Experience changes a young musician, and in many cases, it eventually turns them into bandleaders. Their early entries into music are all about exploration; they need to learn the fundamentals of music and how to work with other artists. Along the way, they find their way around the business of music and hopefully find a way to thrive in their chosen lifestyle. After a number of years, these pursuits become old hat and a musician needs other stimulation to keep them motivated. Some musicians might dig deeper into their artistry while others might seek new collaborators; in most cases though, they almost always end up in the role of bandleader. Experience necessitates this move, but it doesn't guarantee success; longevity depends upon the individual.
Percussionist Benny Velarde built up a strong skill set through experience on the Bay Area music scene, and after a high profile tenure with Cal Tjader, became an important bandleader. Born in Panama, Velarde was inspired by the music in the city around him and the Cuban bands that he heard on the radio. The young Velarde fueled his passion for music, sneaking into nightclubs to hear some of Cuba's most important artists before his family moved to San Francisco in 1945. In the United States, Velarde heard Tito Puente, Machito, and more, driving him to play percussion with a local high school band. The group's performances spread the word of Velarde's skills and soon he was working with local bands led by Salvador Guerrero and Professor Cano. He soon joined together with the Duran Brothers, pianist Manny and bassist Carlos, in a group that held a regular gig and earned some attention. Looking to gain more valuable experience in Latin music, Velarde spent a year in New York. Upon his return, Manny Duran recommended him to Tjader, who quickly hired the percussionist. Velarde spent four years performing with Tjader the Bay Area and beyond, as well as recording several important albums, such as Mambo With Tjader, Latin Kick, and more. When Tjader changed in his line up in the late fifties, Velarde and the rest of his former Tjader and mates found a regular gig in San Francisco. By this time, the city's Latin music scene had picked up, and Velarde found himself with a busy schedule, working a number of club gigs, dances, and after hours venues. He soon started leading his own groups, first heading up an ensemble called Benny Velarde Y Su Pachangueros and later Benny Velarde Y Su Super Combo. As Velarde built a steady performance schedule and a string of recordings, he became an important mainstay on the Bay Area scene.
While Velarde's time with Tjader sent him into the national spotlight, his work as a bandleader established him as an essential piece of the Bay Area Latin music scene. His work with the Super Combo would inspire a generation of musicians and carry Velarde into the twenty-first century. In Part One of our interview with percussionist and bandleader Benny Velarde, we looked at his early interest in music as a child in Panama, his first steps into music in San Francisco, and his audition for Cal Tjader. Today, we discuss Velarde's time as a member of Tjader's group, his work as a percussionist at the height of San Francisco's Latin music scene during the fifties, and his emergence as a bandleader.
BENNY VELARDE: I started with Cal Tjader in 1962 or 1963; we started playing quite a bit. I played with Cal for almost four years, until around November of 1966 or 1967. The Blackhawk Club was our home base at that time. I remember Pete and Coke Escovedo coming to hear us. That's when they started to form a group.
LATIN JAZZ CORNER: What was it like working with Cal? That was early in his exploration of Latin music—was it awkward?
BV: No, no, no. He was a good drummer too, aside from playing vibes. He had the knowledge about drums. The only thing that he didn't know at that time was that Latin music is played with what we called clave. So I started teaching Cal about the clave, and he caught it right away. We were friends for a long time; I never had any problems with him. Actually, I learned a lot from Cal—how to be a professional, how to behave, and how to just concentrate on the music. I learned a lot when I played with Cal.
LJC: You formed another group after working with Cal . . .
BV: When Cal disbanded the group that we were in, we got called to play in a club that was opening at that time that was called The Copacabana. They heard about the Duran brothers and myself, so they called Manny to form a group. We called all the guys that were formerly with Cal Tjader to form that group at The Copacabana. It was situated on Broadway near Powell. I played there with Manny for a couple of years.
After we played there for a couple of years, Manny got called to play in another club, so he was going to quit The Copacabana. The owners of the Copacabana called me and told me that if I wanted to stay there and form my own band, I could stay. Of course, I grabbed the opportunity. That's how I made my first band—it was called Benny Velarde Y Sus Pachangueros. At the beginning, it was just Benny Velarde. But that music called the pachanga started developing and people were into it. Then I renamed the band. I played there for almost ten years. I played there from 1960 until 1969. I was there and we were playing four nights a week—from Thursday through Sundays.
In those times also there were after-hours clubs that had you playing from 2 to 6 in the morning. I started playing in one of those clubs; it was called Streets Of Paris. It was on Jones and Mason, near Market. I would finish playing at the Copacabana around 2:00 and then we had a gig at The Streets Of Paris, starting at 2:30 and going until 5 in the morning. I had those gigs on the weekend; we used to play there Fridays and Saturdays. On Sunday afternoons, there was another dancehall in Oakland that was called The Sands Ballroom. They would hold tardeadas, bands playing in the afternoon, from 2:00 until 6:00 in the afternoon. There was a pianist from Mexico, his name was Chico Ochoa. He had a big band there and he called me up to play with him on Sunday afternoons. So I would be at the Copacabana from Thursday through Sunday, after hours at The Streets Of Paris on Friday and Saturday, and at The Sands Ballroom on Sunday afternoons.
