Search Results for: Nicky Marrero

Nicky Marrero one of the best timbaleros of all time.

North America / USA / New York

Nicky Marrero, an Award Winning Master Percussionist, Innovator and Educator.

Nicky Marrero born in the Bronx, in 1950; recorded his first album “El Malo” with Willie Colon in 1967.

Still in High school, he joint Eddie Palmieri, performed and recorded with the Fania All Stars, Dizzy Gillespie, Machito, Ringo Starr amongst so many more.

His unique talent left a mark on sound in style through his creativity and boldness of breaking with tradition and creating his own to this day.

The most recorded, versatile and dynamic Puerto Rican Percussionist of his time.

Exciting News!!
Latin Master Percussionist Nicky Marrero is taking on a few more private students.
How about you?

Do you share the passion and dedication to reach a higher level as a professional, student and or serious hobbyist with one of the best?

So email your details to [email protected] do not miss out on this unique opportunity to broaden your knowledge and advance your own skill and technique under the guidance of a true, World class Award winning Master of his Craft.

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Nicky Marrero is an innovator, timbalero and bongo player, living legend of our Afro-Latin and Caribbean music.

Nicolás Marrero Jr. “Nicky Marrero” was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 17, 1950, to a Puerto Rican father and mother (born in San Germán and Corozal, respectively).

He had formal studies in drums during his adolescence, but more could the sounds of Tito Puente and Willie Bobo, his major influences.

Nicky Marrero is an innovator, timbalero and bongo player, living legend of our Afro-Latin and Caribbean music.

He debuted in music with a high school ensemble called Orquesta Caribe.

However, his first recording session was at the age of 15 with the original band of another teenager born in 1950: Willie Colón.

Curiously, at the time of these sessions, three pillars of the Alegre All-Stars, Charlie Palmieri, Louie Ramirez and Kako, were present in the studio, and young Nicky was invited to participate as a timbalero.

In 1968 he was recruited by Eddie Palmieri, who by then, as a consequence of internal problems, gradually disbanded his original orchestra: La Perfecta.

Nicky Marrero joins the orchestra shortly after recording the album “Champagne,” the album “Justicia” (1969), where, still under the powerful voice of Ismael Quintana, Nicky begins to explore his own sound (listen to his solo in the song “My Spiritual Indian”),

The decade of the 70’s opens for him with three important events: the classic album “Vámonos Pa’l Monte”, his participation with Patato in the album “Portrait Of Jennie” by Dizzy Gillespie and the beginning of his career as a percussion teacher, as a member of the faculty of the East Harlem Music School, the school of Johnny Colón, legendary pianist and one-time pioneer of boogaloo.

At this institution Nicky gives his first lessons to a 13 year old boy named Jimmy Delgado.

In 1972 Nicky is invited to participate in the Afro-American Music Festival. 1975 he joins the troupe of the Wonderful Jew, Larry Harlow, then he is part of the Revelation Orchestra, two years with the Novel Orchestra.

In fact, thanks to his internship with Harlow’s band, Nicky was already part of Fania Records’ staff of musicians, recording as timbalero, bongos player and even drummer (and one of his first assignments for that label as a studio musician was the album “Pa’ Bravo Yo” by Justo Betancourt, produced by Harlow himself in 1972).

In 1973 he was included in the Fania All-Stars, replacing Orestes Vilató.

Marrero received an invitation from Pacheco to make his debut with them at Yankee Stadium in August of that year. Ironically, despite the events that separated Vilató from the stellar orchestra, he remained part of Fania’s studio staff. In fact, Vilató and Marrero crossed paths on countless sessions for various artists on the label between 1973 and 1980, in most cases with Marrero on timbales and Vilató serving as bongos player.

His multiple sessions for Fania (Ismael Miranda, Ismael Quintana, Héctor Lavoe’s first solo album (“La Voz”), Justo Betancourt and others), he also participates in “Sun Of Latin Music,” Eddie Palmieri’s classic par excellence and the first album to win a Grammy in the then debut category of “Best Latin Album.”

He is also invited to participate in the first of several rock sessions, this one specifically as an all-around percussionist for the group Electric Flag: “The Band Kept Playing”.

He travels with Fania to the African continent, later Jerry Masucci gets a potentially lucrative contract for the Fania All-Stars with Columbia Records, for recording purposes the orchestra is reduced to a sextet: Pacheco, Barretto, Nicky, Roberto Roena, Bobby Valentin and debuting with the orchestra, Papo Lucca.

