Manny Oquendo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manny Oquendo (b. January 1, 1931) is an American percussionist. His main instrument is the timbales, and he is strongly influenced by Cuban drumming.

Oquendo grew up in New York, and began studying percussion in 1945. He worked in the bands of tropical and Latin music ensembles such as Carlos Valero, Luis del Campo, Juan "El Boy" Torres, Chano Pozo, Jose Budet, Juanito Sanabria, Marcelino Guerra, Jose Curbelo, and Pupi Campo. In 1950, he became the bongo player for Tito Puente. Following this he played with Tito Rodriquez in 1954 and Vincentico Valdes in 1955. He worked freelance in New York before joining Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta orchestra in 1962. He worked with his own group, Conjunto Libre (later simply Libre), from 1974, and had a worldwide hit with "Little Sunflower" in 1983.

[edit] Discography

  • Con Salsa, Con Ritmo (Salsoul Records, 1976)
  • Con Salsa, Con Ritmo Vol. 2 (Salsoul, 1979)
  • Los Lideres de la Salsa (Salsoul, 1979)
  • Incredible (Salsoul, 1981)
  • Ritmo, Sonido, y Estilo (Montuno Records, 1983)
  • Mejor que Nunca (Milestone Records, 1994)
  • Muevete! (Milestone, 1996)
  • Ahora (Milestone, 1999)
  • Tiene Calidad, Vol. 2 (Salsoul, 1999)
  • Libre (Eden Ways, 1999)
  • Libre Increible (Sony Records, 2000)
  • Los New Yorkinos (Milestone, 2000)
  • Manny Oquendo y su Conjunto Libre (Eden Ways, 2000)

[edit] References