Chatting with Orestes Vilat is like taking a verbal walking tour of a half-century of Latin music. Pluck a name from the annals of salsa, Latin rock, Cuban roots music or Latin jazz and the odds are strong that this Cuban-born, New York-bred percussionist has tapped out polyrhythms alongside them: Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Celia Cruz, Rubn Blades, Johnny Pacheco, La Lupe, McCoy Tyner, Linda Ronstadt and, of course, mambo king and nonpareil bassist Israel “Cachao" Lpez.
Among Vilat's most influential accomplishments are virtually reinventing the art of playing the Cuban timbales and godfathering the birth of East Coast salsa.
So, all things considered, it's probably for the best that he never learned how to hold a guitar properly.
“This is how it started," says Vilat, 64, warming to a familiar narrative during a recent L.A. stopover from his East Bay home to promote his new album, “It's About Time." He'll perform tonight at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.
