Memo Acevedo is a drummer from Colombia who performs Latin/Brazilian jazz.
Kosa Music. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
Career
Born Guillermo 'Memo' Acevedo in Santa Fe de Bogotá
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...
, Colombia, he became as a young man a successful musician drumming for the pioneer Rock band 'The Flippers'(three years). Wanting to pursue further horizons he moved to Madrid, Spain where he lived for three years recording Blues/Rock and Pop with bands such as The Pekenikes(Spain);.[ Mexico became Acevedo's new playground for two years. By the mid-1970s, he moved to Toronto][ Scott, Andrew]
"Locating Louis Simão in the Toronto Latin Music community: A dialogic ethnography; Memo Acevedo and the Toronto Latin Music community, 1980-1995"
''Soundscapes: journal on media culture''. Volume 7, September 2004. Retrieved 20 February 2014. where we would remain for approximately two decades.[
Starting in 1977 and continuing for almost twenty years, Acevedo led the Latin Jazz/Salsa band 'Banda Brava'."Festival Archives: Memo Acevedo and Banda Brava"]
Montreal Jazz Fest
The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...
. Retrieved 19 February 2014. During this period, he also led Memo Acevedo and the Jazz Cartel. In 1986 joined the Humber College Percussion Faculty where he Founded and directed the first (in Canada) Cuban-Brazilian Jazz Ensemble, and taught private lessons on drum set & percussion for 10 years. Acevedo is included in the Canadian 'Who's Who'.
Most of Acevedo's recordings have been as a sideman. The exception is his self-produced 1993 album ''Building Bridges'' ( Concord, 1993) which included guest performances by Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...
, Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is an Afro-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, ...
, Dave Valentin. He has worked with Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...
, Irakere
Irakere (faux-Yoruba for 'forest') is a Cuban band founded by pianist Chucho Valdés (son of Bebo Valdés) in 1973. They won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording in 1980 with their album ''Irakere''. Irakere was a seminal musical laborat ...
, Mark Murphy, Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has c ...
, Tom Scott, Gregory Hines, Frankie Valli and performed in ''The Lion King'' musical. He has also worked with The Propellerheads
Propellerheads were an English electronic music duo, formed in 1995 in Bath and consisting of Will White and Alex Gifford.
History
Their first release was an EP named ''Dive!'', released in 1996 through the independent label Wall of Sound. ...
, Hilton Ruiz, Jackie and Roy
Jackie and Roy was an American jazz vocal team consisting of husband and wife singer Jackie Cain (1928-2014) and singer/pianist Roy Kral (1921-2002). They sang together for 56 years and made almost 40 albums.
Kral's 2002 obituary in '' The N ...
, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Louie Bellson, Cachao, Joe Cuba and Vikki Carr among many.
In 1996 he moved to New York City where he was a professor at New York University (14 years), Drummers Collective (16 years), held numerous Clinics, workshops and performed as a free-lance musician beside leading his 10 piece band, Manhattan Bridges Orchestra, aka MBO.
He's been awarded the Percussive Arts Society President's Industry Award in 2011., the Montreal Drum Festival 'Lifetime Achievement' award, a JUNO award, (equivalent to the Grammy), two Jazz Report Magazine awards as 'best percussionist' 1994 and 1995, K0SA Music 'Lifetime achievement' award, the 'Gitana Tropical' Recognition award from Cuba's Ministry of Culture, The AD's National Award for best TV commercial, Rubbermaid's 'Unbeatable' (Composer/performer) and NYC's Lehman College Jazz Festival's 'Distinguish Artist' award.
Acevedo performed as guest faculty at the Yakima Valley Community College Latin Music Festival for nine years
7
registration, url = https://archive.org/details/afrocubanjazz00yano, K0SA Percussion Camp for 13 years. He is a featured artist on the K0SA DVD (Hudson Music)'Lessons with the Masters'. He's the co-author of Drummers Collective book 'Afro-Caribbean & Brazilian Rhythms for the Drums'. He also created & designed his own drum stick 'Revolution', manufactured and promoted by the Promark stick company, and previously Regal Tip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjN9CL7B-9I For more information and videos www.instagram.com/memo_acevedo_drumologist
Discography
*''Building Bridges'' (1993, The Jazz Alliance)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acevedo, Memo
Afro-Cuban jazz drummers
Canadian jazz drummers
Colombian jazz drummers
Living people
Canadian male drummers
Musicians from Bogotá
Year of birth missing (living people)
Canadian male jazz musicians