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Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez - percussion

'El Negro' Hernandez was said to be the most talented and innovative percussionist in the world, even before being awarded a Grammy in 1997. Whether performing with jazz-legends like McCoy Tyner or Michel Camilo, rock-stars like Carlos Santana and Stevie Winwood or in notable Latin American ensembles like the Tropi-Jazz All Stars of the late Tito Puente, 'El Negro' has also shown himself to be one of the most forceful and versatile musicians in the international music scene today.

Horacio Hernandez was born into a very musical family: His grandfather played the trumpet in, for instance, the famous Septeto National, and brought the traditional Cuban influence into the family. His father listened to jazz programs on Cuban radio, and his elder brother was fond of rock-music from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin. Horacio got his nickname 'El Negro', The Black, even before birth as an affectionate reference to his brother's best friend, who lived in the neighborhood.

Already in his earliest youth Horacio showed a talent and preference for percussion. He began with the percussion instruments in the family, practiced later on a lent drum-set and finally took lessons. These were at first with Fausto Garcia Rivera, who had been trained in America, then with Enrique Pla, the percussionist of the legendary Cuban group 'Irakere', to which Arturo Sandoval and Paquito D’Rivera likewise belonged. Horacio Hernandez began studying at the National School of Arts in Havana, but even during his years of study he began to play with the saxophonist Nicolas Reynoso, to whose band belonged also the pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

A big chance of letting off musical steam and showing his versatility came, as Horacio Hernandez worked as resident percussionist for EGREM-Studios, one of the biggest groups of studios on Cuba. Here he drummed for many rehearsals, sometimes for as many as 20 hours a day, traveling between studios and snatching intervals of sleep on an old mattress rolled up in an adjacent room. At last he became the full-time drummer in the Rubalcabas group 'Proyecto', with which he appeared for the first time abroad and made an international reputation for himself in music circles. For seven years he toured the world with this group and recorded seven albums, astonishing his hearers both with his unusual way of playing as also with his unusual set of drums. Horacio Hernandez is truly ambidextrous, being able to play the leading pattern with either hand or to play the basic rhythmic figure of Afro-Cuban music, the clave-beat, with his left foot on the high-hat or the cowbell with the foot-pedal, while his right foot supports the base line, and his hands quite independently play highly complex rhythms on the bongos and timbales, which he often includes, instead of the classical toms, in his drum-set.

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24
Album Review

John Beasley, Jose Gola & Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez: El Trio Live in Italy

Read "El Trio Live in Italy" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


El Trio Live in Italy features the impressive line-up of Grammy Award-winner John Beasley on keyboards and synthesizers, José Gola on electric bass, and Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez on drums. Described as a “dream threesome" of renowned musicians, this album is a product of their summer tour of Italy in 2022. The album's essence is a journey of three friends allowing the music to guide them. All three artists have a rich history, having toured with the maestro of Afro-Cuban ...

5
Album Review

Hilario Duran: Cry Me A River

Read "Cry Me A River" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Hilario Durán is a renowned Cuban-Canadian jazz pianist and composer known for contributing to Latin jazz. He does not release big band efforts often, but with the release of Cry Me A River, he has reconstituted his Latin Jazz Big Band to take us on an extraordinary musical journey, effortlessly blending myriad genres into his singular style. Durán's Afro-Caribbean cultural attachment informs the nine works of both originals and covers in this outing, resulting in a unique tapestry of sound. ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Phil Woods, Tito Puente and More

Read "Phil Woods, Tito Puente and More" reviewed by Joe Dimino


This week we start with a cat straight outta Cuba. Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez does his magic on the drums with his Italuba Big Band followed by the great Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente. We then hear a mix of Django Reinhardt, Melissa Aldana and Longineu Parsons. We profile the great Montreal cat Jacques Kuba Séguin and the talented South Korean-born Pureum Jin. As the show begins to wind down, we feature Miles Brown and Putte Wickman to round out ...

