| Dates or Sequence |
Narrative including Bands & Personnel
and Musical Influences |
| 1970/00/01 |
I worked with many
S.F. and San Jose bands, small and large, playing congas mainly but
frequently playing drums substituting for drummers who could not make a
job and frequently at the last minute. I could not read the charts and
frequently did not even know particular rhythms, e.g., mazurka, German
polka, Viennese waltz, etc., but I have apparently always had a "good
ear" and was able to "fake it" well enough to get by! I
played virtually all those jobs "cold"! I played multiple times
with most of the bands.
Bands included: Leo Acosta Orchestra (Leo had recorded
two original tunes "Que Bueno Se Puso El Baile" and "La
Flor" on a 45 on Capitol Records in Mexico in 1971?); Leo Toscano
Orchestra; Chris Carmona Band; Connie Caudillo Band; Jimmy Flores Band;
Rene Della Rosa.
1999/05/14: Reading John S. Roberts "Latin
Jazz" on page137, he mentions piano player Al Zulaica and I recalled
that I had played several times with Al (don't know where, don't know
when). |
| 1970/00/02 |
Sometime in the
early 70’s, I played congas on three jobs (San Francisco, Oakland, San
Jose) with Chico Ochoa’s Orchestra backing Celia Cruz!
Chico Ochoa Orchestra: Chico Ochoa, leader, ?; Willy
Vargas, timbales, vocal; other band members I did not know; and me again
on congas.
Willie Vargas had gotten me the job when Chico said he
needed a conguero, Willie suggested me and I got the job, sight unseen,
sound unheard! I just showed up for the first job. In 1998, Rudi Petschek
sent me the negatives of the black and white photos that show Celia in
front of the band. The entire band is watching the leader for cues except
for me and I am watching Willie for cues :>) Those three jobs are still
a major highlight of my musical career. Pete Escovedo sang and played bell
on at least one of the concerts. I sure wish that someone had taped those
concerts!
|
Sands Ballroom (Oakland, Calif.)
Front L-R: Califa, ?, Pete
Escovedo, Willie Vargas Back
Jess Silva on bass. |
Sands Ballroom (Oakland, Calif.)
Front row L-R: Califa, Celia, ?,
Willie Vargas, ?. |
The following photos are Celia Cruz with my head showing
on the bottom left: |
| 1970/00/03 |
I also recorded
with the "Los Cuatro Amigos" on sound tracks for the children’s
PBS bi-lingual "Sesame Street"-like TV program called
"Villa Alegre". I played congas but also overdubbed bongos and
bell. I even played drums for one samba. This is the only job for which I
ever received a residual check! When we recorded for TV, we got paid well
but we signed away replaying rights for TV, but when they made an LP, I
received a check for about $125! I think I made a Xerox of the check but I
have no idea where the copy might be.
Los Cuatro Amigos: Moises Rodriguez, leader, arranger,
guitar, vocal; Cheo ?, guitar?, vocal; Willy ?, bass. Mike Hermosillo
later joined them on trumpet for a world tour. They asked me to go with
them on drums and congas but my new computer career sort of kept me from
going. I somewhat regret not going!
+++Villa Allegre LP? Does anyone reading this, know
where I can get the LP or a tape copy? If you do, please email me. |
| 1971/10/00 |
I worked with
Augusto Amador and we recorded a few tunes with strange (for those days)
time signatures, i.e., 5/4 and 7/4.
Augusto Amador (Latin?), leader, composer, arranger,
piano and ARP, recording mixer; Eddie Valencia, drums; you know who,
congas;
+++1971/10/?? Tape |
| 1973/00/00 |
Anecdote: One Sunday afternoon, at San Jose’s
Starlight Ballroom, Sonora Mariano played opposite Cal Tjader. Tjader’s conga
player (the one after Bill Fitch, I think) played with his congas on
stands with a mike up each conga! I played with the big band sitting down
with congas on a board and no mikes. His sound was muffled, cloudy, and
mushy! My congas were clear and clean. On our break, Tjader ask me if I
would like to sit with him. I was tired and/or a bit scared and declined!
To this day, I sometimes wonder how my musical career might have been
different, if I had accepted and maybe started to work with Tjader.
|
| 1973/00/01 |
I quit playing
Latin and switched to playing drums, first with a Hawaiian rock group at
the Tiki Ho in Los Gatos. Ted Rivera had taken me there one night and I
had played a few tunes on congas and then sat in on drums for another
couple of tunes. When their drummer left a few weeks later, I was asked
to play with them!.This is where I met Pete Elisary. I then played with
another pop group which included Dickie ?, the bass player from the
previousTiki Ho job.
