Ignacio Berroa (born July 8, 1953, in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

) is a jazz drummer. In 1980 Berroa left his country during the

Mariel Boatlift The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the ex ...

, moved to New York and joined

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

’s quartet in 1981, becoming the drummer of the band Gillespie formed until his death in 1993. Berroa has been recognized by many as one of the greatest drummers of our time. Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie best defined Berroa as: "... the only Latin drummer in the world in the history of American music that intimately knows both worlds: his native Afro-Cuban music as well as Jazz..." As an educator Berroa has conducted clinics and master classes all over the world. He also has created a video-teaching presentation "Afro-Cuban Jazz and Beyond", an overview of the development of Afro-Cuban music and its influence in jazz. As an author he made his mark with the instructional video: Mastering the Art of Afro – Cuban Drumming as well as the books: ''Groovin’ in Clave'' and ''A New Way of Groovin’''. His first album as a leader, ''Codes'', released under

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

, was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in 2006. ''Codes'' also won a Danish Music Award in 2007 as best International Jazz Album. He was honored by inclusion in the 2011 Blue Note and Modern Drummer Release titled "Jazz Drumming Legends". His album ''Heritage and Passion'' was recorded on 2014. Berroa has recorded and played with musicians of the stature of McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Michael Brecker, Milt Jackson, Jaco Pastorius, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Tito Puente, Mario Bauzá, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Gilberto Gil, Ivan Lins, Joao Bosco, Lenny Andrade, the Lincoln Center Orchestra, WDR Big Band and the BBC Big Band.

Discography

As leader

* ''Codes'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 2006) * ''Heritage and Passion'' (2014) * ''Straight Ahead from Havana'' (Codes Drum Music, 2017)

As sideman

With

* 1989 ''Live at the Royal Festival Hall 1989'' * 1989 ''Symphony Sessions'' * 1991 ''A Night in Tunisia'' * 1996 ''Live at the Royal Festival Hall 1987'' * 1997 ''Dizzy's 80th Birthday Party'' * 1999 ''Dizzy's World'' With

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

* 2001 ''Nocturne'' * 2004 ''Land of the Sun'' With Paul Haines * 1994 ''Darn It!'' * 1994 ''Poems by Paul Haines Musics by Many'' With Kip Hanrahan * 1982 ''Coup de Tête'' * 1982 ''Desire Develops an Edge'' * 1985 ''A Few Short Notes from the End Run'' * 1985 ''Vertical's Currency'' * 1988 ''Conjure: Cab Calloway Stands in for the Moon'' * 1988 ''Days and Nights of Blue Luck Inverted'' * 1990 ''Tenderness'' * 1995 ''All Roads Are Made of the Flesh'' With

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

* 1992 ''Live at the Village Gate'' * 1993 ''In Session'' * 2002 ''Live at the Playboy Jazz Festival'' With

Paquito D'Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

* 1986 ''Manhattan Burn'' * 1994 ''Taste of Paquito'' With

Claudio Roditi Claudio Roditi (May 28, 1946 – January 17, 2020) was a Brazilian jazz trumpeter. In 1966 Claudio was named a trumpet finalist at the International Jazz Competition in Vienna, Austria. While in Vienna, Roditi met Art Farmer, one of his idols, an ...

* 1989 ''Slow Fire'' * 1996 ''Jazz Turns Samba'' With

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

* 1975 ''Dias y Flores'' * 1988 ''Dias Y Flores: Song of the Nueva Trova Cubana'' * 2000 ''Arboles'' With

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is a Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Early life Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba into a musical family. He adopted his great grandmother's name for professional use, just a ...

* 1999 ''Inner Voyage'' * 2001 ''Supernova'' * 2004 ''Paseo'' With Hilton Ruiz * 1986 ''Something Grand'' * 1992 ''Manhattan Mambo'' * 1993 ''Heroes'' * 1995 ''Hands On Percussion'' * 1997 ''Island Eyes'' With Steve Turre * 1993 ''Sanctified Shells'' *'' Rainbow People'' (HighNote, 2008) With

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

* 1981 ''13th House'' * 1982 ''La Leyenda de La Hora'' * 1999 McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars * 2007 ''Afro Blue'' With others * 1984 ''Into Somewhere'', Don Lanphere * 1984 ''Masterpiece'', Patato Valdes * 1986 ''Music World'',

Jamaaladeen Tacuma Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) is an American jazz funk avant-garde bassist, composer and producer born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 197 ...

* 1987 ''Arawe'', Daniel Ponce * 1993 ''Amaneciendo en Ti'', Lourdes Robles * 1993 ''The Journey'',

Danilo Pérez Danilo Pérez (born December 29, 1966) is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist. His music is a blend of Panamanian roots with elements of Latin American folk music, jazz, European impressionism, African, and other mu ...

* 1993 ''Worldwide'',

Giovanni Hidalgo Giovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" (born November 22, 1963) is a Latin jazz percussionist. Early years Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary education. His grandfather was a musician, and his father, José ...

* 1995 ''Intersection'', Gary Campbell * 1996 ''El Commandante'', Mario Rivera * 1996 ''Nazca Lines'', Richie Zellon * 1997 ''Into the Light'', Andres Boiarsky * 1998 ''Dawn of a New Day'',

Mike Longo Michael Josef Longo (March 19, 1937 – March 22, 2020) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Longo was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to parents who had a musical background. His father played bass, his mother played organ at c ...

* 1999 ''An Answer to Your Silence'',

Luciana Souza Luciana Souza (born 12 July 1966) is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who also works in bossa nova, pop, classical and chamber music. She won a Grammy Award in 2007, and has been nominated for seven others, most recently in 2024. Souza is con ...

* 1999 ''Latin Jazz Suite'',

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Music of Latin America, Lati ...

* 2004 ''AfroCuban Jazz'', Mario Bauzá * 2009 ''Te Acuerdas'', Francisco Céspedes * 2012 ''The Infancia Project'', Luis Perdomo * 2015 ''New York City Sessions'' Dave Bass

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.ignacioberroa.com *https://www.yamaha.com/artists/ignacioberroa.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berroa, Ignacio 1953 births Living people Musicians from Havana Afro-Cuban jazz drummers Cuban jazz drummers