12.07.07 | Karlheinz Stockhausen, Composer, Is Dead at 79
BERLIN (AP) -- Karlheinz Stockhausen, whose innovative electronic works made him one of the most important composers of the postwar era, has died at age 79.

Stockhausen, who gained fame through his avant-garde works in the 1960s and '70s and later moved into composing works for huge theaters and other projects, died Wednesday, Germany's Music Academy said, citing members of his family. No cause of death was given.

He is known for his electronic compositions that are a radical departure from musical tradition and incorporate influences as varied as the visual arts, the acoustics of a particular concert hall, and psychology.

12.04.07 | Remembering Carlos "Patato" Valdes / November 4, 1926 - December 4, 2007
From Carlini Group: New York, NY - December 7, 2007 - The world lost one of Cuba's most significant keepers of the Afro-Cuban flame this week. Carlos Valdés, known to the world as Patato (a reference to his diminutive size), died from complications of Emphysema Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio. He was 81.

Although he may have resembled a leprechaun, Patato was an enormous figure in the world of Afro-cuban drumming. He, along with Mongo Santamaria, Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella and Candido Camero, collectively codified their language of rhythm for mainstream American audiences upon their arrival to this country.

He was one of the very first congueros to tap melodies from his congas. In fact, he often took his time tuning his congas before each performance (and sometimes during) as the drums needed to ring the precise tones to achieve their melodic statements. And since it was very hard to keep his congas in tune, he later invented a ring which attached itself around the skin of the drum which he could tighten with a key thereby keeping it in tune.

I had many wonderful memories working with Patato over the years. I practically grew up watching him perform. And when I settled in New York, I was honored with the privilege of working with him on numerous occasions. Whenever I was producing a Latin Jazz show, I was sure to call on Patato to be among the leading players as he was such a showman. In fact, many of the club owners and festivals demanded that he be apart of the show I was packaging. And rightfully so. He knew how to work a crowd. And people just loved him.

I can remember celebrating one New Year's eve in Florida with Patato who was then 64 years old. We were on Hibiscus Island at someone's palatial mansion. How we got there was another story. But we were the evening entertainment. I played guitar with my half-brother Richard Puente (son of Tito) on bass and a few other local musicians. And, of course, Patato on congas. Patato was a hit. He sang, danced, smacked the drums like no one's business. And when it was all done, he ate half the food at the party.

On another occasion, Patato had sold me a set of his LP model congas which I made him sign. But I also asked him to give me lessons as a condition of purchasing them. He agreed. So on the following week, I had a car pick him up and drive him to my place. But before we could begin the lesson, he needed a six-pack of Heineken to loosen up. So there we were in my apartment in mid-town Manhattan banging away on congas for several hours, drinking beer and annoying the heck out of my neighbors. When I failed to execute one of his many licks well, he would rap me on my hands with a clave stick (boy did that hurt) and show me the correct way after yelling at me. I'll never forget that lesson.

One year I organized a birthday tribute to Patato at New York's Birdland and the list of well-wishers was enormous. Fellow Conga Master Ray Barretto was one who was in attendance. And after he played a burning chart, he stood up towering over his Conga drums and said to the crowd that "Patato is to me the single most creative and musical percussionist I have ever had the honor of knowing."

There will never ever be another like him. That's the God's honest truth.

Long live Patato!

09.14.07 | Our New girl NEVE was born today
at 8:46AM 6.14 lb & 19" at Lawrance Hospital, Bronxville, NY.

09.11.07 | Jazz great Joe Zawinul dies at 75
VIENNA, Austria - Joe Zawinul, the jazz keyboardist who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz-rock fusion with the band Weather Report, has died, a hospital official said. He was 75.

08.17.07 | Max Roach, Master of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83
Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940s and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners’ expectations, died early yesterday in Manhattan. He was 83. A spokesman for Blue Note Records, Mr. Roach’s last label, announced his death, at an undisclosed hospital. No cause was given. Mr. Roach, who had lived on the Upper West Side for many years, had been known to be in poor health for some time. Mr. Roach’s death closes a chapter in American musical history. He was the last surviving member of a small circle of adventurous musicians — among them Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and a handful of others.

07.31.07 | Galia 2 years old !!
Our Daughter Galia is 2! Wow times go fast. Here are some pictures from her birthday party at Fort Tryon Park on July 22, 2007.

07.20.07 | Gyil Master Kakraba Lobi Dies in Accra on Friday, July 20 2007
Ghana - American professor Julie Strand reported today the passing of Kakraba Lobi. He died on Friday, July 20, at Ridge Hospital in Accra, Ghana. "Kakraba Lobi was one of the foremost players of the Lobi xylophone and was one of the first Ghanaian musicians of this instrument to record and tour outside of Africa," said Julie Strand, visiting instructor of Lewis & Clark College's Summer Program in Ghana. "The popularity of the Lobi xylophone in the US and Europe is due in large part to his work."

"He also worked extensively with Dr. J.H.K. Nketia, performed regularly on Ghanaian state radio, and held a long-standing post with the Ghana Dance Ensemble at the University of Ghana in Legon. His career blazed a trail for subsequent xylophonists and other musicians from Ghana to build their careers abroad, and he has instructed countless students over the decades. His loss is greatly felt by the musical community here in Ghana."

Kakraba Lobi was born in Kalba Saru in northern Ghana in 1939. For over twenty years, he taught at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

One of the few masters of the complex Ghanaian percussion instrument gyil, Kakrabi gained international reputation as a concert soloist. In addition to performing throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, Kakrabi also lectured to ethnomusicologists at universities worldwide.

The gyil is an ancient xylophone that requires great mastery to play. It is the national instrument of the Dagara and Lobi nations of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

07.01.07 | Today I moved my Studio from Greenpoint, Brooklyn to Yonkers, NY.
GREAT space, come - visit and play music, any time !!

04.27.07 | Russian cellist Rostropovitch dies at 80
Azerbaijan-born cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (nicknamed Slava, Russian for glory) has passed yesterday at age 80, after having been admitted to a Moscow hospital in February this year, allegedly for intestinal cancer. The exact cause of death however has not been released. His coffin has been put in the Moscow Conservatory today, and many prominent and thousands of other Russians came to salute him. The cello player only died four days after his friend Boris Yeltsin.

02.17.07 | Ray Barretto, 1929–2006
When I got the news that Ray Barretto had been taken from us February 17, I cried. And then I went back to the music and listened. Something Ray always used to teach young bloods like me. "Open your ears, man," he'd say, but he wasn't just talking about music. "You think you know. You don't know."
(By Pablo Guzman)