#354 Marcos Torres- Percussionist for Marc Anthony, Producer and More!
Photo of Marcos taken by Martin Cohen.
This week’s guest is Marcos Torres. A versatile percussionist, producer, and Grammy Award-Winning engineer, Marcos has been at the forefront of creating a fresh new sound within the Salsa genre for over a decade. His respect for the tradition and trajectory of this music, as well as his love and knowledge of Hip-Hop, R&B, and aptitude for sound curation as a whole, have led to him to help push the boundaries of the genre as we know it today.
Born into a musical family of Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage, Marcos was gifted a bongo at the age of three, and never looked back. He has since turned into one of his generation’s most respected and sought after percussionists, performing with salsa superstars La India, Tito Nieves, Ismael Miranda, Jerry Rivera, Obie Bermudez, and the legendary Issac Delgado among many others.
He is currently working out of New York City in varied roles as a percussionist, producer and engineer with rising artists from across Latin America including Jeremy Bosch, Fer Casillas, Tania Matus and Flaco Navaja.
R.I.P.
Statement from the Percussive Arts Society, “We join the percussion community in mourning Chris Brooks, Vice-President of percussion publishing company Row-Loff Productions, who passed away unexpectedly in an accident at his beloved cabin in the Tennessee mountains on October 11, 2023 at the age of 66.”
Read the entire In Memoriam entry HERE.
Marcos mentions later there is another loss to the percussion community in Gary Núñez from Plena Libre. You can READ MORE HERE.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Dr. John Wooton. John is a lover of music as he performs, teaches, and listens to a variety of genres, but prefers a blend of jazz and several Caribbean styles. Known as a rudimental specialist, John actually gets more work as a singer and steel pan player. So, when he isn’t flipping sticks and playing ratamacues around the globe, you can find him dressed in linen playing at a casino, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, or dressed in style playing at a jazz club in New Orleans. Otherwise you can find him on a basketball or tennis court trying to stay young. An 81% free throw shooter and 4.0 tennis player, recently bumped down from a 4.5…, proof that age is winning.
The past few years Dr. Throwdown has played paradiddles with stick tosses and hertas with “Hi Moms” as well as flam 5s and diminished scales on his steel pans, in places like Tenerife, The Forbidden City, Novi Sad, Ludz, Madrid, Bucaramanga, Biella, San Juan, Missoula, Rome, Pescara, General Roca, Xinxiang, Buenos Aires, Lima, Houston, Gdansk, Vienna, Cali, Ferrara, Tegucigalpa, Port of Spain, Dallas, London, Mayagüez, Dusseldorf, McAllen, and many others. No, the countries are not listed… do your homework. He is an international artist and clinician for several percussion companies, whole heartedly endorsing each one of them, not only for their wonderful products but for the support they all give to percussion education around the world. Those companies are Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo, and Vic Firth. John also endorses Row Loff Productions, publisher for his books, solos and ensembles. Check out all their web sites, not only for wonderful products but also for their educational material.
John is in his 30th year of teaching at Southern Miss, close to where he grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, so he gets to enjoy dat great Cajun cuisine and Miss’ippi bar-b-que. Doc, as his students call him, loves his job… making music with his students on various percussion instruments. Search Youtube for “Southern Miss Percussion” to enjoy some of the ensembles he teaches. He was educated in Lafayette, Lou., Denton, Texas and Iowa City, Iowa, receiving documents from all three places, but he was also educated by teachers such as Marty Hurley through the experience of drum and bugle corps, specifically one from Rockford, Illinois. He has won some prestigious trophies, including several national titles as a soloist, ensemble member, composer and teacher, along the way with these organizations but prefers to play music for the joy of the experience.
Happy Birthday to Ray LeVier! Professional drummer Ray Levier is a veritable Swiss Army Knife on the kit, facile at finessing jazz-fusion grooves, swinging a jazz combo, laying down rugged hip-hop beats and nasty funk, accompanying singer-songwriters with subtle grace, and bashing away at rock beats with panache and precision.
As a career musician, Ray is in an in-demand sideman who also divides his time with teaching, clinics, and speaking dates; and composing for film and TV. When he’s not hard at work in one or more of these outlets, Ray can be found woodshedding his chops, or composing for his solo career.
“You always have to be ready to adapt; sometimes on the spot, just like a chameleon,” Ray says. “You also have to be an intuitive person and get out of your way to really understand who the artist is as a person and what they want. You have to be well-versed in many styles, and you have to work really hard because there’s always someone behind you lined up ready waiting for your gig.”
The Nyack, New York-based artist has had the rare feat of being a sideman to urban folk and jazz artist KJ Denhert for 20 years. He’s the co-producer and co-founder of a successful music production company, composing TV tracks for such esteemed networks as TLC, Discovery, FOX Sports, CBS, NBC, History Channel, National Geographic, and the Oxygen Network. In this realm, Ray fields a diverse barrage of TV cues, and intuitively composes music that strongly translates in the audiovisual medium. He conducts this work, and live drum track sessions for other artists, at his state-of-the-art professional production recording studio 30 minutes from Manhattan. In addition, Ray has earned endorsements from Yamaha, Paiste, Vater and Evans. -Read More
Happy Birthday to Yoel Del Sol! Yoel graduated from The National School of Music in Havana, Cuba. There had the opportunity to study under some of the world's most renowned Percussion educators, such as Jose Luis Quintana (Changuito), Reynaldo Fernandez, Roberto Vizcaino, Roberto Concepcion, among others.
