supersonic
Artist Information
Biography
Conjunto Guantánamo - Sizzling Ambassadors of Cuban Folklore - have arrived with a freshly interpreted, classic Afro-Cuban sound. Lively percussion, pounding syncopated bass lines, brazenly exotic trumpet melodies, uninhibited improvisation and the sultry, sexy, dynamic lead vocal of Pepito Gomez positively scorch in a variety of vintage and original compositions. Conjunto Guantánamo unite the precision and cadence of traditional Afro-Cuban music with the raw energy and edge of New York City’s unique nightlife. Salsa lovers rejoice! Conjunto Guantánamo brings you the origins and essence of what music lovers today mostly know as Salsa.
Conjunto Guantánamo's soulful sound is layered with authentic Cuban swing and sophisticated influences like "el barbaro" Benny More, Arsenio Rodriguez, Roberto Faz, and Miguelito Cuní. Playing authentic traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms like Son Montuno, Cha-Cha-Cha, Mambo and Rumba with contemporary energy, their performances sometimes transition into extended experimental descargas -- a type of Afro-Cuban improvisational jam session -- using musical motifs straight from the streets of Havana and Matanzas, as well as some modern day Timba combined with the very spirit of New York City.
Since Conjunto Guantánamo was founded in 2003, they’ve become highly visible on the NYC nightlife scene, performing at festivals, dance parties, and events and venues as diverse as The Museum of Modern Art and the grand opening of the IKEA store in RedHook (an all weekend affair!). The band inspires thousands of New Yorkers and visitors to swivel their hips in the name of Latin passion. Sting, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers, Mickey Rourke, Leonardo DiCaprio, and other stars have made surprise audience appearances at places like the West Village's celebrated Socialista, where Conjunto Guantánamo have previously played a weekly residency.
Founder Ulises Beato and Pepito Gomez, Sebastian Natal, Carlos Mena, Oscar Onoz and Mauricio Herrera are the unique and celebrated musicians who create this unique sound. You can find Conjunto Guantánamo at select venues around New York City and the Tri-State Area every week. Just follow the smoking beat and the baile apasionado - or please check our calendar at:
http://www.ConjuntoGuantanamo.com
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Ulises Beato - congas and vocals, director (http://www.facebook.com/UlisesBeato)
Cuban-American Ulises Beato was born in New York City's Washington Heights area in 1966 and relocated with his family to Miami, Florida in early 1973. For the next 21 years he was raised within the freshly exiled Cuban community that had largely been gathering there since 1960. Early on, Ulises absorbed the traditional Cuban music, culture and Afro-Cuban religious practices of his parents and extended family. Young Ulises was transfixed the first time he attended a sacred "toque de santos" or "a playing for the saints". Though only eight years old at the time, he remembered the instruments and music he heard and saw for the first time at his godfather’s house in the 1970s, with their rustic appearance and a bewildering polyrhythm unlike anything he'd ever heard. This experience left an indelible mark on Ulises helping shape his musical inclinations throughout his life. For his ninth birthday, an aunt gave him a 12-inch LP of various traditional sacred "toques" and for a time he became obsessed with this music; it was then that he started to internalize the complex folkloric rhythms of his parent's native Cuba. Later he briefly studied violin with his grandmother and taught himself rock bass for a while before studying jazz trumpet with several teachers including Jim Rotundy and Jack Cassidy. Eventually Ulises settled on Afro-Cuban percussion finding his true musical calling and bringing full circle his adventure within his musical universe.
After moving back to New York City in 1994, Ulises discovered a side of Cuban music that he felt had been largely overlooked in Miami. Although he had experienced the religious side of Cuban music many times around Miami throughout his years there, Ulises realized that there was a whole flip side of popular Cuban music that had been largely overlooked by his Miami counterparts in favor of newer, more Americanized (and more available) genres like salsa, salsa romantica, disco and rock. "Back then,” says Ulises, “ I was able to discover a wide variety of Cuban musical recordings around NYC's underground nightlife and on the local radio stations. Surprisingly, I seldom encountered that while growing up in Miami's Cuban communities of the 1970s and post-Mariel boat lift 80s.” For the first time he discovered Benny More, Arsenio Rodriguez, Miguelito Cuni, Abelardo Barroso and scores of others who were the musical mainstay of Cuban music back when it was making its mark on the world stage. "I found there was a relatively small Cuban community in New York City and nobody was playing that music live at the time." The "salsa" world was alive and well and its roots were widely acknowledged, but bands were playing a watered down version of the Cuban music that lent salsa it's essence. Nobody was playing the authentic traditional Cuban sound. Because of this, Ulises set out to provide what was missing: a literate music with energy, poise, elegance and innuendo that had an authentic Cuban edge. “I wanted to play the more traditional things that had been largely set aside and forgotten. My plan solidified in the late 1990s with the explosive success of Buena Vista Social Club.” Soon Ulises Beato began to pursue his newfound dream of forming a traditional Afro-Cuban band to bring a slice of Cuba to people up North. One night Jack Cassidy suggested the name Guantanamo. Since Guantanamo, Cuba was the original birthplace of son montuno, Ulises named the band Conjunto Guantanamo which translates to the Guantanamo Ensemble.
