About me
I'm a freelance graphic artist living in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. During the 60's & 70's I played drums for a number of Funk/R&B bands in and around the Toronto area. Since I was self-taught, I never had any real understanding of rhythm fundamentals or the ability to read music. I just played. I left drumming in the 70's to pursue a career in the Graphic Arts, but about 11 years ago on vacation in Florida, I found a conga drum in a flea market & purchased it for $50.00. Little did I realize, 10 years after that drum came home, my wife would purchase some conga lessons for me. I feel like I have regained something that I thought I had lost a long time ago. I have been studying Latin & Funk rhythms with a local percussionist/educator named Larry Crowe since January of 2008. I find it amazing to realize my old sense of rhythm & timing had not left me & it makes learning the various patterns & hand techniques much easier. My main conga is a Columbo Conga, made in Argentina by a cat named Juan José Columbo, who is also a Luthier (Guitar maker). Very distinctive drum, I have seen very few out there. The shell has a textured white exterior & has the heaviest duty hardware I have ever seen on a drum. Very heavy. I have just had a new LP skin put on this drum & the tonal quality is outstanding. I am currently using this drum to augment my 3 Meinl Congas...tuned between the Meinl conga & tumba. I look forward to learning as much as I can about playing conga, and entering my 60th year, I have, at last, rejoined the "Rhythm Nation".
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