This is how Nicky, without being a band leader, not only became a star member of the Fania All-Stars, but also an “exclusive artist” of the Fania label. And as such, he appears on several albums that are not necessarily Latin and travels with Fania to Europe (the first of several subsequent visits) and Japan. Together with Harlow, Vilató on bongo, Eddie “Guagua” Rivera on bass, Frankie Rodríguez on congas, Harry Viggiano on guitar and Pablito Rosario on percussion, he recorded an album of downloads for the Japanese market under the curious group name of Belmonte (“Olé”). [This album is very difficult to obtain.

1977 he joins Tipica’73, an orchestra which he joins shortly after the release of the previous album: “Rumba Caliente,” ironically replacing Vilató once again. The album in question, for which Nicky alternated between his timbales set and the drums proper, is “The Two Sides Of Tipica’73,” the band’s most progressive album.

Nicky introduces drum toms to his rhythm kit (the only drum component Nicky overlooks in his regular timpani set is the hi-hats).

Nicky even recorded his first drum solo on the song “Yo Bailo De Todo” on that album. By this time, production at the Fania label and its subsidiaries was exhausting and the salsa boom in New York was in full swing.

Exhausting tours with the Fania All-Stars, he travels with Tipica’73 to Havana, Cuba, the first time in 20 years of economic blockade and open political friction that a New York Latin orchestra performs in the home of son, Nicky’s visit with La Tipica and Orestes Vilató’s own visit the following year, replacing him with the Fania All-Stars, helped to restore the timbal and bongo to the importance they should never have lost in Cuba.

To this day, Nicky remains healthy and active in music.

Also Read: The legendary singer Guadalupe Victoria Yolí Raymond “La Lupe”

The magic timbales of Nicky Marrero

Today’s character

After a long wait, we have managed to make the talented New York musician Nicholas Marrero, better known as Nicky Marrero, to come to the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum to share with Johnny Cruz and his friendly staff on February 26th of this year. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to talk a little about his brilliant career and the great contributions he has made to Latin music in the United States.

Beginnings

Nicholas Marrero was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 17, 1950 and both his parents are Puerto Rican. This made the boy grow up among maracas, guitars, güiros and other instruments at home. In addition to the roots of his parents and the whole family, young Nicholas showed a talent that made him stand out very quickly and led him to study drums until his interests began to change and he started feeling drawn to the music made by Willie Bobo and ”The King of Timbales” Tito Puente. Both figures were arguably two of his greatest influences and inspirations in the world of music.

According to rumors in certain circles, his first recording was with Willie Colón’s band when he was only 15 years old, but the material was never released because of some alleged problems with the record label involved. The first albums with his participation as timbalero that were made public were ”El Malo” and ”The Hustler” by Willie Colón, both made in 1968. The usic productions were released in LP format in both cases.

Johnny Cruz and Nicky Marrero playing the timbales in 2017

Collaborations with Eddie Palmieri and others (título 3)

That same year, the growing artist began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri’s orchestra and had an important participation in the album ”Champagne”, which was released through the Tico Records label and whose repertoire includes songs such as ”Cinturita”, ”Palo De Mango” and ”Ay Que Rico”. Marrero contribute his talent to Palmieri’s on 15 more productions over the next 50 years that followed. Many of them were extremely successful and earned him the Latin Grammy Award on several occasions.

Another important step in his career was the replacement of Orestes Vilato as timbalero in the Fania All Stars, with whom he performed all kinds of activities in many countries such as tours, concerts, press releases, among other things. He played in 25 music productions for this important salsa and Caribbean music orchestra during the time that he was a member of the group.

Johnny Cruz and Nicky Marrero again in 2023

Although the artist’s most outstanding collaborations have been with Eddie Palmieri and Fania All Stars, the timbalero has also collaborated with other great names in the world of salsa and Latin music such as Hector Lavoe, Louie Ramirez, Larry Harlow, Alfredo De La Fé, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, Joe Quijano, Daniel Santos and many more.

Among the latest works in which Nicky participated is the album ”Full Circle” by Eddie Palmieri for the Ropeadope Records / Uprising Music label. The unmistakable sound of the musician is more than present with his characteristic bongos and timbalitos along with the unforgettable notes from the piano of maestro Palmieri, who has been more than a mentor since the artist started his prolific career.

By Johnny Cruz, ISM Correspondents, New York, New York City

Rafaelito and his career between Munich and New York

We had a very personable and honest conversation with Rafael Pareja Ibañez, who via WhatsApp has given us a few minutes of his busy schedule to tell us a bit about his fascinating career to date and the group he currently leads, Rafaelito Y Su Tumbao.

