There obviously weren't many of them because the recording clinched a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Tropical Album. The group will find out if they won the trophy on Feb. 13, at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. But they're ready to celebrate now.

On Jan. 27, Angel Melendez & The 911 Mambo Orchestra will host a Grammy nomination party at VooDoo Nightclub in Schaumburg. The group will perform all dozen songs from the album.

It's an exciting milestone for Melendez, who was born in Puerto Rico but whose family hop-scotched between that island and the United States until he was 12. "My mom always thought the grass was greener on the other side, so every year or second year, we would move back and forth," Melendez said.

During childhood, Melendez only had one music lesson, with a cousin who played trombone, but it was an important one. "He was my inspiration," Melendez said. "I saw him playing in a band and I said, 'That's what I want to do.'"

The first instrument Melendez owned was a $69 trombone, which his mother purchased for him the summer before he started high school. "I pulled out the book and pretty much taught myself," he reported.

His formal music education began when Melendez joined the high school band. A couple of months later, he began playing with a juvenile salsa orchestra, La Juventud Tipica. During his junior year, Melendez was accepted into the All City High School Band. Shortly after that, he started his first group -- a salsa band comprised of high school students.

Following graduation in 1981, Melendez attended VanderCook College of Music. He now plays almost every instrument because he teaches band at Farragut High School.

In addition to being a full-time teacher, Melendez is the leader of five orchestras. These include the 12-piece Orquesta Arallue, which focuses on salsa from the '70s and '80s; Orquesta Angelle, featuring three female vocalists, and specializing in more modern salsa and merengue music; Tributo Lavoe, a two-trombone band that performs Hector Lavoe music; The 911 Latin Jazz Ensemble; and his Mambo orchestra.

Melendez started The 911 Mambo Orchestra on Sept. 11, 1991. "The night before, I had seen the movie, 'The Mambo Kings,'" he related. "I said, 'I'm going to come out with this monster orchestra that's going to blow everybody away."

Five members remain from the original 911 Mambo Orchestra, including the male vocalist. "Even though there were a lot of choices for my band, I wanted that authentic voice from the mambo era to sing, and the only one that had that style was Mike Maldonado," Melendez said.

A longtime composer, Melendez began creating music for his new group. "Pretty soon I found out that writing for a 20-piece mambo orchestra was a lot more difficult than writing for two trumpets and two trombones," Melendez laughed. "But I persevered."

He certainly did. The Grammy-nominated album includes three original Melendez compositions, plus nine covers, including "Mambo Jambo," "Besame Mucho" and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White."

Business manager Meneses, who produced the CD through his Latin Street Music, submitted the album to the Grammy committee.

Meneses froze when he learned the album had made the nominee list. "I couldn't move for about 10 seconds," he said with a hearty laugh. Nominees are announced via a Web site and when Meneses saw the 911 Mambo Orchestra album listed, he couldn't quite believe his eyes. "I called my wife and said, 'Can you read me those people?'"

Melendez recalled: "When I saw the finalists, I said, 'It's people that I admire. I don't belong there.' Then when the nominations came out, I said, 'Yeah, I belong there.'"