Federico Ramos
Encyclopedia
South American Federico Ramos (a.k.a. Freddy) is a guitarist, arranger, producer and composer based in Santa Monica, California. While in his native Uruguay
, he began his career playing with Eduardo Mateo
and Uruguayan rock
bands, such as Días de Blues and Psiglo. He is credited with incorporating jazz, blues and rock influences to urban Uruguayan music as it is ascertained in the book "De las Cuevas al Solís" by Fernando Peláez. Federico later moved to southern Spain and eventually to Los Angeles where he is a specialty studio musician. He has recorded for artists such as Dr. Yusef Lateef
, Jon Anderson
, Milton Nascimento
, Ray Brown, Jr.
, Freddie Hubbard
, Cheb Mami
, Joan Sebastian
, Alejandro Fernández
, Jon Hassell
, Mark Isham
, Elton John
, James Moody
, Terry Plumeri
, Hans Zimmer
, John Powell
, Danny Elfman
, Andy Williams
, Dr John and Dionne Warwick
.
, Uruguay, Federico began his studies in Montevideo
, capital of the country. The musical roots of his ancestors first directed him to the Southern Coast of Spain and while residing in Sevilla and Jeréz de la Frontera Federico was involved with flamenco music. Nevertheless, he formally studied classical guitar at the Real Conservatorio de Madrid during the five-year residency. Formal studies were continued first at the Berklee College of Music
in Massachusetts and later in California at the Guitar Institute of Technology (MI). In Valencia, at the California Institute of the Arts, he was the recipient of full scholarships. In due course Federico obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and taught a course on Cross-Cultural Improvisation at the California Institute of the Arts
.
When Federico arrived in the United States in 1980, soon began expanding his musical and cultural spectrum. He settled in Santa Monica. In the eighties Federico co-founded Eternal Wind, a band whose music style was characterized by improvisational compositions of world sounds. Eternal Wind Dr. Charles Moore, Adam Rudolph, Ralphs Jones and Federico, recorded several albums that were released by the Chicago-based Flying Fish Records Co.. Soon, Eternal Wind toured extensively with Dr.Yusef Lateef
, who then wrote and composed two symphonic works intended to be performed and recorded by Eternal Wind. One of them, The African-American Epic Suite for Quintet and Orchestra was recorded in Germany with the Köln Radio Orchestra in 1993, and released in Europe by ACT Records. As a member of Eternal Wind, Federico also participated in the recording of Metamusic, also written and conducted by Dr. Lateef exclusively for his quartet. Later on, in 1995, the work The World at Peace of Yusef Lateef and Adam Rudolph (Eternal Wind) performed by 12 musicians, was released by Meta Records. This live performance at the Jazz Bakery of Los Angeles features Federico playing acoustic, electric and midi guitars throughout the session as well as his performance of percussion instruments and African kudu horn. References to Lateef and Eternal Wind association are further explored in Yusef Lateef's autobiography The Gentle Giant.
In 1990, Federico Ramos, Eduardo Márquez Del Signore and Bernardo Rubaja worked in a debuting ensemble of compositions and performances. The ensemble fused ancient folk traditions of South America with an array of influences spanning jazz, pop, avant-garde and classical music. The instrumental textures and harmonic tints of their native cultures offered a unique and personalized style. Their recorded work Newland, was released by Narada Productions, featuring Mark Isham
on trumpet, Alex Acuña on drums and percussion and Steve Fowler on flutes. In 1991, Federico was introduced to the Englishman and pioneer artist Jon Anderson
of the legendary progressive rock group "Yes", with whom he recorded. Subsequently, the Windham Hill releases of Deseo, Toltec, The Best Of Jon Anderson-South America 1993 and Deseo Remixes followed. Federico toured as lead guitarist on Jon's Latin American tour of nine countries in 1993. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Federico was guest guitarist performing with Milton Nascimento, Simone and James Taylor, for a benefit presentation in the fight against hunger, Natal Sem Fome (Christmas Without Hunger).
Later, the Uruguayan drummer José Luis Pérez joined Federico to create Pérez & Ramos. Their work Flip Flop expressed a contemporary improvisational music based primarily on the Uruguayan rhythms of candombe
and African rhythms blending tango, Brazilian melodies and jazz. Pérez&Ramos' Flip Flop was well-reviewed after being released by World Alchemy Records in February 1994. During the year 1994, Federico was co-producer on the project Heart of Brazil with Dionne Warwick in the recording of Brazilian Artist Eliana Estevão.