In 2003, Conjunto Guantanamo began playing around its DUMBO, Brooklyn birthplace within that bohemian enclave of artists and musicians. Their fan base started to grow immediately. They played many gigs in the area and did their first DUMBO Arts Festival that year where they played outdoors for a huge throng of people who demanded encore after encore. While steadily widening their circle of venues, in the last couple of years, Conjunto Guantanamo have played for many different audiences from nightclubs and celebrity bars (like West Chelsea's notorious celebrity playgrounds Socialista Lounge and The SOHO House) to upscale corporate and private events throughout the tri-state area.
Master Percussionist and close personal friend Eddie Bobe calls Ulises "a hero of Cuban music."
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Pepito Gomez - lead vocals (http://www.JosePepitoGomez.com)
Jose “Pepito” Gomez was born in the small town of Florida in the Camaguey province of Cuba in 1972. After a few years of singing with some small local bands, he joined Maravilla de Florida, a band boasting over five decades worth of rich musical tradition and several national number one hits in Cuba. Pepito Gomez moved to Havana in 1994 where, after playing with several well known bands there he joined La Charanga Latina. Pepito toured to New York City’s Lincoln Center in 1999 with them and He also toured with the late Compay Segundo of Buena Vista Social Club fame and has had the opportunity to share the stage with such salsa superstars as Gilberto Santarosa, Cheo Feliciano and a slew of other world famous orchestras and singers.
A big break came for Pepito Gomez in 2001 when he was invited to join one of the most important figures in contemporary Cuban music: César "Pupy" Pedroso. Pupy Pedroso was then the pianist, composer and (along with Juan Formel) co-founder of one of the most popular Cuban music groups in the world today, Los Van Van who enjoy a history spanning four decades at the top of the Cuban music scene. At the time, Pedroso was planning a solo project that would later turn out to be one of Cuba's top contemporary timba bands - Pupy y Los Que Son Son. Pepito became their lead singer and one of the band's original founding members. He stayed on with the band as lead vocalist and composer until his recent migration to the United States.
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Sebastian Natal - piano and vocals (http://www.SebastianNatal.com)
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sebastian Natal began studying music at the young age of four. Influenced by his father, pianist Yeneca Natal, he began his first studies with his professor the concert pianist Susana Lopez and developed his musical abilities at an accelerated pace. At only 12 years of age, Natal graduated from his piano studies at the Ateneo de Montevideo Conservatory in his hometown.
By age 15, Natal began his professional music career as pianist and bassist in several of Uruguay's better known Latin music ensembles. In 2000, Sebastian began participating in Uruguay's carnival competitions as a percusionist and that year performed at one of Uruguay's most important venues, the Ramon Collazo Amphitheater in Montevideo. In 2003, Sebastian decided to try living in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he continued his musical studies at Gral Cultural Center in San Martin. At the same time he played with several ensembles specifically involved in the genres of son cubano, salsa, Latin jazz and flamenco. Meanwhile, Natal also spent time developing his skills as an acoustic bass player studying under his symphonic teacher Juan Jose Aldado.
Sebastian Natal made Buenos Aires his home until 2005. That year he shared the stage with Conrad Herwig (first trombone to Frank Sinatra and afterwards to Eddie Palmieri) and mid-year he left Argentina returning to Montevideo where he immediately joined and toured internationally with La Sonora Borinquen, an ensemble founded 45 years prior and led by Carlos Goberna.
In 2008 Sebastian Natal came to New York City to polish his musical skills and further his career. Since his arrival, Sebastian has quickly established himself in the trenches of New York City's Latin music scene.
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Carlos Mena - bass and vocals (http://www.myspace.com/CarlosMenaBass)
Born in Quito, Ecuador on February 25, 1980 to a family of follkloric musicians, Carlos Mena's passion for music was undeniably ignited by the time he was seven. Around that time, one particular instrument, the bass, grabbed his attention. After graduating high school, Carlos moved to Zurich, Switzerland to study and pursue his career as a musician. In spite of not speaking German and being in a foreign country and away from his family for the first time, Carlos completed his studies and in 2004 he graduated from the Zurich School of Music, Drama and Dance, with a degree in the Performing and Pedagogic arts. His new challenges in Switzerland gave him the opportunity to meet and perform with a slew of great musicians in a variety of genres such as Jazz, Classical, Latin, Pop and Big Band earning him a place in Zurich's music scene. Carlos recently received his master's degree in Jazz Performance at Queens College's Aaron Copland School of Music, New York.
