Armando Peraza

Armando Peraza
Armando Peraza playing a bongo in London, 1999.
Background information
Born	(1924-05-30)May 30, 1924 Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba
Died	April 14, 2014(2014-04-14) (aged 89) South San Francisco, California
Genres	Latin, Afro-Cuban, Jazz, Latin jazz, Latin rock
Instruments	Cuban Percussion, bongo, congas
Associated acts	George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Santana

Armando Peraza (ca. May 30, 1924 – April 14, 2014) was a latin jazz percussionist. Through his long associations with jazz pianist George Shearing, vibraphonist Cal Tjader and guitarist Carlos Santana, he has been internationally known from the 1950s through to the 1990s. Although primarily known as a bongocero and conguero, Peraza also served as timbalero when he played timbales, congas and bongos in 1979 with Santana on the band's recording and live tour in support of the album Marathon. In addition to his worldwide fame as a highly revered percussionist, Peraza was also an innovative and accomplished dancer and composer.

Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba in 1924 (although the birth year is uncertain), he was orphaned by age 7 and lived on the streets, making a living selling vegetables. Peraza gained a reputation as a sportsman, and became proficient at baseball and boxing. At one time he was a boxing coach. A natural musician, a chance encounter at a baseball game led to his first professional gig with famous local bandleader Alberto Ruiz. He then made his reputation as drummer and dancer playing with the cream of Havana's small bands or "conjuntos", the most famous being Ruiz's Conjunto Kubavana.

He left Cuba for Mexico in 1948 to tend to his sick friend, conga drummer Mongo Santamaría. They subsequently arrived in New York City in 1949, where after sitting in with Machito's big band, Peraza was personally requested by the great Charlie Parker to participate on a record date with Parker, Buddy Rich and many others. He also recorded with Slim Gaillard in New York in November 1949, a session that produced an exemplary virtuoso performance from Peraza on "Bongo City". He toured the entire U.S. with Slim Gaillard's band and ended up in San Francisco, where Gaillard owned the famous San Francisco nightclub named Bop City. After a period in Mexico, where he recorded with Perez Prado and also recorded many soundtracks for the Mexican movie industry, he returned to the U.S. and settled in San Francisco, a city of such charm and beauty that he stayed there through his final days. While located on the West Coast, he worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Gaillard, toured extensively with Charles Mingus and Dexter Gordon and performed up and down California for the Mexican farm workers with Puerto Rican actor and musician Tony Martinez (who played "Pepino" on the TV show The Real McCoys). Armando also headed up an Afro-Cuban dance review at the Cable Car Village club in San Francisco, attracting a clientele from Hollywood that included Errol Flynn, Marlon Brando and Rita Hayworth.