LJC: You also did some studio work for Fantasy Records during the sixties—what were some of your favorite sessions from that time?
BV: I did a lot of recording with Cal Tjader of course. Then they hired me to do an album, which I did in 1964; it was called Ay Que Rico. It had a lot of the music from the Pachangueros. I also did a couple of 45s with different people. There was this guy that used to own a label and he wanted to record me on a long-playing record. He put a 45 out but when we were ready to start the long-playing record, he died. So we never got the chance to do it.
LJC: When did you form the Super Combo?
BV: After I finished playing at the Copacabana, I went to play at a club that a friend of mine used to own; it was called The Boogaloo. It was on Geneva Avenue, across from The Cow Palace. This friend of mine wanted me to play there and form a bigger band. That was when I first started with my big group; it was called The Super Combo. That became the name that I used through the rest of my life with the big band. I started playing with that band at this club called The Boogaloo.
There was another club that was called the Italian Village. It used to be on Columbus, by where Bimbo's is now, a block before that. They wanted to compete with Bimbo's, but they went broke. So they closed the club. Then this friend of mine that owned The Boogaloo, had to close his club on Geneva Avenue. He had problems with his partner, so they closed it up. Then they moved to the place that used to be the Italian Village. So we moved there with them and he hired us to play on Saturday nights. We used to play there on Saturday nights for quite a while.
LJC: You did another album in 1972 called La Clavethat was more of a Latin funk recording—what was the story behind that?
BV: In 1972, I was also playing with a band at Cesar's club. Cesar opened up a club on Broadway and Green Street. When we played there, this guy came over and he wanted to use Cesar's band to record. But Cesar didn't want to do it. So the guy talked to me and told me about it. He asked if I wanted to do it, and I said, “Yea, sure, why not?" I used some of the guys that were playing with me in Cesar's band and we did this recording.
The recording was going to be promoted with this guy from Argentina that was pretty famous; he did a lot of music for movies—Lalo Schifrin. Anyway, he was supposed to be in this band and do this album. But they had a conflict of interests I guess, and he only played a couple of tunes on the album. They didn't even put his name or anything on the album. When they released it, he wasn't even finished with his part. They had to release it, because they needed to make some money on the album. I guess they wanted to at least put it out and gain back some of the funds that they invested. Lalo played a couple of tunes. We were actually booked to go to France, but when he had all these problems, all of that fell through
Percussionist Benny Velarde built up a strong skill set through experience on the Bay Area music scene, and after a high profile tenure with Cal Tjader, became an important bandleader. Born in Panama, Velarde was inspired by the music in the city around him and the Cuban bands that he heard on the radio. The young Velarde fueled his passion for music, sneaking into nightclubs to hear some of Cuba's most important artists before his family moved to San Francisco in 1945. In the United States, Velarde heard Tito Puente, Machito, and more, driving him to play percussion with a local high school band. The group's performances spread the word of Velarde's skills and soon he was working with local bands led by Salvador Guerrero and Professor Cano. He soon joined together with the Duran Brothers, pianist Manny and bassist Carlos, in a group that held a regular gig and earned some attention. Looking to gain more valuable experience in Latin music, Velarde spent a year in New York. Upon his return, Manny Duran recommended him to Tjader, who quickly hired the percussionist. Velarde spent four years performing with Tjader the Bay Area and beyond, as well as recording several important albums, such as Mambo With Tjader, Latin Kick, and more. When Tjader changed in his line up in the late fifties, Velarde and the rest of his former Tjader and mates found a regular gig in San Francisco. By this time, the city's Latin music scene had picked up, and Velarde found himself with a busy schedule, working a number of club gigs, dances, and after hours venues. He soon started leading his own groups, first heading up an ensemble called Benny Velarde Y Su Pachangueros and later Benny Velarde Y Su Super Combo. As Velarde built a steady performance schedule and a string of recordings, he became an important mainstay on the Bay Area scene.
While Velarde's time with Tjader sent him into the national spotlight, his work as a bandleader established him as an essential piece of the Bay Area Latin music scene. His work with the Super Combo would inspire a generation of musicians and carry Velarde into the twenty-first century. In Part One of our interview with percussionist and bandleader Benny Velarde, we looked at his early interest in music as a child in Panama, his first steps into music in San Francisco, and his audition for Cal Tjader. Today, we discuss Velarde's time as a member of Tjader's group, his work as a percussionist at the height of San Francisco's Latin music scene during the fifties, and his emergence as a bandleader.
