This talented and awesome percussionist has already established
himself as one of the world's best. Every performance he gives
is filled with passion and desire, the desire to bring joy to
the audience. Daniel has worked on the concert stage, music videos
and national television with some of the top names in music from
Jennifer Lopez, Stevie Nicks, Ricky Martin, Don Henley, Steve
Winwood, Miami Sound Machine, Yanni, Cher, Phillip Bailey, Lionel
Richie, Sergio Mendez among countless others.
LatinJazzClub.com eZine proudly presents this interview with
this young master of percussion:
Daniel De Los Reyes
*******************
Q: Tell us a little about your
childhood - where were you born and raised?"
I was born in New York City but my family moved shortly afterwards
to Puerto Rico. When I was about 10 or 11, we moved to Las Vegas
where my father, who is also a professional drummer and percussionist,
took a job playing in the Latin Fire Show.
Growing up, my childhood years were FILLED with a variety
of musical styles. My mother is Puerto Rican and my father is
Cuban so we always had great Latin music playing in the house
no matter where we lived. My mother loved to sing and dance and
always had a Latin album playing on the record player. My father
liked to listen to Latin and jazz music. He also frequently brought
his musician friends home to jam together and this could go on
for hours! Sometimes they would let me sit in and play clave
or quinto with them. It was all very exciting to me and I knew
I wanted to be a professional musician someday too. I learned
a lot both personally and professionally watching these musicians
as they jammed in our home and performed in public venues. I
was very lucky to be exposed to the incredible talents of artists
such as Billy Cobham, Louie Bellson, Roy Burns, Joe Morello,
Alan Dawson, Don Alias, Alex Acuna, Oreste Vilato, Cachao, Marcelino
Valdez, Armando Peraza and many others from a young age.
Q: Who was the most influential person in your life that
affected you, and your decision to become an artist?
There are so many people who have influenced me over the years
and helped influence my career as a musician. However, the people
who influenced me the most musically from a young age would be
my parents, Walfredo de los Reyes Sr. and Matilde Pages. Their
love for music of all types was infectious!
Q: Who were some of your most influential music teachers?
My father was my first teacher. He sat me down with the drumset
at about 10 years of age to teach me the basic fundamentals of
drumming. He was very patient because all I wanted to do was
go wild on the drums at that time! He taught me the basic techniques
and fundamentals that I still use to this day and share with
my own students. My father has been performing for over 50 years
in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States. He is one of the
most influential drummers to come out of Cuba and was a pioneer
in playing both
the drumset and percussion simultaneously. I am very proud to
say that Walfredo Sr. is not only my father but also my mentor.
Besides my father, there are other teachers I admire and include
Dom Moio, Changuito, Los Papines brothers, Marcelino Valdez,
Armando Peraza, Effrain Toro, Alex Acuna, and my brother Walfredo
Jr.
Q: What was your first experience
with Latin music?
My first experience listening to Latin music would be when
I was still in the womb! As I previously stated, we had Latin
music in our home from the day I was born. There was always instruments
lying all over the house. My mother tells me I picked up the
drumsticks at age two and began banging on everything in sight.
My first Latin work experience was playing in Las Vegas as a
young adult with my father's friend, Rogelio Darias, who used
to play with Xavier Cougat. He had a Latin orchestra and hired
me for all of his dance and party gigs.
Q: Do you feel that Jazz music has also influenced your
playing?
Jazz music has definately been one of the most influential
styles of music for me. My father listened to a lot of different
jazz musicians along with Latin musicians when I was growing
up. The one thing that I like most about the different styles
of Jazz is that it allows the musician room for immediate self-expression
and improvisation.
Q: How do you see yourself in relation to the Latin 'tradition'?
Tradition is very important to me because it sets a precedent
to a whole way of life. Traditions are part of us, make us who
we are, and this is seen in our every day life. I am proud to
say that my SAN RAFAEL 560 album which I recorded with my family
and friends is a tribute to some of my family's Cuban musical
traditions.
Q: Tell us about your recent CD and the musicians involved?
