My interest in music started early. According to my mother, I used to “sing” to symphonic music before I could walk. While attending high school in Bogota, Colombia I joined the last iteration of what music bloggers now call “a seminal Latin rock garage band” named Wallflower Complexion. That was the first of dozens of musical groups I’ve played in throughout high school, college, and into adulthood.
My father was a US diplomat, which meant that our family moved every two or three years to places like Mexico, Vietnam, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Haiti. I’ve traveled to more than fifty countries and discovered that every one of them has its own distinct culture and sound; and each has left an indelible impression on my musical psyche.
Whether it’s called cumbia, salsa, reggae, folk, country, kompa, samba, bossa nova, or psychedelic rock there’s one thing that distinguishes great music in my mind – whether it moves you and touches your heart.
My influences? They start with the Beatles and include everyone from Eddie Paliermi, to Stravinsky, Tito Puente, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, John Prine, Curtis Mayfield, Shubert, the Kinks, Radiohead, Gato Barbieri, Charlie Parker, the great Antonio Carlos Jobim, and others.
