#500 Marcos Torres, Paulo Stagnaro, & Javier Raez- Percussionists, Educators, and More!
This week’s guests are Marcos Torres, Paulo Stagnaro of Conga Chops, and Javier Raez of Congahead.
Marcos is a versatile percussionist, producer, and Grammy Award-Winning engineer, Marcos has been at the forefront of creating a fresh new sound within the Salsa genre for over a decade. His respect for the tradition and trajectory of this music, as well as his love and knowledge of Hip-Hop, R&B, and aptitude for sound curation as a whole, have led to him to help push the boundaries of the genre as we know it today.
Born into a musical family of Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage, Marcos was gifted a bongo at the age of three, and never looked back. He has since turned into one of his generation’s most respected and sought after percussionists, performing with salsa superstars La India, Tito Nieves, Ismael Miranda, Jerry Rivera, Obie Bermudez, and the legendary Issac Delgado among many others.
He is currently working out of New York City in varied roles as a percussionist, producer and engineer with rising artists from across Latin America including Jeremy Bosch, Fer Casillas, Tania Matus and Flaco Navaja.
Over the last decade, with a myriad of performances across the globe, several studio projects as a sideman, television appearances, and contributions in Jazz, Pop, Latin, and World music, Two-time Grammy-Award Winning percussionist Paulo Stagnaro has established himself as an innovative voice in today’s generation of creative young artists. Hailed by jazz legend Ralph Peterson as “a young master percussionist,” Stagnaro has been a force on the ever-evolving New York music scene since moving to Brooklyn, NY in 2012.
Paulo has toured, performed and/or recorded with NEA Jazz Master Paquito D’Rivera, Grammy-Winner Angelique Kidjo, Jazz Legend Dave Liebman, Danilo Perez, Issac Delgado, Rosa Passos, and formed part of the all-star rhythm section for Sting’s 25th Anniversary Rainforest Fundraiser at Carnegie Hall featuring James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Stephen Stills.
He has been a part of international Superstar Ricky Martin’s touring band since 2014, garnering his second Grammy Award in 2015 for “A Quien Quiera Escuchar.” Stagnaro endorses Latin Percussion Instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, Remo Percussion Heads, Roland, Reflexx Pads, CRS Cymbal Resonance Systems and Earthworks Audio.
Javier is the producer of content for Congahead. Congahead: A Journey through Six Decades of Latin Percussion consists of photographs and videos of Latin, jazz, and pop musicians taken over 60 years by Martin Cohen. The photographs appear in the book Congahead: The Autobiography of Martin Cohen (2019).
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Colin McNutt! Colin has instructed and arranged for the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps and the popular stage production Blast! He has also written for and instructed the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Magic of Orlando, and the Madison Scouts. Colin has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he is an alumnus and received degrees in Classics and Music Education. Most recently, he was the Percussion Caption Supervisor and then Caption Head for the nine-time DCI World Champion Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps. This past year he became the Caption Head for the Boston Crusaders.
He hasn't only instructed, as McNutt started marching drum corps his junior year in high school in 1988 with the Boston Crusaders of Boston, Mass., then aging out with the Santa Clara Vanguard of Santa Clara, California, in 1992.
McNutt has made a career out of his passion for music and percussion, while in between completing his double major of music education and classics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1998. When not instructing drum corps, McNutt conducts clinics for the percussion companies Avedis Zildjian Co., REMO, Inc., and Vic Firth. He also writes music for marching bands in the United States, Canada, Thailand & Japan.
Happy Birthday to Gabo Lugo! Born in Puerto Rico, Gabriel “Gabo” Lugo’s production work has been nominated for multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards.
Bachelor's degree, Electronic Production & Sound Design from Berklee College of Music From 2008 to 2012. Global Studies International Business Program at Berklee Valencia From 2012 to 2012. Gabo Lugo is skilled in: Sound Design, Audio Engineering education and more! This is the single he produced that came out summer of 2020.
Happy Birthday to Dafnis Prieto! From Santa Clara, Cuba, Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the Latin and Jazz music scene, nationally and internationally.
Various honors include a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, Up & Coming Musician of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a 2018 GRAMMY Award and Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Dafnis Prieto Big Band Back to the Sunset, a GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Absolute Quintet in 2006, and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2007. Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops throughout the world. He was a faculty member of Jazz Studies at NYU from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 became a faculty member at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Since his arrival to New York in 1999, Prieto has worked in bands led by Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O’Farrill, Dave Samuels and The Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, D.D. Jackson, Edward Simon, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Roy Hargrove, Don Byron, and Andrew Hill, among others. He has performed at many national and international music festivals as a sideman and as a bandleader featuring several of his own projects and music.
As a composer, he has created music for dance, film, chamber ensembles, and most notably for his own bands, ranging from duets to big band, and including the distinctively different groups featured on seven acclaimed recordings as a leader: About The Monks, Absolute Quintet, Taking the Soul For a Walk, Si o Si Quartet: Live at Jazz Standard, Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio, Triangles and Circles, and Back to the Sunset. He has received commissions, grants, and fellowships from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, East Carolina University, and Meet the Composer. In 2016 Prieto published the critically acclaimed drumming instructional book, A World of Rhythmic Possibilities: Drumming Lessons and Reflections on Rhythms.
Gig Alerts
Paulo will be out on tour with Ricky Martin. You can check out upcoming tour dates.
Marcos will be playing percussion on the upcoming Buena Vista Social Club musical tour.
Damon will be heading back on tour with Ziggy Marley this fall.
