almonte to the Asbury Park Press. “It’s the first genre of music I was really passionate about, and with this record what I wanted to do was incorporate really all of my musical influences and experiences.”
“Oxigeno De Amor,” which closes out the album, features a jazzy salsa flow with Almonte’s easy tenor capturing the magic of the summer moonlight air.
“That song is definitely the direction I wanted to take the album,” Almonte said. “It’s a salsa tune but there’s influences from various genres from my background. The song has a sensibility where I’m talking about wanting the oxygen of love for someone, which lends of itself to the sentiment of the rest of the album. It’s not as much being in love and directing that toward the person but reflecting on the experience of love, reflecting on the experience of being in love, and the oxygen of love. It was a perfect starting point and direction for the rest of the tracks.”
A record release show will take place Thursday, July 9 at Dizzy’s Club, part of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Guests on the album include Ronald Borjas, Alexander Abreu, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Marc Quiñones, Jeremy Bosch and Carlos Henriquez, along with Rich Mercurio of the Disciples of Soul and Charlie Giordano and Little Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band.
“Conversando Con La Luna” is released on Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records.
“Stevie loves all styles of music but his passion for Latin music is pretty awesome,” Almonte said. “One of the things I leaned early on is Stevie loves Tito Puente and the mambo era. When we get together, have dinner and hang out and he puts music on, one of the first things he always tends to put on is mambo, Celia Cruz, which is phenomenal. To have the chance to have him on this record, a Latin record, it was super special for me.”
Almonte, a 33-year old New York City native, was recruited for Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul by bassist Jack Daley after percussionist Everett Bradley left for Bon Jovi. He was recommended for the role in the E Street Band by Van Zandt, who’s the music director.
Almonte was a hit right away with E Street Band fans, starring with a drum off with Max Weinberg on “E Street Shuffle” during the “Letter to You” tour in 2023 to 2024. He also gained notice with E Streeters Curtis King Jr. and Ozzie Melendez for their social media videos of backstage song-and-dance routines before the E Street Band shows.
Almonte, King Jr. and Melendez, now known as the Funky Mofos, will play the Spring-Nuts Seaside Serenade main event Sunday, May 31, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. The trio plays classic funk like Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music” and arena rockers like Kansas’ “Carry on Wayward Son.”
The Spring-Nuts are a Springsteen fan club and the show will benefit WhyHunger and TeachRock.
“I have such a great time being on the road with the E Street Band,” Almonte said. “(The Funky Mofos) are a bunch of guys who happen to play in the greatest band in the world just having a really good time playing music for the folks out front.”
The Springsteen and E Street band’s Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour wraps up Saturday, May 30, at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. The No Kings-themed shows have drawn praise for their musicianship and forthrightness in facing the moment.
“It’s inspiring to watch someone like Bruce do what he does and stand the way he does,” Almonte said. “To have this band backing him, it’s powerful and having Tom Morello as well with us and seeing the reaction of the people. Bruce has a way of conveying to the public, to the audience, that is so moving. How can you not be in awe and inspired by that?”
“Every time we step up on that stage, it’s history and I think the audience knows that and they want to make sure they catch that.”
Go: Anthony Almonte “Conversando Con La Luna” record release show, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City. $25 to $55. jazz.org/dizzys
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected]
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.app.com ’
