PERCUSSIONIST, COMPOSER, WRITER

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Four-time Grammy nominee, JOHN SANTOS is one of the foremost exponents of Afro-Latin music in the world today. He is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music, and has earned much respect and recognition as a record and event producer. He has performed, recorded and studied with acknowledged masters of the Afro-Latin and Jazz idioms such as Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Lazaro Ros, Armando Peraza, Eddie Palmieri, Patato Valdés, Francisco Aguabella, Orestes Vilató, Rene López, Max Roach, Batacumbele, Steve Turre, John Faddis and Chocolate Armenteros. This experience has provided a solid foundation for Mr. Santos' current ground-breaking work in bringing together styles, rhythms, concepts and artists from different generations. Born in San Francisco, California, November l, l955, he was raised in the Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean traditions of his family, surrounded by music. The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped his career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music have included several trips to New York, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil and Colombia.

Mr. Santos is widely respected as one of the top writers, teachers and historians in the field and is a member of the Latin Jazz Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. He has conducted lectures, workshops and clinics in the Americas and Europe since 1972. He has contributed to the international magazines Percussive Notes, Modern Drummer, Modern Percussionist, and Latin Percussionist. The San Francisco Bay Area community in which he still lives and works has presented him with numerous awards and honors for artistic excellence and social dedication.

Mr. Santos is also a distinguished and creative multi-percussionist and recording artist. His diverse credits (in addition to those listed above) include: Bobby Hutcherson, Grupo Mezcla (Havana, Cuba), Lalo Schifrin, Irakere West, Santana, Yma Sumac, Linda Tillery, Cal Tjader, Danilo Perez, Ignacio Berroa, Omar Sosa, Jon Jang and Charlie Hunter. Mr. Santos founded and directed the GRAMMY-nominated Machete Ensemble from 1985 to 2006, a world-class Latin Jazz band of international renown. They recorded and released nine CDs during that time, mostly on Mr. Santos' Machete Records label. He is currently performing and recording extensively with an exciting Latin Jazz Quintet under his own name.

THE JOHN SANTOS QUINTET - PERSPECTIVA FRAGMENTADA (2008)

World class Latin jazz for the dancers, listeners, and fans

Orestes Vilató
John Calloway
Saul Sierra
Marco Diaz
John Santos
Special guests:
Johnny Rodriguez, Nelson Gonzalez, "Little" Johnny Rivero, Jose Clausell, Jerry Medina, David Belove, Murray Low, Paul Van Wageningen, Harold Muñíz, Ray Vega, Javier Navarrette, Anthony Blea, Melecio Magdaluyo, Orlando Torriente, Willie Ludwig, Bárbara Valladares, Ismael Rodriguez, Michael Lannon, Elena Pinderhughes

review by Chip Boaz

more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels

Que no se muere el tambó!-words of wisdom spoken by the elders over the centuries-advice for the ages with special significance as we grapple with socalled technological advances and the loss of the meaning of the word spiritual. The precious rhythmic gifts of rumba, mambo, son, danzón, bembé, bomba, mozambique, batá, and palo are the foundation of the compositions presented here. They are gifts born of struggle, designed to heal through movement of body and thought, determined to instill hope and document our journey in our own voices. These musical/cultural roots are deep which is why we must resist the common practice of reducing it all to entertainment. In today's socio-political climate, the arts are the unifying common denominator that is becoming the lone voice for sanity and peace. This is our humble attempt to honor our ancestors and add to the modern movement/ancient concept of music as community forum where celebration of life and justice for all are equally considered. We put it forth with the utmost respect for the music and its true pioneers and defenders who always understood its positive, unifying power and its unique ability to smash barriers of every type. Let it be known far and wide that dancing and enjoying the music does not diminish its profound history, nor its role in our communities and shaping our future. For Cachao, Ray Barretto, Tata Güines, Patato, Tommy Lopez, Angá, Arsenio, Diz, Paul Robeson, Mingus, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Danny Rivera, Andres Jimenez, Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanés, Ruben Blades, Piri Thomas, Amiri Baraka, Sekou Sundiata, Bamuthi, Paul Flores, Avotcja, Genny Lim, Silvio Alava, Dr. Robert Farris Thompson, and the progressive, activist community of the San Francisco Bay Area with gratitude and much love. - js  (From the liner notes)

JOHN SANTOS Y EL CORO FOLKLORICO KINDEMBO - LA GUERRA NO (2008)

Exciting and masterful Afro-Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Venezuelan folkloric and contemporary drumming and song featuring original and traditional rumbas as well as rhythms and chants from the Congolese and Yoruba spiritual traditions.

