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Hello Eguie, how are you? I'm fine and you?
Awesome, I'm good too. So, I know that when you were younger you used to practice with
Giovanni Dalgo, right? My soul brother, yes
What were you doing? Can you explain like, one day of your practice days?
Oh my god, basically I was the first one to have a driver license, you know, to have a
car, so basically I pick up one of the other guys who is called Antony Chillon, an amazing
percussionist, Bongo player, and Conga and everything, at his home, like at 7 o'clock
in the morning and at 7.30 we get already to Giovanni's house and start praticing for
eight hours in his room. Of course we stopped for some lunch and, you know, Giovanni's grandma
make some beans and stuff like that, nice, we go down, eat and back to the second floor
because he lived in a two floor house. And study man, practice, practice a lot, a lot,
a lot, a lot, exercises. What were you doing? Like, only exercises?
Yeah, can you bring me that Conga, please? Exercises and rithms, but basically exercises.
The most important one: This exercise, we've been there and developedthat for hours.
And with the other hand too, with two hands...
That kind of exercises, and then with two congas, three Congas, four Congas, then Conga,
Bongo, Timbales, everything, we covered everything, but basically exercises, you know, for one
side and for the other side, and something that Giovanni started doing that, I don't
know from where he took that idea, in the old days, before you guys were born, we didn't
have CDs, we've had LPs, with vinyl, records, and the turn table come with different speeds,
so the normal speed was 33 and something, but you can go to 48 or 78, so Giovanni started
putting those records in 78, which was very fast, and playing on top of that.
Very, very fast, that's why he's that fast, and we couldn't do it that way, haha, he's a genious, he's a truly genious.
I met Tito Puente in 1978, before that I was
studying at the School of Music in Portorico, and a friend of mine, part of the school also,
told me about Tito Puente, I didn't know who Tito Puente was at that time, so, Tito Puente?
No, this guy is the King, and I said, oh yeah? He's the king? Good, so I went back to my
home and i found that my brother, who is older than me, had a record of Tito Puente, it was
called Tito Puente Unlimited, and I've put the record and I was like, it's good, you
know, it's good, but then I started to do more research and started listening more about
that name Tito Puente, Tito Puente, everybody talk about Tito Puente, and I... you know...
This guy is God, and, then I started to listen more to other records, and other music, and
I defenitely discovered that he was what everybody said, the King, he was the King, there's nobody
like, so I started to learn his music and buying all his records and finally in 1978
I got the chance to meet him, thanx, once again to Giovanni because remember Giovanni
comes from a family of musicians, his father was a very famous Conga player in Portorico,
Mayaguez, he used to play with big names in Porto Rico, so through Giovanni we got the
door open to the rehearsals and stuff, when Tito Puente came to Portorico and there is
a photo in Internet of the day that I met him. And after that, that was it, when I saw Tito,
well I saw Tito performing before I met him, I saw him performing in the Colliseum in Portorico
with his Big Band from New York, and I wasn't believeing what I was seeing at that time,
I was like, what is this, man? What is this guy? And that was the day that i said: I want
to do this, thanx to that. So after that I met him an year after and then we became basically
at the beginning was more like I was more like a groupie, you know, behind him, but
everytime he came to Portorico I was there with my camera with my record, he signed to
me and we became friends and in one way he was a mentor for me, because, and a teacher,
because everything that I know goes back to him, you know, I started with him, with that
style, that way of playing, that mentality, untill in 19... well everytime he came to
Portorico I was there with him, but in 1998 it was the time when, well actually two years
before I was touring with Arturo Sandoval, trumpet player from Cuba...
Where you playing Congas or...? Congas, Congas, and we've made a recording
called Hot House, and Tito Puente was the guest of the record, so, I hanged with Tito
a lot and I was part of the recording, so I recorded with him, and two years after that
we did that tour in Europe with the, was called the Latin Crossing, actually there is a video,
it's like two videos I believe, on Youtube of us playing in Spain. Latin Crossing with
Steve Wingwood from England, Arturo Sandoval,Cuba and Tito Puente, Portorico, and the drummer
was Horacio El *** Hernandez, me on percussion, and Oskar Cartaya on bass, Otmaro Ruiz on
piano keyboard, Eddie Kaye on Saxophone and Tommy Antony with the guitar, that was the
tour, and I said, man, you know, Tito is my biggest influence and untill the day I die
I'm going to mention his name everyday, everyday at one point of the day I'm going to say the
word Tito Puente, for the rest of my life.
Do you have any advice for people who start facing the music industry? Man, the most important thing is listen to
the old stuff. Tradition...
Doesn't matter what kind of music, Rock, or Jazz, or Latin, or whatever, go back and listen
to the old records, listen to the people that made that music famous, and respect. That's
number one, respect... When you start listening to that music and really, really, really listening,
I'm not talking about if you like, for example, Jazz, you put John Coltrane, and you listen
only to John Coltrane solo, great solo, listen to the solo of the piano, you are missing
the whole thing