 Conga-playing
Chembo Corniel divides his performance time between his two musical loves:
Latin jazz and "old-fashioned
salsa that swings." These days, he's a conguero on
the move - touring worldwide with Larry Harlow's Latin
Legends Band. His recent recordings include those with
the Legends Band, the Buddy Montgomery Trio, the Bronx
Horns, and Ray Vega. He has also performed with Bobby
Sanabria and Ascension, Tito Puente, Hilton Ruiz,
and Chucho Valdes (and participated in a percussion
workshop led by Valdes in Havana, Cuba).
Manhattan-born and Brooklyn-bred Corniel
was influenced early on by Tommy Lopez, Sr., Little
Ray Romero, and Patato, and began playing congas,
bongos, and bata at age 12. The original Black
Beauty Cowbell was his first LP instrument,
and today he sports "the
full LP product line." He especially likes
the
"clear and crisp" sound of his LP
chimes and the "strong projection" of his of
his custom Galaxy
Congas. (Corniel admits, too, that he's crazy
about the spectacular sparkle on his Galaxy congas,
which he calls his "disco drums".)
Chembo's extensive touring - across Europe,
South America, Asia, and the Caribbean - has given
him another reason to be loyal to LP products: "Durability."
We go all over the place and the equipment really
gets kicked around. I use LP's hard conga cases, the
bullet-shaped ones i.e. LP's
Road Ready Conga Cases, which really take that
beating."
Chembo now
leads his own Latin Jazz Quintet "Grupo
Chaworó", and in 2004 released his
debut CD "Portrait
In Rhythms."
For more information on Chembo, please visit his
website: chembocorniel.com
Equipment list: LP
Custom Galaxy Congas, LP
Generation II Bongos, LP
Shekeres, LP
Double Row Bar Chimes, LP
Cluster Chimes, LP
Cyclops Tambourine, LP
Jam Block, LP
Gajate Bracket , LP
TriBells, LP
Rock Ridge Rider Bell, LP
Deluxe Bongo Cowbell, LP
Agogo Bells, LP
Multi-Guiro, LP
Shake-It, LP
Double Castanets, LP
Vibra Slap, and
LP Cricket
|
