Chatting with Orestes Vilató is like taking a verbal walking tour of a half-century of Latin music. Pluck a name from the annals of salsa, Latin rock, Cuban roots music or Latin jazz and the odds are strong that this Cuban-born, New York-bred percussionist has tapped out polyrhythms alongside them: Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Celia Cruz, Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, La Lupe, McCoy Tyner, Linda Ronstadt and, of course, mambo king and nonpareil bassist Israel "Cachao" López. Among Vilató's most influential accomplishments are virtually reinventing the art of playing the Cuban timbales and godfathering the birth of East Coast salsa. So, all things considered, it's probably for the best that he never learned how to hold a guitar properly. "This is how it started," says Vilató, 64, warming to a familiar narrative during a recent L.A. stopover from his East Bay home to promote his new album, "It's About Time." He'll perform tonight at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood.

Orestes will play with the same group of legendary great and talented newcomers who came to play on IT' S ABOUT TIME: Rebecca Mauleon, Justo Almario, Johnny Rodriguez, Carlitos Puerto Jr., Adonis Puentes, James Zavaleta, Ramon Stagnaro, Luis Eric Gonzalez, Sean Billings, Alberto Salas, Rene Camacho, and Joey De Leon.

For "It's About Time," Vilató also drew on memories of family get-togethers where music always was a group effort. "My grandmother had a drawer and she used to take out the maracas, the claves, and my aunt took the guitar. And we grew up getting together and singing. Every time we got together we sang tunes and it was happiness, it was simplicity."

Remembrances of that sheer pleasure in making music with others has underscored Vilató's entire career. He expresses his gratitude in "It's About Time," in tracks such as "Camagüey (Huye, Huye)" and "Las Boinas de Cachao."

"This is actually a dream come true. This is a thing that I wanted to do before I say goodbye to the world."



Fuente
Los Angeles Times