Dani Cortaza This virtuoso Guitarist stands out because of his extraordinary musical skills and original interpretations of so many different musical styles. This talented musician, who has more than two decades of artistic life to his credit, was born in Buenos Aires Argentina. At the tender age of 12 he introduced himself to music teaching himself to play. In 1984, the Cortaza family moved to Asuncion, Paraguay where he formed his first musical group. They were soon winning first prize in various local festivals in Paraguay. Earning the title of “Music Professor” in 1986, that same year he embarked on a South America tour, not only as a soloist, but also as a member of several musical ensembles. During that period he starred in diverse Latin –American folk music presentations playing pieces such as: the Argentina samba, chacarera, tango, milonga, Chilean cueca and the Paraguayan polka and guarania as well as the waltz, boleros and cha-cha-cha to name a few. His true passion, however, was jazz and in that early period the threw himself into its harmony and improvisation. In 1988 he traveled to Japan with the group Rasgueado, whose repertoire was exclusively based on Latin America music. He ended up giving concerts in several Japanese cities as well; namely, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Wakayama and Sandaya. After his return and joining with the Band Asuncion Jazz Quintet, in 1991 he decided to dedicate himself solely to jazz and Brazilian music. He would return to Japan once more in 1995 with the music group Los Indios for a special private concert for the Heir Prince Naruhito and other members of the imperial Japanese. As well Los Indios headlined a mega concert to benefit UNICEF and, the United Nations Children’s Fund. The buzz had been created and upon his return to Paraguay in 1997,he was invited to participate in numerous jazz concerts sharing the stage with world renowned groups as well as other jazz festivals in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, as well as Venezuela. The years to follow saw Dani traveling to Switzerland and Germany where he was invited to participate in various compilation cds with other Paraguayan artists living in those countries. A special Kennedy Center concert brought Dani Cortaza to Washington DC in 2002, where he now calls home. Dani is the founder of two dynamic musical groups specializing in Latin jazz and Brazilian music of with he directs. Additionally, he teaches guitar privately. Dani has had many crowning moments; among them is the 2004 concert with flautist Nestor Torres and jazz pianist Dick Morgan. April 2005 found him in the theater Tom Jobim in Asuncion, where he received excellent review by the press. Currently Dani is working on his own composition to share with the world! Dani Cortaza is a Master Guitarist plain and simple. He has earned that title. Once you see him live it will be evident when his fingers begin to fly!!
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Juan Carmona (lead guitar)
Known as Stevie Ray Juan among his friends. He plays anything from Boleros, Juan has played with all the famous artists in Peru where he was born. His fans are always watching his fingers trying to learn what they can. You can hear his unique style in the new album self title: “PATRICK ALBAN |
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Mark Easley(bass player) The original bass player on Patrick’s two albums. He has played with artists |
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Education: National School of Art, Havana, Cuba. |
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Hoppy Hopkings: Drums, percussion, vocalsEl Señor “Hoppy Puentes” is the leader of the famous band “Mambo Combo” Once in a while you can catch Hoppy playing drums when Rafael is out of For more info on Hoppy and his band: click here |
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Juan “Cheito Quiñones: Percussion, Vocals, Trumpet all around master musician On special occasions or when he is in town “Cheito” joins Patrick and his band.If you recognize his name is because he has recorded and played with so many
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Benito Lopez  |
Born in Washington DC of proud Mexican parents. Benito was raised in the Mt Pleasant and Adams Morgan neighborhoods. Growing up, he learned the basics from his brother Adalid, who was a conga player with several musical groups in Mexico. There was always a pair of congas in the house to jam with. As a teenager, during the summers on the weekends there were always drum jams in For the past 15 years Benito has been playing Latin jazz, Salsa and rock with Recordings: Groups played with: |
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Jeff Lopez  |
Jeff was born and raised in the Big Apple (NYC). Jeff found delight in Jazz. Accepted at Berklee College of Music Jeff earned a Bachelors of Music and Jeff has performed with many great musicians over the years including Phil Woods, Kevin Mahogany, Kenny Werner, Dave Douglas, Rita Moreno, As with Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden and Jaco, Jeff is not only an accomplished, award winning, composer, bassist but bandleader as well. |
