Drumming without borders: the ever-expanding percussive perspective of Coky Garcia

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2003 by Luis Tamargo

Born in the Cuban capital in 1962, Conrado "Coky" García grew up in the midst of a renowned musical clan, whose rhythmical accomplishments are rooted on the percussive efforts of Coky's progenitor, the patriarchal bongosero Roberto García Sr., and a couple of Coky's paternal uncles, one of whom has been playing tumbadoras with Orquesta Aragón (the most transcendental charanga of all time) for at least two decades ...

LUIS TAMARGO: Your older brother, Roberto García Jr., worked with Afrocuba for a long time.

COKY GARCIA: Yes. He spent about ten or twelve years with Afrocuba, which I regard as the best Cuban group of that era. He is now playing trumpet with Omara Portuondo's orchestra. My younger brother, Leo, is currently featured as Willie Chirino's drummer. Back in Cuba, Leo accompanied an excellent vocalist named Argelia Fragoso, before he joined the final version of Afrocuba, when our brother Roberto became the group's musical director.

LT: Which is your primary instrument?

CG: I have been playing the drum-kit by ear since the age of six or seven, when I joined a youth group led by my brother Roberto. We performed at various elementary and secondary schools, doing covers of Formula Quinta, Los Bravos, and other fashionable Spanish pop groups.

LT: When did you initiate your academic training?

CG: At the age of 11, I was enrolled at Havana's Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, where I studied for eight years with the island's top percussion professor, Roberto Concepción, who has taught several generations of Cuban drummers. My academic training was based mostly in the field of classical percussion.

LT: Could you mention some of your trap drumming influences?

CG: I was influenced by such U.S. drummers as Max Roach, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Peter Erskine, and Buddy Rich. In fact, I regard Buddy Rich as the greatest drummer ever born. Cuban drummers Guillermo Barreto, Enriquc Plá and Changuito also influenced me. I regard Barreto as my intellectual mentor, although I never took any classes with him. He was an outstanding musician with an absolute ear and complete knowledge.

LI: Somehow you also became acquainted with the native instruments in an extracurricular manner.

CG: It was mostly the result of my dad's influence. In terms of bongó playing, for example, I learned all about the bongo's timing and sonority from him. When I was a teenager, I was inclined toward the tumbadora, and I began to study it at home. There were some tumbadores (Tata Güines, El Niño, El Yulo, El Claro, Jabuco, and El Pica) that I really liked. El Pica worked with Rumbavana, and his nickname was derived from his ability to play a percussive style called picadillo. On the other hand, I assimilated many timbal concepts from Blas Egües' creative and ingenious solos, and learned the danzón language from Cuba's number one güirero, Gustavo Tamayo, with whom I took private güiro lessons in Havana. In terms of batá playing, I learned the basic toques with two famous bataleros, Bolaño and Pelladito.

LT: While studying at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, you became one of the founding members of Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Grupo Proyecto.

CG: Yes. I played drums with Proyecto before El Negro Hernández, but unlike El Negro, I didn't participate in any of the group's recordings, with the exception of a 45-RPM issued by EGREM. Gonzalo has always been a genius; he was born with that gift. I worked with Proyecto until I transferred to Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in order to obtain a bachelor's degree in music. While attending ISA, I joined Son Varona, a group led by Jorge Varona, Irakere's former trumpeter. Son Varona was comprised of Jorge Varona and his trumpet-playing offspring, plus a rhythm section. As in the prior case of Proyecto, I never recorded with Son Varona, but I believe that my drumming successor, El Negro Hernández, recorded an album with the Varona tribe.

LT: It looks like El Negro was following your trail! (LAUGHTER)

CG: Yes. Afterwards, I spent five years with singer/songwriter Amaury Pérez, with whom I recorded two albums and traveled five times to México. Then I went to work for six months with Opus 13, a group that would be known later as Paulito y su Elite. I left Opus 13 a month after Paulito joined the band, but my departure was not related to Paulito's arrival. I backed vocalist Xiomara Leugart (currently residing in New York) for a few months before I participated in a French tour with another great songstress, Mayra Caridad Valdés, with whom I had a wonderful time playing Latin jazz and traditional Cuban boleros for an entire month at Lionel Hampton's club in Paris, a divine experience!

LI: What happened when you returned to your hometown?

CG: I spent some time teaching foreign students before I joined Emiliano Salvador's group. I was featured in his final recording (Ayer y Hoy, PM Records), although I was erroneously identified on the cover as the percussionist, instead of the drummer. I believe that Emiliano was one of the most innovative and significant composers in the history of Latin jazz because he created a unique mixture of the North American jazz harmonies with the sabrosura (delightful essence) of the Cuban tumbao and the Cuban clave. He fused McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea with Lilí Martínez, Peruchín and Rubén González. Those two years with Emiliano represented the most important chapter of my professional career.