From 1993 until 1995 he had the oppurtunity to teach percussion at The National School of Music where he studied. In 1995, Yoel won 1st Place at the PERCUBA Percussion Competition. This is one of the most prestigus awards in Cuba.
In 1999, Yoel relocated to Miami, Florida for more opportuntities to preform and record. He has performed with top artists including: Celia Cruz, Cachao, Raul DiBlasio, LENA, Malena Burke, Afro-Cuban Jazz Group ORIENTE, Luis Bofill, Roselyn Sanchez, Alicia Machado, Luis Enrique, Palo, Spam All Stars, Rebeca Mauleon, Arturo Sandoval & many more. In addition, Yoel has performed at Jazz Festivals in Cuba & around the globe with the group Havana-Sax (saxophone quartet & percussion) also with Chucho Valdez, Carlos del Puerto, Miguel Anga Diaz, Enrique Pla , Frank Emilio.... among others. He has also recorded with very important names in the Latin Pop Industry : Alexander Pires, Raul DiBlasio, Garage H , Eddy Thomas, Dj LAZ , Jose Luis Rodriguez ”El Puma” & his work can be found on the soundtrack album of the independent film LA MALA" ( Spain/Puerto Rico production.)
Gig Alerts
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas IN CONCERT on Oct 27-29th
Starring Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara (Sunday), Halsey (Fri/Sat), Fred Armisen, Riki Lindhome (Fri/Sat) and Ken Page! You can GET TICKETS HERE!
You can find a whole host of other Halloween related music festivals by CLICKING HERE.
NYC has its Annual Halloween Parade up 6th ave on Halloween.
Marcos mentions his upcoming gigs.
He will be playing with Los Pleneros de la 21, then with his father at Tablao in South Norwalk, then Park City Music Hall, then he leaves for tour!
Educational Spotlight
The Percussive Arts Society has a new issue of Percussive Notes that is a preview of all things PASIC 2023.
Next, there is a post that highlights four tools to help producers.
Iconic Recording
Marcos chose “Suavecito” by Malo. You can read more about that song by CLICKING HERE.
Music News
Friend of the show Ari Herstand has a new Podcast Episode with Clyde and Gracie Lawrence. They talk about removing merch fees with Live Nation.
Here is A LINK to the voting process for the grammys. Here is A GUIDE to the first round of voting.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially proposed a ban on “junk fees” – including hidden charges attached to the purchase of tickets to concerts and other live-entertainment events. -Article
The Recording Academy is collaborating with CBS on a massive hip-hop concert, ‘A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop,’ featuring LL Cool J, Ice-T, Public Enemy, Rakim, Queen Latifah, Method Man, Questlove, and more. -Article
Marcos Torres Interview
The song leading into the interview is, “Nuestras Manos” by Jeremy Bosch.
Damon and Marcos talk about Marcos leaving the podcast and the journey he has been on since leaving.
He talks about the new congas he has inherited.
Marcos also talks about the Marc Quiñones series of congas he has.
Shout-out to Manito skins and conga heads.
Marcos talks about how he got the new gig playing in the Marc Anthony band with friends of the show, Marcos Lopez, Eric Velez, and Jessie Caraballo.
Damon suggests getting the four pack of Air Tags by Apple to track your stuff.
Damon recommends merino wool for travel clothes. Here are some brands and what products Damon uses.
Darn Tough (socks)
Wool and Prince (they now make merino wool jeans!)
ExOfficio (specifically the undies)
Unbound
Outlier
Ice Breaker
Anatomie (for lightweight travel clothing)
Patagonia
PrAna
Sockwell (merino wool compression socks – great for long flights or long travel days)
League of Rebels (merino wool suits for dressing up)
Marcos is going to have to get new Jordans. Damon recommends the company Flight Club. Here are more details on where and how to buy Jordans.
Marcos and Damon talk about load in time vs. call time vs. lobby call vs. soundcheck time.
They also talk about generational experience and socialization of personalities.
Damon brings up the value of playing with older more seasoned musicians.
Marcos talks about feel and time. Damon mentions the attack, duration and release of notes as well as arrival points in the music.
Shout out to J.J. Johnson and Justin Faulkner.
Marcos talks about guiro playing.
You can check Marcos out on tour with Marc Anthony starting October 25th.
You can follow Marcos on Facebook or Instagram.
Marcos uses Latin Percussion instruments.
Shout-out to Marcos Torres II, Gabriel Rios, and Marcos’ grandmother. Shout-out to Marcos’ instructors at Berklee as well!
The song leading out of the interview is “Sólo Esta Vez” by Jeremy Bosch.