BENNY VELARDE: I started with Cal Tjader in 1962 or 1963; we started playing quite a bit. I played with Cal for almost four years, until around November of 1966 or 1967. The Blackhawk Club was our home base at that time. I remember Pete and Coke Escovedo coming to hear us. That's when they started to form a group.
LATIN JAZZ CORNER: What was it like working with Cal? That was early in his exploration of Latin music—was it awkward?
BV: No, no, no. He was a good drummer too, aside from playing vibes. He had the knowledge about drums. The only thing that he didn't know at that time was that Latin music is played with what we called clave. So I started teaching Cal about the clave, and he caught it right away. We were friends for a long time; I never had any problems with him. Actually, I learned a lot from Cal—how to be a professional, how to behave, and how to just concentrate on the music. I learned a lot when I played with Cal.
LJC: You formed another group after working with Cal . . .
BV: When Cal disbanded the group that we were in, we got called to play in a club that was opening at that time that was called The Copacabana. They heard about the Duran brothers and myself, so they called Manny to form a group. We called all the guys that were formerly with Cal Tjader to form that group at The Copacabana. It was situated on Broadway near Powell. I played there with Manny for a couple of years.
After we played there for a couple of years, Manny got called to play in another club, so he was going to quit The Copacabana. The owners of the Copacabana called me and told me that if I wanted to stay there and form my own band, I could stay. Of course, I grabbed the opportunity. That's how I made my first band—it was called Benny Velarde Y Sus Pachangueros. At the beginning, it was just Benny Velarde. But that music called the pachanga started developing and people were into it. Then I renamed the band. I played there for almost ten years. I played there from 1960 until 1969. I was there and we were playing four nights a week—from Thursday through Sundays.
In those times also there were after-hours clubs that had you playing from 2 to 6 in the morning. I started playing in one of those clubs; it was called Streets Of Paris. It was on Jones and Mason, near Market. I would finish playing at the Copacabana around 2:00 and then we had a gig at The Streets Of Paris, starting at 2:30 and going until 5 in the morning. I had those gigs on the weekend; we used to play there Fridays and Saturdays. On Sunday afternoons, there was another dancehall in Oakland that was called The Sands Ballroom. They would hold tardeadas, bands playing in the afternoon, from 2:00 until 6:00 in the afternoon. There was a pianist from Mexico, his name was Chico Ochoa. He had a big band there and he called me up to play with him on Sunday afternoons. So I would be at the Copacabana from Thursday through Sunday, after hours at The Streets Of Paris on Friday and Saturday, and at The Sands Ballroom on Sunday afternoons.
LJC: You also did some studio work for Fantasy Records during the sixties—what were some of your favorite sessions from that time?
BV: I did a lot of recording with Cal Tjader of course. Then they hired me to do an album, which I did in 1964; it was called Ay Que Rico. It had a lot of the music from the Pachangueros. I also did a couple of 45s with different people. There was this guy that used to own a label and he wanted to record me on a long-playing record. He put a 45 out but when we were ready to start the long-playing record, he died. So we never got the chance to do it.
LJC: When did you form the Super Combo?
BV: After I finished playing at the Copacabana, I went to play at a club that a friend of mine used to own; it was called The Boogaloo. It was on Geneva Avenue, across from The Cow Palace. This friend of mine wanted me to play there and form a bigger band. That was when I first started with my big group; it was called The Super Combo. That became the name that I used through the rest of my life with the big band. I started playing with that band at this club called The Boogaloo.
There was another club that was called the Italian Village. It used to be on Columbus, by where Bimbo's is now, a block before that. They wanted to compete with Bimbo's, but they went broke. So they closed the club. Then this friend of mine that owned The Boogaloo, had to close his club on Geneva Avenue. He had problems with his partner, so they closed it up. Then they moved to the place that used to be the Italian Village. So we moved there with them and he hired us to play on Saturday nights. We used to play there on Saturday nights for quite a while.
LJC: You did another album in 1972 called La Clavethat was more of a Latin funk recording—what was the story behind that?
BV: In 1972, I was also playing with a band at Cesar's club. Cesar opened up a club on Broadway and Green Street. When we played there, this guy came over and he wanted to use Cesar's band to record. But Cesar didn't want to do it. So the guy talked to me and told me about it. He asked if I wanted to do it, and I said, “Yea, sure, why not?" I used some of the guys that were playing with me in Cesar's band and we did this recording.
The recording was going to be promoted with this guy from Argentina that was pretty famous; he did a lot of music for movies—Lalo Schifrin. Anyway, he was supposed to be in this band and do this album. But they had a conflict of interests I guess, and he only played a couple of tunes on the album. They didn't even put his name or anything on the album. When they released it, he wasn't even finished with his part. They had to release it, because they needed to make some money on the album. I guess they wanted to at least put it out and gain back some of the funds that they invested. Lalo played a couple of tunes. We were actually booked to go to France, but when he had all these problems, all of that fell through