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Edwin Bonilla is the all-around percussionist for a woman who's short listed as one of the world's most acclaimed Latin artists ever, Gloria Estefan. But when he was growing up in New Jersey, it was Motown, not Latin, he listened to. At age 11 he took drum lessons before switching to percussion in high school. When Martin Cohen interviewed him for MPR, Edwin recalled the beginnings of his musical career. "I got into timbales listening to Ray Barreto back in the 70's. Orestes Vilato was one of my inspirations, Nicky Marerro, and Tito Puente definitely. I started listening more and more to Latin music and not so much to the Motown. From there I got into congas, bongos and everything else. One of the strongest influences on his career was playing with the group Charanga Casino. "When I started playing with Charanga Casino I began to understand the depth music, of Cuban music. I got into listening to the older material: Sublime and Arcaño And that's how I picked up my danson chops. Which has helped me now to do work with people like Cachao and Arturo Sandoval". Cachao is an 80 year old Cuban bassist and living legend who frequently calls Edwin for studio sessions. " First of all, it's a very great honor to be working with a living legend. He's been one of the greatest inspirations in my life as far as playing Cuban music is concerned. And it's an art that's been lost. A form of music that hasn't been kept up with and danson is a very important part of our music, Latin music, Cuban music" He's also recently begun working with Stevie Wonder, which required him to adjust a bit musically. "I don't play as much percussion with Stevie as with Gloria. With Gloria I have to be more versatile and play more rhythmically. With Stevie it's more funk. I've done a few local gigs with Stevie before and that's how I got the gig." As if this weren't enough to keep him busy, he also just released a CD that's getting major airplay around the world. Martin Cohen asked him about a rumor that the recording was completed in just 3 days. How was that possible? "Okay, I have a compadre, a very talented guy, whose name is Jesus Perez. He plays piano, bass, flute, and arranges-he's a great arranger. Anyway, we got together once in Montreal when I was there with Gloria and he had this song about Cuba and Puerto Rico together and how they swing. And I said why don't we just do a demo. So he got a studio and we went in and in a few hours we put that down. Then we called in a trumpet player from Montreal, Eduardo Sanchez, and he did a great job--we got four tracks out of him. It was a 1940's style, very simple, nothing fancy, every thing straight down the pike for the dancer. And I played it for Emilio (Estefan) and he loved it and said can you bring me more like this. But he had me busy with other things. Then I let music producer Roberto Torres hear it--his fundamental has always been Cuban songs--and he said Wow, this sounds great. If you'd like to finish it I'll help you. So I took a few days off and went back up and we wrote and recorded all the material in 3 days doing 12 hour sessions. As is the case with all great musicians, Edwin feels that he will never stop learning and growing musically. Throughout his career he has continued to hone his skills on a variety of percussion instruments from around the globe. "Right now one of my favorite drums is the djembe. I really had to master that with Gloria. She loves that instrument and so does everybody else in the band. I think I became pretty good at it on the tour, and I feel very comfortable on that instrument now." Cuban and Brazilian instruments like the pandeiro and shekere are also part of his arsenal. Gloria Estefan's current hit, Santo Santo, features Edwin on djembe, tambourine, pandeiro, repenique, surdo, and congas. With the mix of ethnic music becoming ever more prevalent, percussionists must be fluent on a range of styles and instruments. Given this trend toward rhythmic and percussive music that shows no signs of slacking, and because we are standing on the threshold of a new millennium, it was only natural that Martin ask Edwin for his thoughts on the future of Latin percussion. "Well, this is the perfect time for us Latin percussionists because of all the crossovers that are happening. Santana was one of the first, and Gloria as well, definitely. Now you have Ricky Martin, Cheyenne, Marc Anthony and all the others. Marc Anthony has got a nice tune out that brings the Latin element to the forefront. I did a song with Jennifer Lopez on her latest CD--which is a great CD, the production is great--and it's one of her best tunes, "Let's Get Loud". That was a tune I originally did for Gloria. It's a cha-cha-cha, disco tune but it's got Latin percussion. It was done for Gloria but Gloria gave it to Jennifer. And I think when that tune comes out it will put Latin percussion even more in the forefront." "The last thing I'd just like to say is Hello to all the fans out there at Congahead.Com. And to all the people at LP as well, they're the greatest." All quotes taken from an interview conducted by Martin Cohen for MPR in October 1999. Story written by Jim McSweeney.
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