Anecdote: When I left Latin music, the guys in Sonora
Marianao did not think I was quitting Latin music (they thought I was
going to another Latin band) until I sold virtually all of my instruments
(congas, bongos, timbales, drums, etc.) from the stage of Arturo’s Quiet
Village on my last night with the proviso that I could buy them back
within a year. I did get all my Latin stuff back within the year except
for the congas which I had sold to Joyce Zavaleta (see above) so I had to
buy another set of congas (GonBops this time) and I purchased a cheap drum
set and enhanced it with a decent snare, cymbals, and hardware. As of
1998, I still have the GonBops and this drum set, although it has been
enhanced considerably and is hardly recognizable as that old set! |
| 1973/00/02 |
When Pete Elisary
started "The Poor Boys of Hawaii", a pop, oldies-but-goodies,
rock, PR, Hawaiian and Latin band, he asked me to play drums. We played
mainly in Hayward and S.F. clubs and parties. Except for me, all the Poor
Boys were all PR from Hawaii.
Poor Boys of Hawaii: Pete Elisary, leader, vocals,
guitar; Herb Rodriguez, vocals, guitar; Johnny Rodriguez, vocals, congas;
Eddie Quinones, vocals, bass; yours truly, drums.
|
L-R: Eddie, Califa, Pete, Herb, Johnny |
L-R: Pete, Califa, Herb, Eddie, Johnny |
1974 L-R: Pete, Califa, Herb, Eddie, front Johnny |
Note: In about 1991, I saw Johnny’s son playing
quattro with a jibero band in Hayward at PRUMA Hall. Wow! What a musician
and so young! And I got to sit for a couple of tunes.
Anecdote: The following is a bit long winded but it is
difficult to really describe in words: I recall a particular tune which
started out as a PR seis caliente and turned into a bit of a descarga in
which I was in control of the tempo and structure. We would start at a
normal fast tempo but whenever I felt like it, I would change the tempo. I
would do a lead in of some kind and slow down the beat and the dancers
would follow. I would do it again and again with the dancers following
each tempo change keeping the same steps. Eventually the beat would be so
slow that many of the dancers would have to leave the floor but the
dancers who could would continue dancing the same steps at the tempo of a
very very slow bolero! I would then little by little go through the
reverse process, speeding up instead of slowing down and the dancers,
without missing a step, would continue to dance. Eventually the tempo was
about three times the speed of the original startup! We would usually lose
a few more couples during the speedup! After that I would again bring the
tempo down and I would continue to slow down or speed up and eventually
there would be only a few couples remaining. When the tune ended both the
dancers and the band received resounding ovations from the audience and
the dancers! This tune often would last for more than a half hour and was
a bit like a dance contest! Controlling this particular tune was a real
joy for me!
+++tapes? |
| 1976/11/01 |
I had a job transfer
and moved to San Diego. I did not pursue music in San Diego because I had
"paid my dues" in discrimination from many Latinos (obviously
not all Latinos but many!) in the San Francisco Bay Area and did not want
to go through it all again. Actually, I did sit in once on congas for a
couple of tunes with Jack Constanzo when I first got to S.D. |
| 1980/00/00 |
I played congas and
then drums for several months at a Mexican restaurant with a keyboard
player. I played for free meals/drinks. I was there a couple of nights a
week as my time allowed, although the keyboard player played 5 or 6
nights. I played with him until he was asked one night by some customers
what night the drummer would be there so they could come on that night!
After that, no sharing of tips, no calls, and shortly thereafter, I got
the hint and quit going to play! |
| 1986/00/01 |
I started playing drums with a
country trio, Flat Rock. Wayne is the husband of a co-worker of mine at
UCSD. Flat Rock increased to a quartet after Doc left the band. I played
with Flat Rock for about 8? years. No charts but lots of rehearsals.
Playing with Flat Rock is where I discovered a way to fake a Cajun beat
which has proven to be useful for several other types of rhythms.
Flat Rock: Wayne Walker, leader, vocals, guitar; Dennis
"Doc" Gilbert, vocals, bass; Califa, drums. Later, Valerie Alean
joined us on guitar and vocals; when Doc left, Valerie switched to bass;
and later Lenny Arnoth joined the band on guitar and vocals.
Anecdote: One night when playing at a VFW Hall in
Santee, Wayne who often did a bit of a Leon Redbone imitation in one of
the tunes, did not do the imitation, and I for some reason did a minute or
so of a pretty good "Leon Redbone", my first and last solo
vocal. I did, however, frequently sing some bass background. And for some
unknown reason, I was able to sing the middle harmony in La Bamba even
though I could not usually sing harmony without being "pulled
off" by the lead!
Tunes from a 1989/03/28 demo tape on which Flat Rock
(Wayne, Doc, Valerie, and myself) backed up Carol Stebbie, a female
vocalist with whom Wayne used to work. The recording was done cold (we
just got there and played with no rehearsing and the miking was only so
so) and is definitely not an example of our and especially my best
drumming but I have included them because they are the only recordings I
have of the group. The demo tape was to be sent to Nashville: Bobby_McGee
and Heartaches_By_The_Dozen.
|
1994 L-R: Valerie, Califa, Lennie,
Wayne. |
1991/04/?? L-R: Lennie, Valerie,
Califa, Wayne. |
|
| 19890326 |
I was raise to the degree of
Master Mason. |
|