Javier will continue to produce videos for Congahead, as well as engineer for live and studio sessions including THIS ONE.
DCI finals week is this week and you can check out all the updates and scores on the DCI website (where you can also get tickets) as well as Flomarching.
Friend of the show Jeffrey Barudin has several job openings on his website. You can sign up for free to get updates every couple of weeks.
Educational Spotlight
Friend of the show, Dafnis Prieto and Eric Harland will be presenting at Michiko Studios on Sat Aug 22nd at 7pm located at 15 West 39th Street on the 7th floor. There will be other events like this starting on the 19th of August.
Iconic Recording
Damon chose “On Fire” by Michel Camilo.
Marcos chose “El Sabio” by Héctor Lavoe.
Paulo chose the entire Thriller Album by Michael Jackson.
He also chose, “Alumbramento” by Djavan.
Marcos added Mister Magic by Grover Washington Jr.
And also “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers.
Paulo mentions percussionist Ralph MacDonald and also the Brecker Brothers recording of “Some Skunk Funk”.
Javier chooses “La Combinacion Perfecta” by Familia RMM.
Marcos mentions City Pop from Japan.
He also mentions “Summer Days” by Anri.
Music News
Shout-out to friend of the show, Joby Burgess, who recorded on the film score for the Odyssey.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Pedro Segundo, who recorded on the film score for the new Spider-Man movie.
Since 1991, music industry attorney Donald Passman has sold more than half a million copies of his industry survival guide, All You Need to Know About the Music Business. Thanks to a court decision this week, Anthropic’s Claude is now off the hook after training on ten editions of the book without Passman’s permission. -Article
An investigation into allegations at Michigan’s Interlochen Center for the Arts revealed rampant sexual abuse by leadership, including late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. -Article
Damon mentions the art installation by Las Hermanas Iglesias at Rockaway Beach in Queens, NY.
Episode 500 Interview
The song leading into the interview is, “SUPERMAMBO” (feat. Rubén Blades, Jeremy Bosch & Felipe Fournier)
Marcos left the podcast to focus on producing and the Percussive Arts Society has stepped in to become the official sponsor of the podcast.
Shout-out to Bob Reynolds.
Damon asks the guys about creating platforms like this podcast with Marcos, or Conga Chops or the Congahead videos.
Javier talks about the early days of Congahead and some of the evolution.
Damon talks about the 22 Immutable Rules of Marketing Book.
Damon was at the Drum Fantasy Camp this week. He mentions Dave Weckl’s Contemporary Drummer Plus One books.
Javier gives some history on the LP brand and Martin Cohen.
He mentions the Understanding Latin Rhythms Vol 1 (and 2), as well as the Drum Solos.
Javier mentions the Congahead conversations over on TikTok.
Paulo mentions the Mano y Mano video by friend of the show, Giovanni Hidalgo.
Marcos mentions some Cuban percussionists like friend of the show, Yoel Del Sol.
Javier mentions Martin’s 2008 Namm recap video.
Damon gives a little history on how he got turned on to Congahead and signed with LP.
Shout-out to Williams Cumberbache and Thomas Dyani-Akuru.
Damon mentions watching the Dave Weckl and Walfredo Reyes Sr. videos to help inspire him playing latin percussion in funk/pop music.
Also the Drumset Artists of Cuba video that the late Chuck Silverman filmed.
Paulo talks about meeting Martin at the Times Square Marriott Marquis at an IAJE convention (Now JEN).
Shout-out to friend of the show, Jamey Haddad.
Paulo and Javier mentioned the Now vs. Now video filmed at Congahead.
Javier talks about Marcos’ introduction to Congahead through a (friend of the show’s) Ivan Llanes video.
Props to Ivan Llanes.
Paulo and Marcos talk about the Papo Pepin interview.
Marcos talks about the Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez interview and the Ralph Irizarry interview.
Damon talks about the Marc Quiñones interview.
Javier brings up the Giovanni Hidalgo interview.
Damon mentions that Giovanni played congas on “Spanish Joint” by D’Angelo.
Marcos talks about the Steve Houghton interview.
Paulo talks about what is to come with the Conga Chops platform. Shout-out to Marcos Lopez that did a bunch of the lessons too.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Richie Flores.
Paulo teases some forthcoming masterclasses (including friend of the show Manolito Rodriguez).
Marcos talks about the void of masterclasses at universities.
Damon brings up the new gig Marcos has with the Buena Vista Social Club musical tour.
Javier talks about reformatting the direction of the Congahead platform and videos for the future.
Paulo gives a shout-out to the SUPERMAMBO album.
Damon mentions theres more info in the Felipe Fournier interview.
Damon talks about the interview booth at PASIC with friend of the show and editor of Drumset Magazine, Mike Dawson.
Pauio talks about being willing to work with the World Percussion Committee and some of the main driver of the masterclass series.
He also mentions the book he’s writing to help side people and session musicians. It is titled “Rockstar Adjacent, by Design”
Javier helped Martin Cohen put together his Congahead book.
If you want to volunteer to write a percussion course book based on the Conga Chops lessons, feel free to reach out to Paulo Stagnaro.
The guys pick the iconic recordings for the week.
Paulo shouts-out his dad, Oscar.
Javier shouts-out Martin Cohen and Kamilo Kratc.
Marcos shouts-out his dad, Marcos Torres II.
Damon shouts-out his mom and dad, Herb and Brenda Grant as well as friend of the show, Thom Hannum.
The song leading out of the interview is El Cuarto de Tula from the Buena Vista Social Club.