Juan De Diós Ramos Carlos Aldama Orestes Vilató Giovanni Hidalgo Sandy Perez Anthony Carrillo Harold Muñíz Roberto Borrell Jesus Diaz Raul Rekow Jose Clausell Jimmy Bosch Elio Villafranca Quique Dávila Eddie Resto Marta Galarraga Gustavo Ovalles David Belove Camilo Landau Iluminado Maldonado Michael Spiro Javier Navarrette Saul Sierra Chris Walker Enrique Carreras Fito Reinoso Beatríz Godinez-Muñíz Jose Luís Gómez Willie Ludwig Barbara Valladares Ismael Rodriguez Reynalda Nuñez Manny Martinez Carol Steele Elena Pinderhughes Samora Pinderhughes

more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels

Peace-for all the drummers who passed recently into the next realm, leaving behind a legacy of love, hope, and healing rhythm. Among them, some of my idols and friends including Ray Barretto, Patato, Tito Puente, Tata Güines, Chachá, Mongo Santamaria, Regino Jimenez, Chichito Cepeda, Ray Romero, Alfredo Abreu, Angá, Pancho Quinto, Fermin Nani, Santiago Nani, Marco Herminio, and Tommy Lopez. They will always be remembered among the greatest drummers in the Afro-Latin tradition. This project is also dedicated to our beloved elder drum warriors who are still among us teaching and sharing their knowledge-Armando Peraza, Candido Camero, Francisco Aguabella, Luis Miranda, Los Papínes, Maximino Duquesne, Luis Chacón, Papiro Allende, Monchito Muñóz, and Jack Costanzo. We proudly and humbly stand on their shoulders and on those of countless others as we navigate the beauty, magic and mystery of the drum. One of the largest and most damaging lies ever told is that the word America refers solely to the United States. The truth, of course, is that the US is one country in North America and is certainly no more American than any other country of the Americas, North, Central, South, or Caribbean. In fact, the heart of the Americas is the Caribbean basin where the major ports have connected all the Americas throughout the colonial and post-colonial periods. Those truths shed light on our common American histories and identities and reveal New Orleans, the birthplace of our national art form, Jazz, to be our direct connection to the cultural, social, and economic community centered in the Caribbean. This is a creole community brought together through the travesties of genocide and slavery -a community of forced migration that has invented and recreated itself from its shattered past relying heavily on the African traditions of respect and acknowledgement of the ancestors and the earth. The drum is the unifying factor in this pan-American, working class community of all colors that celebrates life, death, and diversity with music, dance, and poetry. Our unpublished history exists in these artistic expressions.

Finding equilibrium in the similar histories of displaced peoples throughout the Americas, this movement of cultural preservation and development has quietly gained momentum in scattered, mostly urban communities, and has grown into an international phenomenon of its own with Afro-Cuban traditions taking a leading role. From time to time, this music comes to the forefront, embraced by the industry and corporate mega machine, only to be dropped shortly thereafter as the next flavor of the month is adopted. But it continues its slow, relentless march of awareness, profoundly, positively, and permanently affecting the lives of those it touches with its message of dignity, hope, and peace.

The arts bring voice and imagination to the struggle, clarifying our vision of a just world. Music is one aspect of the arts in this role. The traditions that the music represents are a breath of fresh air in a destructive era of technology, greed, and rampant injustice- a unifying force bringing the direly needed healing energy of drumming, dance, and traditional music to those with open hearts. As politicians and the sheep that follow them continue to neglect the real physical and spiritual needs of every human being, the drum and its incredible legacy of resilience and resistance continue to be our voice of sanity and respect for our forbearers and children.

It is great love of family, friendship, and cultural exchange, and the intention of evolving on the spiritual, human, and intellectual levels that fuel our deep desire to eliminate the outdated, useless concept of war. To that end, we offer La Guerra No, our third full-length CD with the Coro Folklórico Kindembo. We hope that in addition to uplifting your spirit and bringing you joy, the music will provide some degree of inspiration and strength in your path towards awareness and spiritual growth, as it does on a daily basis for us. Peace. - js (From the liner notes)

THE JOHN SANTOS QUINTET - PAPA MAMBO (2007)

World class Latin jazz for the dancers, listeners, and fans

recensione di  Gian Franco Grilli

review by Chip Boaz

review by Bruce Polin

more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels

This is our first CD by the John Santos Quintet. It was humbly created for those who appreciate and support the legacy of Afro-Latin music, and particularly for the musicians and composers who blazed the path for us, making it possible for us to do what we love to do. This represents a new chapter and era for us, full of the mysteries, challenges and energy that life offers as one traverses its paths. We are deeply honored to carry forth musical traditions in which improvisation and adaptation are indispensable elements. It is precisely in this moment of time, as we strive towards spirit and peace, that we make this small contribution to an ageless, timeless form of human expression where harmony, melody, rhythm, poetry, and souls converge. Given the limitations of our abilities and resources, we hope that what emerges from our hearts will add in some small way to the international movement towards true peace and justice in a critically-wounded world, full of destructive energies. May the perpetrators of destruction be enlightened soon so that their children and ours will be able to walk, breathe and live in a self-sustaining, life-affirming environment.

As much as anything else, this project is a celebration of the genius of Orestes Vilato. The significance of his body of work is equal to that of Picasso in the field of visual art. El maestro really sparkles here, painting with expressive strokes, working his magic, improvising in his inimitable fashion. He is the consummate keeper of the tradition of the Cuban percussive instruments known as timbales and bongos. His artistry on this CD, loaded with Vilatoisms, both classic and brand new, establishes yet again, why he has always been so highly influential to several generations of musicians and dancers.

Please continue to support the endangered species known as live music, written and played by actual musicians, and the efforts of all artists in all mediums, who put us in closer touch with love and life.

JS Oakland, CA April 2007 (From the liner notes)