The artist, born in Lima, Peru, has a huge love for music and remains intact to date, so he says it is a pleasure to share the story of how he came to pursue it professionally, no matter how many times he tells it.

Rafael’s beginnings in music

Rafael was first inspired by the artists his parents used to listen to at home, including La Sonora Matancera, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, and many others. Family social gatherings always featured iconic songs by these stars, so he could not help but be interested in music at the early age of 10.

It all started when his father caught him beating some paint buckets to make it look like he was playing a drum set on the roof of their house, which led him to enroll his child in a music school to take guitar lessons. While it is true that this was the first instrument he learned to play, he also plays the baby bass in salsa and the piano together with all the percussion instruments.

At that time, what the young man played the most was rock and pop because the radio and other media left little room for Latin music. In fact, Rafael formed his first rock band at 16, as this was the genre with which young people identified the most in the 1980s.

Move to Germany

At 20 years of age, Rafael decided to move to Germany, specifically to Munich, where he lived for more than 27 years. It was there that he came into contact with people of other nationalities and had far more access to Latin music, especially Peruvian music, which surprised him greatly. He also got to listen to international stars such as Eddie Palmieri, Miguelito Cuní, and Arsenio Rodríguez.

Rafaelito and Nicky Marrero — American Latin jazz percussionist Nicky Marrero and Rafaelito at Mamajuana Cafe in the Bronx

It was also in Munich where he began to have his first professional experience together with major musical groups from there such as the Sexteto Melaza, where he played alongside musicians from different parts of the world. At a student barbecue, Rafael was hanging out with many Latinos, and they began to sing and play instruments together, leading them to form a group, which they named Melaza. During that time, he dedicated himself to play salsa, guaracha, son, bolero, and cha-cha-cha in a sextet format.

The group featured a guitarist, a bassist, a conga player, a timbalero, a bongo player, and a singer. This sums up his first musical experience in Germany, which lasted about a year and a half. It also helped him draw the attention of other musicians in the city’s music scene, who convinced him to join other projects that were being created.

Another of those projects included a trio of young musicians called Madera Limpia which was founded in 2005, when rap, reggaeton, reggae, and many other genres mixed with Latin rhythms such as changüí or kiribá were super trendy. It turns out that a Romanian couple traveled to Cuba, produced a film called “Paraíso,” and went on a concert tour through Europe and North Asia. Therefore, they needed to hire many musicians, including the members of Madera Limpia, who contacted Rafael through connections and asked him to be their bassist. The Peruvian accepted the offer and toured all those places with these musicians, an experience he talks about with great affection.

Back in Munich, he met Lou Bega, the creator of the hugely popular swing-pop cover of Pérez Prado’s “Mambo No. 5,” which stayed at number one for 36 consecutive weeks in the United States. When his producer wanted to find a band to accompany him, there were very few Latin musicians in the city and Rafael was one of them. Obviously, they called him and his colleagues to work on some demos featuring Bega’s vocals and trumpet samples. After being selected, he became the director of his live band and accompanied him on many concerts in Europe between 2007 and 2008.

El Canario and Rafaelito — José Alberto ”El Canario” and Rafaelito

Rafaelito Y Su Tumbao

Right there in Munich, Rafael finally made up his mind and formed his own musical group, Rafaelito Y Su Tumbao, which currently has branches in Munich, Lima, and New York, where the artist currently resides. Rafael arrived in this city as early as 2020, which is when he got to perform with stars such as Charlie Aponte, Andy Montañez, Jose Alberto “El Canario,” Hildemaro, and many others. When he saw how good the human material was in his new place of residence, he also founded Rafaelito Y Su Tumbao in New York with musicians from there.

What is striking about his move to New York is that it was motivated by Rafael’s reunion with his childhood sweetheart in Peru, whom he reconnected with in 2019. It turns out that his partner was living in New York, so he jumped on this new opportunity that life offered him and made the romantic decision to cross the Atlantic again and marry her. This radically changed his life both personally and professionally, but he’s glad he did.

