BMHC honors Andy Gonzalez, Latin Jazz Bassist

Dec 05, 2012 @ 7:00pm

BMHC honors Andy Gonzalez for his influential contribution to Latin Jazz and commitment to enriching Bronx Music. With performance by Willie Rodriguez Group & Manny Oquendo’s Libre. The event took place at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture.
Andy Gonzalez is one of the most respected & well known bassists in Jazz & Latin music today. At age thirteen, after several years of violin & bass training, Andy joined a band with his brother Jerry called the Latin Jazz Quintet, which was heavily influenced by the sound of Cal Tjader’s group at the time. The band’s first gig was at the Colgate Gardens in the Bronx on a bill opposite Tjader himself. Over the next few years, the brothers would find themselves in a variety of musical settings: playing jazz with Kenny Dorham & Dizzy Gillespie and salsa with Eddie Palmieri & Ray Barretto. During his years with Palmieri, Andy formed a friendship with another influential figure in his life, the great timbalero , Manny Oquendo. In 1974, the two men would form the group Libre with Manny as leader on timbales & Andy as co-leader & musical director, a partnership which would last for 35 years until Oquendo’s death in 2009. Another important group formed at the same time which Oquendo was also a part of was Grupo Folklorico Experimental y Nuevayorkino. In 1980, the Gonzalez brothers would again break new ground with the formation of the Fort Apache Band, arguably one of the most important & influential groups playing what became known as Latin jazz. With over forty years of experience playing as well as over 800 recording sessions (from his first with Monguito Santamaria to the present), Andy Gonzalez is still in demand and shows no signs of slowing down.
Honoring Andy Gonzalez for his influential contribution to Latin Jazz and commitment to enriching Bronx Music.