Little Johnny Rivero

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2003 by Nelson Rodriguez

Vicente Rivero, a.k.a. Little Johnny Rivero, is best known for his sixteen years with Sonora Ponceña, but in the past decade he has been one of the most sought-after musicians in the New York City area. Born in the Big Apple (El Barrio) to Puerto Rican parents, Little Johnny's roots were derived from the park rumberos that gathered at Jefferson Park and Randall's Island Park. His first childhood idol was José Mangual, back in the years when he was featured with Machito, who lived on his block.

While he listened to the top congueros in the world and practiced basic conga every day, it was with dancing that he began to perform on stage with the best New York bands of the era--Tito Puente, La Lupe, Joe Cuba, Tito Rodríguez and Eddie Palmieri. Dancing earned him a reputation and various awards, but his dream was to be a percussionist.

In 1971, at the age of 14, he began to play with Orchestra Colón and recorded two LPs that made some noise for the youngest New York band at that time. His family relocated to Puerto Rico in 1973, and by the following year, Rivero began his real education in salsa with Sonora Ponceña, in which he was featured as a bongosero for two years. Quique and Papo Lucca opened Rivero's eyes to the professionalism and the rhythms of the music as they traveled through the world. That union spanned 16 years and 18 recordings, including the band's best period in the late 1970s.

In 1980-81, Rivero joined the Latin Percussion (LP) family as an endorser, and by 1990 he left Sonora Ponceña to freelance with Bobby Valentín, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Charlie Palmieri, Batacumbele, Tito Nieves, Victor Manuelle, Domingo Quiñones, Dave Valentín, Cheo Feliciano, Willie Colón, Rey Ruiz, Justo Betancourt, Luis Enrique, Frankie Ruiz and many others.

In 1990, Little Johnny toured with the RMM All Star Band (led by Sergio George) and in 1993, he was invited to record with the pivotal Descarga Boricua (from Puerto Rico).

The following year, Paso Records gave Cheo Arce and Rivero the opportunity to record the disc Salsa Unica, which earned them the award for Best New Act in Puerto Rico. They followed with Sin Tu Amor No Hay Nada and No Somos Iguales, but due to unfortunate circumstances at said label, Rivero returned to freelancing. He was also a member of the Thunder Drums tour that included Tata Güines and Changuito, backed by an all-star group from Puerto Rico, in 1997.

His latest recording was for the critically acclaimed Latin percussion album, Rumba Ensemble, and the disc Montvale Rumba, which also featured Luisito Quintero, Pedro Martínez and Román Díaz. Currently, Little Johnny Rivero is performing with a who's who of the Latin and jazz world, while he gets ready his first solo effort.