During those years, Ramos co-founded the group Hecho en México with musicians Luis Pérez Ixoneztly and Germaine Franco. Hecho en México's music was a junction of pre-Columbian sounds of instruments and language with other contemporary musical expressions.
North Star released Calido's Tropical Nights in the year 1994. The duet of Federico and guitarist Ramon Stagnaro
featured melodic songs with an array of exotic rhythms of Latin and Spanish compositions. Soon followed the collaboration with Michael Feinstein
Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin, which was nominated for a Grammy. The Savage Rose
's disc For Your Love was granted the Gold Sales Award in Denmark in 2002. The recording of "En Vivo Desde el Auditorio Nacional" with Mexican superstar Joan Sebastian
was awarded the Grammy for the 2006 best live disc. Also released in 2006 was a DVD of the Latin American Tour with Jon Anderson. For 2007, an educational disc for DW drums under the guide of Alex Acuña includes a vast array of Latin American styles.
In 1995 Federico again joined with Uruguayan drummer José Luis Pérez and Uruguayan bassist Eduardo Márquez Del Signore (Jon Anderson‘s Latin Band). The Trio found in the combination of their sounds the name of Ritual and the compact disc Presencia was released by Amazone Records. Presencia was presented in Montevideo, in the Teatro Solís in July 1997 with sold out tickets. Ritual traveled to Montevideo accompanied by their guest artist, pianist, composer and producer Tommy Eyre
, the Englishman that had arranged Joe Cocker's version of A Little Help From My Friends. From 1996, Federico engaged in different work projects, collaborations and special guest performances. Among these musical productions Federico's highlighted participations are: Cielo y Tierra: Heaven and Earth, Warner-México 1996, with Jon Anderson
, performing acoustic guitars and choirs; Pippo Spera: Someone, Amazone Records 1997, acoustic guitars; Drifting, Vision International Inc. 1997, guest guitarist; Adam Rudolph
's Moving Pictures: Contemplations, Meta Records 1997, acoustic guitars, charango, oud, bamboo flutes; Cayambe: Influences, Andes Inc. 1997, guitars; Cayambe: America, Andes Inc. 1998, guitars; Heart & Soul, North Sound Music Group 1999, flamenco guitarists (with individual performances also by Ramon Stagnaro
and Adam Del Monte), soloist guitars, composer and arranger.
During the early months of 1997, Sony Music contracted Federico as producer of Alexis Peña ‘s recording project. For this occasion Federico convoked the participation of renowned musicians such as Alex Acuña
and Alphonso Johnson
("Weather Report"), Alex Ligertwood ("Santana") and Tommy Eyre
(B.B. King, George Michael, Gary Moore). In February 2001 The African-American Epic Suite by Dr. Yusef Lateef
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
USA: Jackson Browne
, Lionel Richie
, Jon Hassell
, Mark Isham
, Norman Connors
, Charlie Haden
, Ahmed Abdul Malik, Scarlet Rivera
, Cecil McBee
, Billy Childs, Freddie Hubbard
, Terri Plumeri, James Newton...
BRAZIL: Milton Nascimento
, Moacir Santos
, João Noguera, Martinho da Vila, Geraldo Azevedo
, Jose Roberto Bertrami;
INDIA: L. Subramaniam
, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Amiya Dasgupta
IRAN: Faramaz Assef
ARGELIA: Cheb Mami
CANADA: Maynard Ferguson
and Ashley Maher
ARGENTINA: Jorge Calandrelli
PERÚ: Alex Acuña
MEXICO: Luis Pérez Ixoneztly, Joan Sebastian
, Alejandro Fernández
, Jenny Rivera
.
GAMBIA: Foday Musa Suso
CUBA: Francisco Céspedes
TURKEY: Akin and Fahir Atakoglu
ROMANIA: Damian Draghici
COSTA RICA and IRAN: Strunz & Farah
PUERTO RICO: Wilkins and Ritchie Gajate Garcia
ESPAÑA: Camilo Sesto, Julio Iglesias
, Trigo Limpio, Paloma San Basilio
, Lola Flores
, Los Marismeños and Mocedades
URUGUAY: Ruben Rada
, Eduardo Mateo
, Hugo Fattoruso
, Osvaldo Fattoruso, Jaime Roos
, Jorge Galemire, Laura Canoura, Los Iracundos...
