Johnny Polanco y su conjunto Amistad desde el este al oeste y mas allá - TT: JOHNNY POLANCO and CONJUNTO AMISTAD FROM EAST TO WEST AND BEYOND - Entrevista

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2001 by Rudy Mangual

The city of Los Angeles' tropical dance music history goes back several decades with names like Johnny Martínez, Eddie Cano, René Touzet, Orquesta Versalles and Miguel Cruz, paving the way in the early years. Throughout the decade of the nineties and into the new millennium, an impressive increase of new bands, venues, and popularity of this music has overcome this west coast mega-city.

One band in particular is guilty as charged for the current stability of tropical dance music in Los Angeles and throughout most of the west coast, and that band is Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad.

The following is a recent interview with the multi-instrumentalist/composer/bandleader Johnny Polanco, held at his home in Los Angeles.

Rudy Mangual: Johnny, where are you originally from?

Johnny Polanco: I was born in the South Bronx, New York, to Dominican and Puerto Rican parents who loved the music of the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican rhythms. My family was very close to my mother's relatives, Puerto Ricans who loved music and dancing and got together occasionally for family gatherings, a fact you invariably read about in interviews with Latinos. Every weekend, there seemed to be a party in some family members' house with lots of food, domino marathons, and dancing to great music.

RM: What music were they listening to back then?

JP: The usual good music we all grew up with: I remember hearing Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, some Machito, Cortijo y su Combo and traditional trio music from Los Panchos and Johnny Albino.

RM: When did you personally start to get interested in music?

JP: I got my first real guitar at age 5. During this time, the music of Elvis Presley was very popular, followed by the arrival of the Beatles. I was influenced by both of these musical styles as a kid, as well as by the music of Frank Sinatra and the big bands of the sixties. As a young guitarist I also liked and enjoyed the rhythm of the blues. It wasn't until about the age of 10 that I really started to get interested in playing Latin music.

RM: Did you teach yourself to play the guitar?

JP: Yes I did, as well as later on with the tres guitar, violin, percussion instruments, electric bass, trombone and vibraphone. One of my uncles (who was a guitarist) was a neighbor of Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez in the Bronx. On weekends I would visit him to listen to rehearsals at Rodríguez's place and play along on the guitar and the tres. As a young teenager, I started playing alongside my uncles Julio and Arturo Urrutia in a trio format, playing guitar and electric bass, performing in all the family gatherings and some local social club events. By age 14, I was a member of the Steve Colón Band in the Bronx and then moved on to a group called Charanga Sensual.

RM: What instruments were you playing with these bands?

JP: Mostly the guitar, bass guitar and percussion instruments. Around this time I formed my first band, comprised of a few friends from the neighborhood, called Orquesta Libertad. Still working with my uncles on and off, I started to get more interested in the tres guitar and began to absorb with greater intuitiveness this unique string instrument. I began to listen and to study the music of Arsenio Rodríguez and Johnny Pacheco intensively. Within a couple of years, the tres guitar would become my instrument of choice.

Next, I moved on to work with another local band which was featuring the talents of a young singer by the name of José Alberto "El Canario," but I can't remember the band's name. After that, I joined Orquesta Guararé where I picked up the trombone for the very first time. Meanwhile, in the Bronx, the music of Eddie Palmieri was happening, as well as that of a young bandleader named Willie Colón. A young breed of talented Latin musicians and new bands was emerging throughout the city to include Ray Barretto, Larry Harlow, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, Johnny Colón, the González brothers (Jerry and Andy), Nicky Marrero, Milton Cardona, and Jimmy Delgado, among many others. The Latin music scene was growing and taking on a new form, finally evolving into what came to be known as "salsa music." Artistically, it was an amazing and exciting period to experience, but socially and economically, times were hard and ugly in the city. Due to these conditions, I decided to join the military (the Marines) to get away from it all.

RM: What about your music career?

JP: I knew that wherever I went, the music would somehow follow me. I had learned everything I needed from the city, and now it was time to learn from the rest of the world. When I was stationed in North Carolina, together with a few friends I would drive to New York City for about 10 hours one-way to check out salsa bands and sometimes even to sit-in and play. This was a monthly road trip. While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, I played bass guitar with an R&B band during my entire tour assignment. Finally, I arrived in Southern California (El Toro Marine Corp Air Station), where I spent the majority of my military tour time and was honorably discharged in 1988.