381
Album Review

Esperanza Spalding: Esperanza

Read "Esperanza" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


From a guest appearance on Stanley Clarke's The Toys of Men (Heads Up, 2007) to her self-titled debut, Esperanza Spalding is turning heads, and opening lots of ears. After an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, the host called the 23-year-old vocalist/bassist/composer “the coolest guest" he'd ever had. Spalding is indeed cool, having enrolled at Berklee College of Music at 16, and ultimately becoming the institution's youngest professor in its history. She landed gigs with Patti ...

299
Album Review

Esperanza Spalding: Esperanza

Read "Esperanza" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes


On this major label debut, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding demonstrates plenty of eclecticism, taking on styles ranging from samba, hard-driving jazz and R&B, a risky combination in less confident hands. However, Spalding revels in the multiple directions without ever sounding pretentious. The Berklee College alum opens the disc singing in fluent Portuguese, with a small hint of an accent, on “Ponta de Areia," a Milton Nascimento/Fernando Brandt composition originally featured on Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer and often covered ...

407
Album Review

Esperanza Spalding: Esperanza

Read "Esperanza" reviewed by Jeff Winbush


For the purist who wants to know what all the excitement is about Esperanza Spalding, they can skip directly to track 11--"If That's True"--of her sophomore album Esperanza, where she works out on the acoustic bass in an all-out jam with Donald Harrison on alto saxophone and Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet. It flat-out smokes, and showcases the Berklee-trained bassist as potentially one of the more promising young talents in jazz. First though, she's going to have to ...

135
Album Review

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez & Robby Ameen: Robby & Negro At The Third World War (La Timba No es Como Ayer)

Read "Robby & Negro At The Third World War (La Timba No es Como Ayer)" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez and Robby Ameen pack a whole lot into this collaboration. The prime beat comes from Latin music, but there is hip-hop, classical, and jazz as well. How does it all fit in? Just perfectly, thank you!

The different strands go to make a compact body which the players get into and bring alive, with the arrangements adding to the potency. On “The Moon Shows Red (Tzuki...) Jerry Gonzalez sits in on trumpet and Ameen ...

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3

Recording

Fahir Atakoglu's "Live At Umbria Jazz" Featuring Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez & Alain Caron

Fahir Atakoglu's "Live At Umbria Jazz" Featuring Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez & Alain Caron

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

Fahir Atakoğlu's Live at Umbria Jazz Featuring Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez and Alain Caron Release Date: January 19, 2016 New 2016 Release Integrates Cuban Rhythms & Middle Eastern Melodies—World Tour Planned Fahir Atakoğlu releases his latest CD Live at Umbria Jazz (Far & Here label) on January 19, which is the 17th album in Fahir's vast catalogue of music with plans for a 2016 world tour underway. Atakoğlu has worked to blend his own native music ...

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Recording

Album of the Week - Italuba II, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Album of the Week - Italuba II, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Source: All About Jazz


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Performance / Tour

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez & Robby at The Third World War! Knitting Factory Wed, Sept. 18

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez & Robby at The Third World War! Knitting Factory Wed, Sept. 18

Source: All About Jazz

Where: Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St. Date: Wed, Sept. 18 Start Time: 9:30 PM

Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez: drums Robby Ameen: drums John Beasley: keyboards Pedro Martinez: vocals, percussion Yosvany Terry: saxophone Carlitos del Puerto: bass

The band will be playing music from their new CD “el Negro and Robby at the Third World War" it's afro-cuban -informed music with funk, hip-hop and jazz, but not ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Cry Me A River

Alma Records
2023

buy

El Trio Live in Italy

Challenge Records
2023

buy

Live in Italy

Challenge Records
2023

buy

El Trio: Live in Italy

Challenge Records
2023

buy

Pink Elephant Magic

Arkadia Records
2022

buy

Friday - LIVE at the...

Arkadia Records
2022

buy

3 For Africa

From: El Trio: Live in Italy
By Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Cry Me A River

From: Cry Me A River
By Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

Assejazz Nights

From: Latidos
By Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez

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