(Polygram Films 1988), The Fistfighter (Mecamerica 1989), Crackdown (Concorde Film 1990), Raging Angels (New Image 1994), School Spirit (TNA/New Horizon 1995), Night Hunter (Concorde Film/New Horizon 1995), Under the Hula Moon (Periscope Pictures 1995), Steal Big Steal Little
(Paramount Pictures 1995), Hercules (KTLA 1995), The Larry Sanders Show (HBO 1996), Terry Plumeri's Deadly Ransom (Master Film International 1997), Ambushed (HBO 1998), and many more. As a session player on selected TV and films Federico also worked with Hans Zimmer
(DreamWorks 1999), The Road to El Dorado and for Danny Elfman
on the soundtracks of Proof of Life
and in 2006 with Nacho Libre
. With famed composer James Horner
in The Legend of Zorro
, and with John Powell
in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
(2005 film).
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, he began his career playing with Eduardo Mateo
Eduardo Mateo
Eduardo Mateo was a Uruguayan singer, songwriter, guitarist and arranger. He played a key role in the development of the modern Uruguayan music mixing beat, jazz, bossa nova and local rhythms like candombe, in a similar way than Brazilian Tropicalismo.Musicians like Academy Award winner Jorge...
and Uruguayan rock
Uruguayan rock
Uruguayan rock first emerged in Uruguay in the 1950s. The real breakthrough for rock in Uruguay, however, as in much of the world, was the arrival of The Beatles in the early 1960s.- History :...
bands, such as Días de Blues and Psiglo. He is credited with incorporating jazz, blues and rock influences to urban Uruguayan music as it is ascertained in the book "De las Cuevas al Solís" by Fernando Peláez. Federico later moved to southern Spain and eventually to Los Angeles where he is a specialty studio musician. He has recorded for artists such as Dr. Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
, Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
, Ray Brown, Jr.
Ray Brown, Jr.
Ray Brown, Jr. is an American jazz and blues pianist and singer.The adopted son of Ray Brown and Ella Fitzgerald, he was born in New York City, New York to Fitzgerald's half-sister Frances...
, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Cheb Mami
Cheb Mami
Ahmed Khelifati Mohamed better known by his stage name Cheb Mami , is an Algerian-born raï singer...
, Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music...
, Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández is a Mexican singer. Nicknamed as "El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Alejandro is the son of the ranchera singer Vicente Fernández. He originally specialized in traditional, earthy forms of Mexican folk music, such as...
, Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.-Life and career:...
, Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, James Moody
James Moody (saxophonist)
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
, Terry Plumeri
Terry Plumeri
Terry Plumeri is an American classical composer, film composer, conductor, double bassist, lecturer, and producer.-Selected discography:* He Who Lives in Many Places...
, Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
, John Powell
John Powell
John Powell is a British composer, best known for his scores to motion pictures. He has been based in the United States since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. He rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s, scoring numerous animated films, and collaborating with...
, Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, Dr John and Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
.
Biography
Born in the town Treinta y TresTreinta y Tres
Treinta y Tres is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. It is located on Route 8, on the north banks of Olimar Grande River...
, Uruguay, Federico began his studies in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, capital of the country. The musical roots of his ancestors first directed him to the Southern Coast of Spain and while residing in Sevilla and Jeréz de la Frontera Federico was involved with flamenco music. Nevertheless, he formally studied classical guitar at the Real Conservatorio de Madrid during the five-year residency. Formal studies were continued first at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Massachusetts and later in California at the Guitar Institute of Technology (MI). In Valencia, at the California Institute of the Arts, he was the recipient of full scholarships. In due course Federico obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and taught a course on Cross-Cultural Improvisation at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
.
When Federico arrived in the United States in 1980, soon began expanding his musical and cultural spectrum. He settled in Santa Monica. In the eighties Federico co-founded Eternal Wind, a band whose music style was characterized by improvisational compositions of world sounds. Eternal Wind Dr. Charles Moore, Adam Rudolph, Ralphs Jones and Federico, recorded several albums that were released by the Chicago-based Flying Fish Records Co.. Soon, Eternal Wind toured extensively with Dr.Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
, who then wrote and composed two symphonic works intended to be performed and recorded by Eternal Wind. One of them, The African-American Epic Suite for Quintet and Orchestra was recorded in Germany with the Köln Radio Orchestra in 1993, and released in Europe by ACT Records. As a member of Eternal Wind, Federico also participated in the recording of Metamusic, also written and conducted by Dr. Lateef exclusively for his quartet. Later on, in 1995, the work The World at Peace of Yusef Lateef and Adam Rudolph (Eternal Wind) performed by 12 musicians, was released by Meta Records. This live performance at the Jazz Bakery of Los Angeles features Federico playing acoustic, electric and midi guitars throughout the session as well as his performance of percussion instruments and African kudu horn. References to Lateef and Eternal Wind association are further explored in Yusef Lateef's autobiography The Gentle Giant.