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Oscar Onoz - trumpet (http://www.myspace/OscarOnoz)
Born in Cuba's Camaguey province, Oñoz immigrated to the United States at an early age. Growing up in New Jersey, alongside many of the great Cuban musicians in exile, he learned the traditional Cuban trumpet style for which he is known.
Onoz has performed at many of today's most recognized venues including New York's Lincoln Center and New York Town Hall. His off Broadway performances include "Tropicana - the Musical" (2002), and Meme Solis' "Havana on the Bay" (year?). Oscar's other notable performances include "El Dia Nacional de la Salsa" in Bogota, Columbia in 2009 and a live performance on New York Radio Station in 2003 for "The Cuban All-Star Jam".
In 1999, Oscar achieved a life-long dream by recording with members of the acclaimed "Buena Vista Social Club" including singer extraordinaire Ibrahim Ferrer and trumpeter Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal on a recording titled "Cuban Dreams; A New York Reunion". On the Big Screen his trumpet playing has been featured on Darren Aronofsky's classic "Requiem For a Dream (2000) and on Amauri Gutierrez's landmark documentary on Cuban music "Como Se Formo Una Rumba" (1999).
Throughout his career Oscar Onoz has performed with such greats as Cachao, David Oquendo and Juan Carlos Formell. Today, Oscar Onoz stays active as lead trumpet of Conjunto Guantanamo where he enjoys playing the traditional Cuban music he loves best.
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Mauricio Herrera - bongo (http://www.myspace.com/MauricioHerrera)
Mauricio Herrera was born in Holguin Province, Cuba, in 1972. He first discovered the world of music at age 7 when he began learning violin. By 14 he began to explore Afro-Cuban percussion where he found his true niche. He graduated from the Jose Maria Ochoa Conservatory in Holguin. In 1994 Mauricio moved to Havana to further his musical career. There he played, toured and recorded with the likes of Hector Valentin, La Barriada, Pachito Alonso, Manolin el Medico de la Salsa, Manolito Simonet and Paulito FG.
In 2001 he left Cuba to complete a concert tour of Mexico and decided to stay there. He lived in Mexico City until 2005. All this time, Mauricio felt the allure of North American jazz beckoning and in February of 2005 he decided to come to New York to satisfy this enduring hunger. While Mauricio's upbringing in Cuba gave him a fundamental understanding and love for the rhythm and syncopation of traditional Afro-Cuban percussion, the atmosphere of musical diversity in New York provides the setting for him to him manifest it.
Mauricio is endorsed by Latin Percussion (LP) and Vic Firth.
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Instrumentation
Pepito Gomez - Lead Vocals
Ulises Beato - Congas and vocals
Sebastian Natal - Piano and Vocals
Carlos Mena - Bass and Vocals
Oscar Oñoz - Trumpet
Marvin Diz - Bongo
Discography
Newly available! - We have four new singles on Nganga Records available for immediate download directly on our Web site at, http://www.ConjuntoGuantanamo.com
We have an upcoming Album in the works with several original Cuban tunes that will be appearing on Nganga Records in 2012. Stay Tuned!
Links
Video
Press
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Perserving the Culture
[+ Show ]
Vocalist and conguero Ulises Beato and his players preserve the Cuban traditions of son montuno, mam...
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Conjunto Guantanamo in DUMBO
[+ Show ]
While most people will remember the Summer of 2007 by the insipid, soulless and electronically enhan...
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Wonderfully Compeling
[+ Show ]
"One of the most wonderfully compelling Latin bands in New York City. This Afro-Cuban ensemble has a...
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Ambassadors of Cuban Folklore
[+ Show ]
"... Conjunto Guantanamo truly are the Ambassadors of Cuban Folklore displaying a familiarity and fo...
Setlist
Conjunto Guantanamo always deliver dynamic and engaging performances of original material and traditional standards to audiences of all ages and interests.
~ Main Stage Concerts ~
A variety of performance formats are available depending on venue and requirements. A typical indoor or outdoor show would be comprised of two 50 minute sets. Regardless of the format, Conjunto Guantanamo will deliver a professional and memorable performance.
Conjunto Guantanamo have a repertoire of more than 40 songs which include original compositions and selected standards.
Sets might included the following numbers...
~ SET 1 ~
1. DESCARGA GUANTANAMO
2. TU NO DEBES
3. MATA SIGUARAYA
4. AMALIA BATISTA
5. DULCE HABANERA
6. COBALLENDE
~ SET 2 ~
1. LA ROSA ORIENTAL
2. VIVIR DEL TUMBAO
3. LA LOMA DE BELEN
4. YO SI COMO CANDELLA
5. SUJETATE LA LENGUA
6. Y YO GANGA
~ FIN ~
~ ENCORE ~
1. LA GUARAPACHANGA