Guiro - Willie Everich, Izzy Davila, Jose Rivera - 11/17/2007

A while back Willie gave me a recording of himself, Izzy Davila and Jose "Jose Conga" Rivera playing a "Guiro" that was recorded on 11/17/2007. This recording was never meant to be shared with anyone. With the recent passing of Willie Everich and the earlier passing of Izzy Davila (2009), I wanted to share this little gem to showcase their talents. Willie was never one to brag about his abilities and would rather highlight other players/rumberos/talents.

This particular set up has Izzy Davila singing lead and playing guataca. Willie Everich is playing shekere and singing coro. Jose Rivera is playing caja and singing coro, that's it. No more singers/players! One thing Willie told me a while back which stood out is that he felt that his ability to sing and play simultaneously was the main factor that kept him working for so long. Willie told me that he felt that other players were more gifted than him but it was his ability to do the job of two men that kept him busy.

I have shared two clips below that I hope you will enjoy.

 

Manny Oquendo....

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of one of the greatest proponents of Afro-Caribbean Music. Manny Oquendo's resume reads like a who's who of luminaries with whom he has played his Timbal and Bongos. I first became aware of him as a member of Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta where he and Tommy Lopez laid down some of the hottest and sweetest rhythms ever recorded. His work with Libre and Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorquino were ground breaking to say the least. Our deepest condolences to his family.

Frankie Rodriguez

(Frank Colon, ?, Julito Collazo, Frankie Rodriguez, Steve Berrios, Photo Credit: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/)

The importance of Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorkino can't be overstated. They influenced countless musicians and more importantly (at least for me) rumberos. They were creating and recording ideas that had not yet been touched upon and their message was being heard loud and clear among rumberos in the city.

(check out: http://sentimientomanana.blogspot.com/2008/08/gfyenstill-going-strong.html for more Grupo info and goodies)

One of those Grupo standouts that is no longer here is the late Frankie Rodriguez. Frankie was a great singer of rumba and santo, and these examples can be heard to great extent on Grupo's first recording "Concepts in Unity", (at least his guiro singing).


In my opinion Frankie wasn't a polished singer like lets say, Eugenio "Totico" Arango or an Abraham Rodriguez, but what he lacked in tone he more than made up for in ibiono and all out raw delivery. When you hear Frank sing you know he is definitely singing from the heart. This is one of the main reasons why I gravitated to his style when I first heard him on Grupo's stuff.

(Tony Jimenez, Pablito Rosario, Frankie Rodriguez, Photo Credit: Pablito Rosario)

Frankie at some point is playing with Julito Collazo y su Tambor. He plays conga with Ismael Miranda's group, Revelacion. Frankie then goes to Puerto Rico where he helps form "Zaperoko" along with the late Penalty and Edwin "Zaperoko" Feliciano. This early group featured Frank on vocals along with, Edwin Feliciano on Trombone, John "Penalty" Oliva on congas, William Cepeda on trombone, Ray Concepcion (on piano I believe), among others. This group definitely had swing, click on the album below to download their rare out of print LP, "Cosa de Locos" on the Montuno Records Label.

Frankie sang in Jerry's early Fort Apache recordings and he sings a great rumba on, "El Rio Esta Hondo", on Fort Apache's "Obatala" recording.

Sadly, that is really all the info I have on Frankie Rodriguez for now, if and when I get more, I will definitely put it out there. In the meantime enjoy this little video clip, with a young Giovanni Hidalgo on congas, and Frankie on vocals tearing it up.

("Zaperokero", Video Credit: 1zaperoko)

*thanks to Jorge Ginorio for identifying the okonkolero in the first pic

9/11

Just want to take a moment for all the lives lost on a day that will live in infamy and sorrow in the hearts of so many. Being a New Yorker, at times I have found myself unappreciative of all this great city has had to offer. The WTC was definitely one of them. If I remember correctly in June or July of the same year I had taken a trip with my cousin to see none other than "El Gran Combo" de Puerto Rico perform for free at the base of the towers in the plaza. It was a great show, and one of those lasting memories that I will hold dear and near to my heart for many reasons. To all those that have lost their lives, to those brave souls, cops, firefighters, EMT's, volunteers, regular joe's that went in there risking life and limb and are still feeling the effects till this day, I just want to take a moment to say thanks.

I put in a call to Felix this morning to talk about the late Michael Rodriguez. It had dawned on me that since he passed two weeks after the towers fell his passing may be related directly to this event. According to Felix, at some point after the towers fell, Michael ran all the way from the WTC area to Harlem. A week after Michael gets himself checked out after not feeling to good and turns out that he passed in his sleep a week after that. Now, not much info is known as to the exact cause of death but they say that some kind of heart failure was the cause. I mention this for two reasons, one because Michael Rodriguez was mentioned earlier in our blog and died waaaay to early, and two he was most likely among the many New Yorkers that suffered the latent effects of all the dust and what not that was in the air at the time. I don't like to speculate without the facts but I wanted to put it out there to highlight this particular day and also (with all the respect to his familly and friends) not forget the great up and coming tambolero that was, Michael Rodriguez.

On a side note, Willie told me that tonight on the History Channel they will have a 9/11 special and said special will included footage taken by non other than Alfie Alvarado, I believe it starts at 9pm. Here is a small blurb on Alfie:

Alfie. A videographer and chronicler who has documented some of the most important moments in Latin Jazz and its musicians with a singular passion, Alfie Alvarado has been a longtime fixture in Latin Jazz circles for almost twenty years.

http://www.history.com/minisites/9-11

Ralph

"Era tremenda escopeta.." - Felix Sanabria,8/08

(Sonido Isleno - Frank Cotto, Felix Sanabria, Oscar Onyos, Michael Rodriguez (ibae), Ben Lapidus, Pic courtesy of Felix Sanabria)

"With sadness I regret to inform that Michael Rodriguez, a young and up and coming tambolero passed away on Saturday, September 29th, 2001. For those that are interested his body will be at the funeral home located at East 116th street between 1st and 2nd Ave. in el Barrio." (Felix Sanabria, O1')

Once in a while there comes along a rumbero that really stands out for various reasons. Its either their facility in learning the tradition, or their ability to properly perform the various rhythms whether it be rumba, bata, abakua, palo, or the other myriad of rhythms from Afro Caribbea.

According to the people I have spoken to, Michael Rodriguez fit this mold. A son of El Barrio (112th and Lexington Ave to be exact), he was a rather young cat at the time of this passing, but he was well on his way to being an important figure in the NYC scene. In a conversation I had with Jose Rivera the following was said:

"We were playing at this place in El Barrio, we had a rumba de cajones going on (we were playing Apache's cajones), and we started out real slow and as we were playing I spotted Mikey checking us out. Well as he left he said, "yeah, they are doing it right". (Jose Rivera, 8/08)

Getting your props from Mike was not an easy task. See Mike, as many people have told me started young, and it was as if he was born to do this. He could play, dance, sing, and he was a fast learner. According to Felix he was one of his top students at the time and Felix took him everywhere to gig. Felix told me that just early that year (before he died in 01') he took him to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC and Mike played some okonkolo, bongo, sang and danced up a storm.

(Michael Rodriguez ?-9/29/2001, Ibae...)

Unfortunately as I have mentioned, Mike passed away waaaaay too early, and this came as very upsetting news to the NY rumba community, his friends, and of course his family. People like Mike are the reason I put out this blog, and I just hope I did his legacy a little justice...

more info to come...