In 1990, Federico Ramos, Eduardo Márquez Del Signore and Bernardo Rubaja worked in a debuting ensemble of compositions and performances. The ensemble fused ancient folk traditions of South America with an array of influences spanning jazz, pop, avant-garde and classical music. The instrumental textures and harmonic tints of their native cultures offered a unique and personalized style. Their recorded work Newland, was released by Narada Productions, featuring Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
on trumpet, Alex Acuña on drums and percussion and Steve Fowler on flutes. In 1991, Federico was introduced to the Englishman and pioneer artist Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
of the legendary progressive rock group "Yes", with whom he recorded. Subsequently, the Windham Hill releases of Deseo, Toltec, The Best Of Jon Anderson-South America 1993 and Deseo Remixes followed. Federico toured as lead guitarist on Jon's Latin American tour of nine countries in 1993. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Federico was guest guitarist performing with Milton Nascimento, Simone and James Taylor, for a benefit presentation in the fight against hunger, Natal Sem Fome (Christmas Without Hunger).
Later, the Uruguayan drummer José Luis Pérez joined Federico to create Pérez & Ramos. Their work Flip Flop expressed a contemporary improvisational music based primarily on the Uruguayan rhythms of candombe
Candombe
Candombe is a musical genre that has its roots in the African Bantu, and is proper of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil .Uruguayan Candombe is the most practiced and spread internationally and has been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity...
and African rhythms blending tango, Brazilian melodies and jazz. Pérez&Ramos' Flip Flop was well-reviewed after being released by World Alchemy Records in February 1994. During the year 1994, Federico was co-producer on the project Heart of Brazil with Dionne Warwick in the recording of Brazilian Artist Eliana Estevão.
During those years, Ramos co-founded the group Hecho en México with musicians Luis Pérez Ixoneztly and Germaine Franco. Hecho en México's music was a junction of pre-Columbian sounds of instruments and language with other contemporary musical expressions.
North Star released Calido's Tropical Nights in the year 1994. The duet of Federico and guitarist Ramon Stagnaro
Ramon Stagnaro
Ramón Stagnaro, born in Peru, is a guitarist who has toured or recorded with artists such as Diana Ross, Celine Dion, Pedro Eustache, Alejandro Sanz, Enrique Iglesias, Nelly Furtado, Andrea Bocelli, Shahyar Ghanbari, Vangelis and appears on Yanni's live concert video, Tribute.-References:* an...
featured melodic songs with an array of exotic rhythms of Latin and Spanish compositions. Soon followed the collaboration with Michael Feinstein
Michael Feinstein
Michael Jay Feinstein is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an interpreter of, and an anthropologist and archivist for, the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for celebrating American musical theatre songs...
Michael & George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin, which was nominated for a Grammy. The Savage Rose
The Savage Rose
The Savage Rose is a Danish psychedelic rock group, founded in 1967 by Thomas Koppel, Anders Koppel, Alex Riel, Jens Rugsted, Flemming Ostermann, and Annisette. Ilse Marie Koppel was also participating. Nils Tuxen replaced Flemming Ostermann from their second album...
's disc For Your Love was granted the Gold Sales Award in Denmark in 2002. The recording of "En Vivo Desde el Auditorio Nacional" with Mexican superstar Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music...
was awarded the Grammy for the 2006 best live disc. Also released in 2006 was a DVD of the Latin American Tour with Jon Anderson. For 2007, an educational disc for DW drums under the guide of Alex Acuña includes a vast array of Latin American styles.
In 1995 Federico again joined with Uruguayan drummer José Luis Pérez and Uruguayan bassist Eduardo Márquez Del Signore (Jon Anderson‘s Latin Band). The Trio found in the combination of their sounds the name of Ritual and the compact disc Presencia was released by Amazone Records. Presencia was presented in Montevideo, in the Teatro Solís in July 1997 with sold out tickets. Ritual traveled to Montevideo accompanied by their guest artist, pianist, composer and producer Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre was a session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Alex Harvey, Greg Lake, Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, B.B. King, John Mayall, Tracy Chapman and Wham!...
, the Englishman that had arranged Joe Cocker's version of A Little Help From My Friends. From 1996, Federico engaged in different work projects, collaborations and special guest performances. Among these musical productions Federico's highlighted participations are: Cielo y Tierra: Heaven and Earth, Warner-México 1996, with Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, performing acoustic guitars and choirs; Pippo Spera: Someone, Amazone Records 1997, acoustic guitars; Drifting, Vision International Inc. 1997, guest guitarist; Adam Rudolph
Adam Rudolph
Adam Rudolph is a jazz composer and percussionist performing in the post bop and world fusion media, probably most notable to date for his work with Yusef Lateef...
