congaplace.com

http://www.joelala.com this is a brother that has been around a long time...How many of you have ever heard of Joe LaLa? chek out his accomplishments and who he has worked with....some brothers go about their playing/work very quietly...."JC" Johnny Conga

CANDIDO CAMERO(THE MAN WITH A THOUSAND FINGERS) AT THE AGE OF 84...HOW MANY OF YOU WILL BE PLAYING AT THAT AGE??.....CHEK HIM OUT...OL SKOOL SPLIT HAND STYLE... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYp0zDSkfac "JC" JOHNNY CONGA

I put Candido Camero on my top 5 list. After seeing the documentary "Hands of Fire" he got even closer to the #1 spot not just for his playing but also the type of person he is. He seems like a humble guy and a true gentleman.

Hector "Bucky" Andrade.. he was the conga player with Willie Colon on the Hustler/Guisando/and the Good Bad and Ugly albums, he recorded with the band CALDERA, and worked with Letta Mbulu, Stevie Wonder, The Jazz Messengers, Cerrone, and many others... we were very tight bro's and he was one of the BEST all round percussionists...here he is with me in L.A. around 1980 at a street festival, and him on congas before our concert with Cerrone(which you can see part one and two at http://www.myspace.com/jcjohnnyconga

Great Pics Johnny!!!! Thanks for digging out the older stuff and educating us newbies to the sport!

WOW! He is amazing!
thank you for the inspiration

I'm really diggin the shades and the hat JC any chance you still have these items around and might want to part with them for a certain amount?

That "Pancake" hat and shades are looooooooooooong gone, Bro...hahahahahahaha. "JC"

Willie "El Ruso" Everich...I gave Willy his first conga and was his first teacher.he is of Russian extraction and grew up in the South Bronx during the 60's and 70's and still resides in the Bronx today..since those days of "hangin and bangin" together in the Bronx,Willy has gone on to play with a host of Latin artist- Dave Valentin-Totico y sus Rumberos, Tito Puente, Ray Vega, The Latin Alliance, and many others over the past 30 years...you can also see Willie's own videos of "street rumba" in NYC at Sentimiento Manana site .... here he is performing with "Professor Joe"(piano) and his band....
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... d=44920507

DON ALIAS ...HE PLAYED WITH EVERYONE FROM MILES DAVIS TO JONI MITCHELL ... I knew Don and he was my friend..he is sorely missed....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXQdfz5Ggp4

There all a lack of stuff from Don on youtube , can people post up any links to Don alias stuff on youtube if you have any .Also could people post up what records he has played both as a sideman and a leader . Always loved his playing on the jaco records , a very unique style !

JohnnyConga wrote:DON ALIAS ...HE PLAYED WITH EVERYONE FROM MILES DAVIS TO JONI MITCHELL ... I knew Don and he was my friend..he is sorely missed....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXQdfz5Ggp4

Man ! talk about a teaser, that was soooo awesome I only wish that I could see the rest of it, thanks for sharing that link JohnnyC. That trully was some good percussion from all three of them .

"LATIN JOE" COLON he was oone of the hottest up and coming players in New York,in the late 60's and early 70's he played and recorded with Joe Bataan, Ralph Robles,Frankie Dante and some other lesser known bands....here he is in Central Park back in 1972(I was there that day)with Frankie Dante...the only known video of him that I know of..he was a great player but he had a reputation of being cocky ...from what I remember he committed suicide in his 20's...drugs may have had something to do with that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4s9sl5Aja8 the video isnt that great ..but you can hear and feel the energy of that time in NYCity..."JC" Johnny Conga X Central Parkite....

That Central Park video definitely brings back memories, how we used to play rumba on the other side of the clave before Mariel. Nice solo that Joe Colon took. Check out how he got rid of the other guy when he came in wrong on the tumbadora during the solo. Typical Central Park in the 70s, play it wrong and I'll smash your head in with this drum! Impulse control hadn't yet become popular back in those days.

Here are my home boys jammin in the Bronx as we always did coming up.. Angel, Apache and Willie "El Ruso" with Babafemi(the legend on palitos, he was in his 70's at the time)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KymiqhX4 "JC" Johnny Conga