Changuito

Changuito (born January 18, 1948 in Casablanca ( Havana ); actually José Luis Quintana ) is a Cuban percussionist .

Live and act

Although autodidact , he became a professional musician at the age of eight with the Havana Jazz Band under the direction of Tomás González. He played with his father, who was also a musician, then with a young band, la Pandilla de los Cabezas de Perros , and at the age of eleven he joined the band Cuba Mambo , led by Rolando García. This band played in Guanabacoa, near Havana, where Changuito now lives.

In 1969 he founded Los Van Van together with Juan Formell , where he introduced the songo , in which the combination of percussion instruments ( timbales , cowbells , woodblocks , electronic drums and cymbals ) and the striking technique with the hands are characteristic. He stayed with the group for 22 years, with whom he recorded many albums. Since the 1990s he began a solo career and recorded albums under his own name, of which the album Ritmo y Candela was nominated in 1996 for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album . He worked on Roy Hargrove's album Habana , which received a Grammy in 1998 . He also made recordings with Cal Tjader , Hilario Durán , Flora Purim and Airto Moreira ; He was also involved in the album Lágrimas negras by Bebo Valdés and Diego el Cigala , which received a Grammy in 2004.

Changuito taught many percussionists at the Instituto Superior de Arte de Cuba such as Giovanni Hidalgo , Karl Perazzo (Santana) and Diego Piñera . He also gave courses at the Universidad de Puerto Rico and the Berklee College of Music .

Discographic notes

Orestes Vilató , Changuito, Patato - Ritmo y Candela: Rhythm at the Crossroads (1995)
Changuito / Cándido Fabré / Tiburon - El muso y su sonora (2000)
Syncopation (Melt, 2000)
Telegrafía sin hilo (Cacao Música, 2007)

Fonts

Changuito: The secret of the hand-The secret of the hand-La mano secreta: 50 percussion exercises-exercises-ejercicios (book + DVD) 2011; ISBN 978-3897751262
José Luis Quintana with Chuck Silverman Changuito: A Master's Approach to the Timbales (book + DVD) New York 1998; ISBN 978-0769214351

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Changuito
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Quintana, José Luis (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Cuban percussionist
DATE OF BIRTH	January 18, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Casablanca ( Havana )