Gerardo "Jerry" Velez (born August 15, 1947) is an American musician. Best known for performing with American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

musician

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

in August 1969, Velez is a veteran

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

ist and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

, who has performed with many artists covering a number of different genres of music. He is also a common member of

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

band

Spyro Gyra Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from ''Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenste ...

Life and career

Velez began his musical career in The Bronx, New York. He joined Jimi Hendrix's band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows in July 1969. They performed at the Woodstock Festival and at a small number of studio sessions, before Hendrix disbanded the group in favour of returning to the three-piece format of

The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. The band's performance at Woodstock was released on the live album ''

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

'' in 1994, followed by the live album and video '' Live at Woodstock'' in 1999. For all Hendrix releases on which he appears, Velez was credited with the nickname Jerry. Since performing with Jimi Hendrix, Velez has continued to record and tour with high-profile artists, including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

. According to his official website, Gerardo Velez has been nominated for seven

Grammy Award 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 ...

Selected discography

;with

*'' Live at Woodstock'' (1969) – percussion ;with

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...

*'' Live at the Budokan'' (1996) – percussion ;with Christine Hayley *''Gone Fishin (2002) – percussion ;with

Martha Veléz Martha Veléz (born in New York City on August 25, 1945) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Biography Veléz started singing at age five and won an opera scholarship at age 12, as a mezzo-soprano. She studied for three y ...

*
Hypnotized
'' (1972) – conga ;with

*''

Morning Dance ''Morning Dance'' is the second album by the jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra. The album was released in March 9, 1979 and was certified gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1979, and was certified platinum on June 1, 1987. At ''Billboard'' magazine, ...

'' (1979) – percussion, bongos, conga *'' Catching the Sun'' (1980) – percussion *'' Carnaval'' (1980) – percussion, bongos *''

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

'' (1982) – percussion *'' City Kids'' (1983) – percussion *'' Access All Areas'' (1983) – percussion *'' Alternating Currents'' (1985) – percussion *''Down the Wire'' (2009) – percussion ;with

*''

Black Tie White Noise ''Black Tie White Noise'' is the eighteenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following Bowie's marri ...

'' (1993) – percussion

References

* * *

External links

* 1947 births Living people Musicians from the Bronx Puerto Rican hip-hop musicians Puerto Rican jazz musicians Puerto Rican rock musicians Jazz musicians from New York (state) Gypsy Sun and Rainbows members Spyro Gyra members {{Caribbean-musician-stub