Master bata drummer, innovative rumbero, dock worker, teacher, Pancho has influenced thousands of musicians and positivley impacted Cuban folkloric music. I met Pancho in Halifax while he was touring with Jane Bunnett. Nova Scotia and Havana Cuba have history. We traded rum and salt cod and god knows what else a century or more ago. As people we still share something. We get along well. Even our Govt's agree to get along. Canadian tourists love Cuba and Cubans love Canadians.
My Cuban Canadian friend Alberto deCosta said to me those years ago, "when an old man invites you to his house in Cuba he means it". So I went to Havana with an address and a healthy sense of adventure. Thanks to an internet chat group I had agreed to take cymbals to a salsa/timba/jazz drummer on this trip. I arrived and made contact with Giraaldo Piloto. the leader of Klimax who at the time I had never heard of. When Piloto came to my hotel to pick up his cymbals he asked if there was anything he could do for me while I was visiting Havana. I said hell yeah, can you give me a drive to this address? We got in his car and drove and drove and drove. My first real tour through Havana neighborhoods. I noticed when we got stuck in traffic people were yelling to us. Hey Piloto! Bla bla bla!I had no freaking idea just how famous my driver was!
Pancho lived way up on Calle 10 de Octobre in Lawton, a densely populated neighborhood of Havana. Visits to the house were always a blast. Celebratory meals were always arranged. Beans and rice, pork, shrimp, salad and sometimes lobster. These were Christmas like meals. All day cooking and hanging out. Then we'd go to a rumba. Now I have to say I had a real interest in Cuban rumba. I was learning to play the parts on my congas back home in Halifax. What I didn't know was that my tour guide in the Havana scene was one of the most famous and influencial rumberos in Cuba! Honest to god I did not know. My relationship with Pancho grew over the years with my frequent visits. Always the big meal and a rumba and a tambor de santo. For ten years I visited, often twice a year and once he had the opportunity to visit me in Halifax. By god we put a meal together hoping to come close to the dozens of feasts we had in Havana. We even played a little bata.
I last saw Pancho a few months before he died. He had already had a major stroke and he could hardly speak. It was a good but difficult visit.
He was mischievious and full of positive energy. I will miss him always.
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