As I said, my SAN RAFAEL 560 album is a tribute to my Cuban
heritage. It is music that I grew up listening to that is fun
to play and to dance to. It has many classic Cuban rhythms such
as mambo, rumba, son, cha-cha, descarga, pachanga, etc. I had
a lot of fun recording it and I am excited to have the time to
perform the tunes live soon.
A lot of my family performed on the album with me. My older
brother, Walfredo Jr., plays drums. He has performed over the
years with Santana, Steve Winwood, Traffic, Celia Cruz, Ricky
Martin, and Gloria Estefan to name a few. My cousin, Rafael de
los Reyes, plays guiro and sings. He has performed with
Orlando Contrera, The Drifters, Ben E King, La Lupe, The Platters,
and Vicentico Valdez and many more. He also currently has his
own band called "Beale Street." My younger brother,
Kamar de los Reyes, plays congas and sings. Kamar currently stars
in ABC's "One Life to Live" and is working on his own
debut album. He plays the male lead in the Toni Braxton music
video "Spanish Guitar" and is currently filming a new
VH1 movie called "When the Music Stops" due out later
this year. And of course my father plays
timbales and sings on the album. He has performed with music
legends the world over such as Tito Puente, Rolando LaSerie,
Louie Bellson, Alex Acuna, Wayne Newton, Sammy Davis Jr., etc.
Besides my immediate family, I asked several friends that
I consider family to play on the album with us. They are Pedro
Eustache, Karen Briggs, Ramon Stagnaro, Bobby Roman, Ramon Florez,
Nengue Hernandez, Joe Rotundi, and Carlitos Del Puert. They are
all remarkable musicians and I am truly blessed
to also have them as my close friends.
Q: Is there a particular
tune from your CD that you like the most?
I love all of the classic tunes on SAN RAFAEL 560 for different
reasons. They are all really fun to play and make you want to
get up and dance! To pick a favorite would depend on my mood
of the moment. One song that is really special to me is "Corral
Falso" because it is a song that my grandfather's brother
Emilio wrote and originally sang back in the day. On SAN RAFAEL
560 we recorded the tune with Emilio's son, Rafael de los Reyes,
singing it. Tradition!!!
Q: When you perform on stage, what do you want your audience
to feel?
When I perform, I totally immerse myself into the music. It
becomes part of me. The biggest compliment I could ever receive
would be for the audience to feel the passion and freedom that
I feel when playing. By that I mean the freedom to express your
own unique individuality in areas that are important in your
life. That, of course, is different for every person. For me,
I love playing music and sharing it with others. It makes me
feel really good when people write to me or tell me that I have
inspired them in some way by my performance.
Q: What does the music you play do for you, emotionally,
spiritually, socially, etc.?
The music I play on SAN RAFAEL 560 makes me feel very happy
because it evokes warm memories from my childhood listening to
that kind of music. As far as the music I perform in concert
with other artists, that depends because each musical situation
is unique. The relationship I have with the artist sets the emotional
tone for me as well as the type of music we are playing. Since
I tour with a variety of artists, the genre of music we are playing
brings different emotions to the surface and they all have an
impact on my performance.
Before a show I always experience an adrenaline rush because
you never really know what to expect. The anticipation level
is high. During the show I am in heaven because I love to go
out and play music! Afterwards, I sit back and accept whatever
happened in the show. And then of course, I want to go back and
do it all again and again no matter what kind of music we are
playing. I love to play it all!
Q: What food would you most compare your music to?
I would hope that my music comes across as diverse as the
food I love. Which is all food! Cuban, Puerto Rican, Argentinian,
Peruvian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Italian, French, Indian,
etc.
Q: What can your audience expect on your next recording
project?
That is a good question but hard to answer because I am working
on several different projects in addition to live performances.
For the latest news on my upcoming albums, other projects, and
tour information, people can go to Sabor Records' web site: www.saborrecords.com.
They always have the latest breaking news on everything I am
doing including upcoming albums.
also see Daniel De Los Reyes Rich Tradition, Strong Family
History - San Rafael 560
For more information go to: http://www.saborrecords.com
