Results for "percussion"

Vernon A.J. Chatlein

Born: November 28, 1984

Vernon Allan Joseph Chatlein Born: 28 November 1984, in Willemstad-Curacao Vernon Chatlein is Curaçaoan percussionist with a background in Afro-Cuban, Latin Music and Jazz. In 2011 he was awarded the prize from “Stichting Jazz Talent Award” and that was in turn the start of his jazz group Vernon Chatlein’s Elements. Growing up he used to play baseball for the neighbourhood team and never listened to any music. That was what he thought until he was 16 when he had his first conga lesson from Pedro Driggs, Cuban Percussionist and Teacher. ‘I still recall coming home after one of my first conga lessons and stumbling upon my father’s CD collection

Gumbi Ortiz

Have congas, will travel - that pretty much defines funky and frenetic world of Gumbi Ortiz "Pronounced Goombi", who brings his rich Puerto Rican/Cuban heritage and a lifetime of eclectic musical influences and experiences - from jazz/fusion, pop and funk to retro-soul, samba and even a hint of Irish jig—to his highly anticipated solo debut Miami. Renowned throughout the world for his nonstop tours over the past 19 years with fusion guitar legend Al Di Meola, the charismatic conguero gathered a powerful ensemble of jazz greats (most longtime friends, naturally) in fashioning a multi-cultural tribute to the New York native’s adopted home state of Florida, where he has lived since 1980. At the helm of this All Star CD is Executive Producer Kermit Weeks, producer Dan O’Brien, and Roger Nichols, (7 time Grammy Award winning engineer, best known for his 30 years with Steely Dan) senior engineer

Mulatu Astatke

Mulatu Astatke is an innovative multi-talented musician, composer, arranger and the founder of Ethio Jazz. Born in Jimma, Ethiopia, Mulatu Astatke studied at Lindisfarne College and Trinity College of Music in England and Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. As a vibraphone, conga and percussion player, he has performed at numerous concerts in Ethiopia and abroad, including appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York, Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and Barbican Center in London. Mulatu also performed as a guest artist with the Duke Ellington orchestra during its visit to Ethiopia in 1971

Mino Cinelu

Born: March 10, 1957

Master percussionist/composer/singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Mino Cinelu's first solo album has been a long time coming. It's been 20 years, to be exact. Mino Cinelu, his self-titled debut on Blue Thumb Records, has certainly been worth the long wait. The album is a musical journey into the mind and heart of an internationally-respected performer. The short list of artists who have called on Cinelu for their tours and records features a number of major stars from the worlds of jazz and pop, including: Miles Davis, Weather Report, Sting, Cassandra Wilson, Lou Reed, Geri Allen, David Sanborn, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Branford Marsalis, Tori Amos, Bruce Springsteen, Christian McBride, Tracy Chapman, Stevie Wonder, and Bonnie Raitt. To call this project a solo album is almost literal: Cinelu was joined in the studio by only two musicians American guitarist Mitch Stein and Cameroon bassist Richard Bona

Willie Bobo

Born: February 28, 1934

Willie Bobo was one of the key players who fused influences from Latin soul, rock, and jazz in the late 1960s and 1970s. Willie went on to become an important band leader, whose music reflected the traditions of Spanish and Black Harlem. Born William Correa of Puerto Rican parents, in 1934, Willie was raised in New York City. In 1947, he worked as a band boy for Machito’s Afro-Cubans, one of the most popular Latin music ensembles of the era. Late at night, during the last set, he was sometimes allowed to sit in on bongos, getting his first taste of performing on a bandstand in the company of world class musicians

Warren Smith

Born: May 14, 1934

Warren Smith is an American jazz percussionist, known as a contributor to Max Roach's M'boom ensemble and leader of the Composer's Workshop Ensemble Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family; his father played saxophone and clarinet with Noble Sissle and Jimmy Noone, and his mother was a harpist and pianist. He studied clarinet under his father from age four. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1957, then took a master's in percussion at the Manhattan School of Music in 1958. One of his earliest major recording dates was with Miles Davis as a vibraphonist in 1957

Washboard Sam

Born: July 15, 1910

Robert Brown was reputedly the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, who also fathered Big Bill Broonzy. Broonzy often joked that Sam was his half brother when they performed together. Sam was raised in Arkansas, working on a farm. He moved to Memphis in the early '20s to play the blues. While in Memphis, he met Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon and the trio played street corners, collecting tips from passer-bys. In 1932, Washboard Sam moved to Chicago. Initially he played for tips, but soon he began performing regularly with "half brother" Big Bill Broonzy. Within a few years, Sam was supporting Broonzy on the guitarist's Bluebird recordings

Nana Vasconcelos

Born: August 2, 1944

Premier percussionist Nana Vasconcelos was an innovator in the fusion of Brazilian rhythms and jazz in the 1970’s. Born in Recife on the Northeast Coast of Brazil and, after a lifetime of playing throughout the world, his roots are apparent in everything he plays. When Nana was 12-years-old he began playing with his father, a guitarist, and in the city's marching band. Prodded by intense curiosity and an inquisitive ear that led him from the music of Brazil's greatest composer, Villa Lobos, to Jimi Hendrix, Nana came to learn all the Brazialian percussion instruments and, by the early Sixties, came to specialize in the berimbau

Emil Richards

Born: September 2, 1932

Richards started playing the xylophone at age six. In high school he performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He studied with Al Lepak at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, graduating in 1952. After being drafted, he belonged to an Army band in Japan and played with Toshiko Akiyoshi. He cited Lionel Hampton as his first and biggest influence on vibraphone. In 1954 Richards moved to New York City, where he played with Charles Mingus, Ed Shaughnessy, and Ed Thigpen while doing studio recordings for Perry Como, the Ray Charles Singers, and Mitchell Ayres. For about three years he was a member of a group led by George Shearing, then moved to Los Angeles and worked with Don Ellis and Paul Horn

Manny Oquendo

Born: January 1, 1931

Manny Oquendo - timbales, latin percussionist Latin Bandleader Manny Oquendo, is a veteran of the days when Latin bands crowded into a studio to polish off a recording in an all-night session. Oquendo’s musical education consisted of the old-school, "just play" approach, and he was in the right place to learn. He grew up on Kelly Street in the Bronx, New York, not far from the great Cuban tres player, Arsenio Rodriguez and famed pianist Noro Morales. And a lot of kids who’d later make their names in Latin music-such as Joe Cuba, and the Palmieri brothers, One floor down from the Oquendo apartment was the Almacenes Hernandez record shop