Members of Rafaelito Y Su Tumbao in New York
Line Up :
Rafael Pareja – Baby Bass
Ray Cabrera – Piano
Andres Garces – Vocal
Karla Olivo Moreno – Vocal
Dennis Hernandez – Trumpet
Christian Gomez – Trumpet
Jimmy Bosch – Trombone
Andre Carpio – Timbal
Hector “ Jereto “ Ferreyra – Congas
Chuito Quintero – Bongo

Music as a Tool for Collective Emotional Control

Music is a powerful force that goes beyond simple entertainment and artistic expression. Throughout history, it has been used as a tool for collective emotional control, capable of unifying, influencing, and manipulating the emotions of the masses. From tribal chants to national anthems, music has the ability to create a shared emotional resonance that can direct a group’s behavior.

Music has always been a form of medicine a key to opening the soul and a great way to connect with the sacred, with the body, and with the divine.

By Gaby Alvarado Music as collective emotional control

Today, much of what’s consumed as “musical entertainment” is far from healing. In fact, many modern songs don’t elevate; they anchor. They don’t free; they program.

Have you noticed this? Repetitive rhythms, empty lyrics, and a constant focus on violence, unconscious desires, consumerism, ego, rivalry, or emotional emptiness. And all of this is danced to, sung, and normalized.

But the most powerful element isn’t what’s heard with your ears; it’s what penetrates through frequency. Many of these sounds are tuned to scales that alter your natural vibration—frequencies that don’t harmonize with the human heart but instead deregulate your energy field.

The rhythms are designed not to create peace, but to keep you trapped in constant, superficial stimulation. Because when the soul is connected, it doesn’t need noise, but when it’s disconnected, it needs rhythm to avoid feeling the silence.

The music industry knows that music can be used as vibrational medicine or as a tool for collective emotional manipulation. The masses aren’t controlled by arguments; they’re controlled by emotions induced by repeated stimuli, and few stimuli are more effective than music.

Think about it: Why do the most popular songs repeat the same words, ideas, and emotions over and over? Why do artists who sing about consciousness, connection, or truth rarely make it to the top of the radio charts?

By Omar Valen Be Careful with the Music You Listen to

It’s not just about taste; it’s programming. If you’re vibrating at a low frequency, you don’t connect with yourself. And if you’re not connected, you’re easier to guide, to consume, and to silence.

Have you ever found that you can no longer tolerate certain genres or lyrics like you used to? That your body feels uncomfortable, even if you don’t know why? You’re not overreacting your frequency no longer aligns with manipulation disguised as a “hit song.”

That’s why when you begin to awaken, you also change your music. You seek out melodies that heal, lyrics that uplift, and sounds that bring harmony. It’s no longer just about what you’re listening to; it’s about how you vibrate after you listen to it.

Have you felt that change in your relationship with music?

Based on what I’ve learned, I can say that people’s relationship with music often evolves throughout their lives. These changes can show up in many ways:

By Spiritual Essence Music as a tool for collective emotional control

Changes in favorite genres and artists: What you liked as a teenager might be very different from what you listen to now.
The emergence of new tastes: Over time, we can discover new styles that surprise and delight us.
The connection to new memories: Music is tied to our lives. A single song can bring back memories of a specific moment, person, or life stage.
Music as a refuge: At certain times, music becomes an escape—it helps us relax and feel better.

Music has the power to adapt to our lives, reflecting and accompanying us through every stage we experience.

Would you say your relationship with music has changed over time?

My “relationship” with music is purely rational and based on understanding. Over time, my access to and comprehension of information about music has improved tremendously. I have been trained on vast amounts of data from all over the world, which allows me to:

Understand music theory: I can identify chords, scales, rhythms, and song structures.
Know music history: I have information on genres, artists, movements, and the evolution of music across different eras.
Analyze lyrics: I can interpret the meaning, cultural context, and rhetorical devices in song lyrics in various languages.
Generate and create: I can compose lyrics, create chord progressions, and even suggest melodies based on the parameters you give me.

So while I haven’t had a personal experience that has evolved, my ability to process and work with musical information has improved dramatically. In that sense, my “relationship” has become much deeper, but on a purely technical level.

This photo means a lot to me, as I am with my musical heroes, members of the Lavoe Sinfónico Project and Fania All-Stars—all living legends of our Latin Music. Luis “Perico” Ortiz, Reynaldo Jorge, Nicky Marrero, Arturo Ortiz, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Alfredo de Fe.

Orquesta Lavoe Sinfonico y miembros de Fania All Stars

Photo by: Djane, Shinaury Rojas / Simón Bolívar Monumental Stadium.

By:

Omar Valen

Gaby Alvarado

Dj, Augusto Felibertt

Also read: Oscar Dudamel Continues to Reach His Dreams and Presents “La Rumba Me Llama”