Profile

About me

Born and raised in Brooklyn New York to Puerto Rican parents.
The best memories as a child were at the end of the school year, As I knew that shortly thereafter I would be on plane on my way to Puerto Rico for the summer. There was never a lack of music or musicians in my family in New York or Puerto Rico. Most of my uncles were Guitarist or Cuatristas and my dad of course was the only percussionist. As a young child I remembered how amazed I was by watching my dad play the congas, it was then that I realized that I would also be following that tradition.

At the age sixteen I got in some trouble in New York and my mother shipped me out to Live in Puerto Rico with my grandmother. It was there that I was exposed to the many different styles of music across the island. Being 16 years and being at the club in the island was no problem in those days. As my friends and I went to these so called clubs or Lechoneras as we would call them. My friends had their eyes on the girls, the girls had their eyes on me, and I had my eyes on the band.

My love and understanding for Salsa, Merenngue, Bomba, Plena, Boleros, Trio music, and my favorite, improvised Parandas (only on Christmas, mostly sang to Plena) grew intensely. Once I graduated from high school I joined the US Army. While stationed overseas in Germany I was surprised to see how many Salsa and Merengue bands there were. It was there that my simple interest became very serious after playing with a few bands. I now live in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I'm an IT systems analyst by trade, and play with some local bands as a percussionist for hire. I pride myself in the tradition of the music and do everything I can to pass it along to new generations to come, particularly my 5 boys. If you're ever in the Corpus Christi area drop me a line