Willie Bobo

A child of Puerto Rican immigration, Willie Bobo lived in Harlem, where he taught himself percussion. He then joined a children's orchestra led by the maracas player and conductor Machito. Gradually, he joined Latin music groups and settled into an artistic compromise between the Latin music of his origins and jazz. On the one hand, he performed with musicians such as Perez Prado, Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaria; on the other, he took part in sessions with Herbie Mann, Clark Terry, Miles Davis, etc., especially when the latter were looking for a Latin coloring in a musician who also knew the sonorities and constraints of jazz music.