CALIXTO OVIEDO

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Calixto Oviedo was the drummer with NG La Banda during the period that produced many of their greatest recordings, including Santa Palabra, Échale Limón, and El Trágico. In the mid-90's, he relocated to Sweden, during which time he made an excellent Timba recording, "La Recompensa" with his son Yulién, and other key members of Charanga Habanera.

Piece by piece, Calixto has been putting together a working band made up of Cuban Timba stars from various bands, and just this year, has enlisted the services of two of the most important figures in the history of Timba: pianist/arranger Iván Melón González and singer Mariano Pérez Mena.

We hope to soon add reports of recordings and tours by this exciting new group.

The INTERVIEWS sections contains a lengthy interview with Calixto, conducted by Majela Serrano, and a shorter more percussionist-oriented interview with questions by Kevin Moore. At the moment, both are only available in Spanish, but English translations will be coming soon. We also have an article on "La Recompensa" in the DISCS sections, and a full discography of the many discs Calixto has recorded as a drummer/percussionist.

Biography of Calixto Oviedo

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1955, he took the drumsticks in his hands for the first time, as early as by the age of 2 years old and was already playing the timbales and the drums professionally by the age of 4. Before he entered the primary music school of Caturla in Havana, he had already appeared with several, famous Cuban musicians, among them the piano master Rubén Gonzalez. After graduating from the National High School of the Arts, he plays with many different bands, such as the Radio & Television Orchestra, Grupo Acheré, and later he joins the band of the Cuban bolero singer Pacho Alonso. In the early 80’s he became the very first drummer in the band of Arturo Sandoval, after having just left "Irakere".

Together with his old school mate, Adalberto Alvarez, he founded in 1983, the orchestra "Adalberto y Su Son", where he was playing the timbales and stayed there until the beginning of 1990, when he entered the music group "Pachito Alonso y Sus Kini Kini". He stayed in this band only for a year and by the beginning of 1991, he would start playing the drums and timbales in "N.G. La banda"; considered by many to be the creators of the new Cuban sound that today is called "Timba".

In 1996, he started his solo career as an independent musician and since 1997, he’s living in Scandinavia, where he has performed with many different orchestras and well known musicians. Currently he is the bandleader of "Calixto Oviedo y Su Recompensa", which he founded in 2000, as well as the musical director of his latin jazz band "Train Latino".

During his 23 years as a professional musician, he has had the opportunity to work and perform with a large number of internationally known musicians, such as:

Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Paquito D’Rivera
David Sanchez
Danilo Pérez
Arturo Sandoval
Luis Conte
Ray Barreto
Chucho Valdés
Giovanni Hidalgo
Willie Colón
Alfredo Rodriguez
Dave Valentin
Juan Pablo Torres
Emiliano Salvador
Chico Freeman
"Maracas" Valle
Tony Martinez
Tata Güines
José Luis "Changuito" Quintana
Miguel "Angá" Diaz

Festivals

Feria de Cali, Colombia
Montreaux Jazz Festival
Paleo Rock Festival
Carnaval in Panamá
Nice jazz Festival, France
Roskilde Festival
Festival de Salsa en Madrid, Spain
North Sea Jazz Festival, Netherlands
Antillansefeesten, Belgium
Festival de salsa en Barcelona, Spain
Umbria Jazz, Italy
Couleur Café, Belgium
Festival di San Remo, Italy
Riga Ritmi Festival, Latvia
Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Denmark
Nordischerklang, Germany
Gottingen Jazz Festival, Germany
Red Sea Jazz Festiva, Eilat - Israel
Imatra Big Band Festival, Finland
Umeå Jazz Festival, Sweden
Oslo World Music, Norway
Salsa Festival, Madrid - Spain
Feria del Pacifico, Peru
Frutas Tropicales, Helsinki - Finland
Molde Jazz Festival, Molde - Norway

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