's Moving Pictures: Contemplations, Meta Records 1997, acoustic guitars, charango, oud, bamboo flutes; Cayambe: Influences, Andes Inc. 1997, guitars; Cayambe: America, Andes Inc. 1998, guitars; Heart & Soul, North Sound Music Group 1999, flamenco guitarists (with individual performances also by Ramon Stagnaro
Ramon Stagnaro
Ramón Stagnaro, born in Peru, is a guitarist who has toured or recorded with artists such as Diana Ross, Celine Dion, Pedro Eustache, Alejandro Sanz, Enrique Iglesias, Nelly Furtado, Andrea Bocelli, Shahyar Ghanbari, Vangelis and appears on Yanni's live concert video, Tribute.-References:* an...
and Adam Del Monte), soloist guitars, composer and arranger.
During the early months of 1997, Sony Music contracted Federico as producer of Alexis Peña ‘s recording project. For this occasion Federico convoked the participation of renowned musicians such as Alex Acuña
Alex Acuña
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...
and Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
("Weather Report"), Alex Ligertwood ("Santana") and Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre
Tommy Eyre was a session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Alex Harvey, Greg Lake, Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, B.B. King, John Mayall, Tracy Chapman and Wham!...
(B.B. King, George Michael, Gary Moore). In February 2001 The African-American Epic Suite by Dr. Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Other collaborations
Other past collaborations include recordings and performances with the following artistsUSA: Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
, Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.-Life and career:...
, Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
, Norman Connors
Norman Connors
Norman Connors is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and headliner, who has led some influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads.-Biography:...
, Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
, Ahmed Abdul Malik, Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera
Scarlet Rivera is an American violinist. She is best known for her work with Bob Dylan, in particular on his album Desire and as part of the Rolling Thunder Revue.-Early career:...
, Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee
Cecil McBee is an American post bop jazz bassist, described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz as "a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts." Allmusic called him "One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists".-Biography:McBee...
, Billy Childs, Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
, Terri Plumeri, James Newton...
BRAZIL: Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
, Moacir Santos
Moacir Santos
Moacir Santos was a Brazilian composer, multi-instrumentalist and music educator. Baden Powell de Aquino and Wilson das Neves both studied under him...
, João Noguera, Martinho da Vila, Geraldo Azevedo
Geraldo Azevedo
Geraldo Azevedo is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is famous for his contributions to the Brazilian Popular Music scene, especially his partnerships with Alceu Valença and Zé Ramalho.- Discography :...
, Jose Roberto Bertrami;
INDIA: L. Subramaniam
L. Subramaniam
Dr. Lakshminarayana Subramaniam is an acclaimed Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music, and renowned for his virtuoso playing techniques and compositions in orchestral fusion.-Early years:Subramaniam was born to V...
, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Amiya Dasgupta
IRAN: Faramaz Assef
ARGELIA: Cheb Mami
CANADA: Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
and Ashley Maher
Ashley Maher
Ashley Maher is a singer and songwriter who has meshedthe rhythmic impulses of West Africa and Latin America withWestern song structures.-Biography:Ashley Maher was born to British parents in Montreal, Canada, and moved to...
ARGENTINA: Jorge Calandrelli
PERÚ: Alex Acuña
Alex Acuña
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña aka Alex Acuña is a Peruvian drummer and percussionist, in the Afro-Cuban jazz style.Born in Pativilca, Peru, Acuña played in local bands from the age of ten, and moved to Lima as a teenager. At the age of eighteen he joined the band of Perez Prado, and in 1967 he moved...
MEXICO: Luis Pérez Ixoneztly, Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music...
, Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández is a Mexican singer. Nicknamed as "El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Alejandro is the son of the ranchera singer Vicente Fernández. He originally specialized in traditional, earthy forms of Mexican folk music, such as...
, Jenny Rivera
Jenny Rivera
Jennifer "Jenni" Rivera is a Mexican-American singer, better known for her work within the banda and norteña music genres. She's been active in the music scene since 1992 and her recordings include many topical songs and material dealing with social issues, infidelity, and relationships...
.
GAMBIA: Foday Musa Suso
CUBA: Francisco Céspedes
TURKEY: Akin and Fahir Atakoglu
ROMANIA: Damian Draghici
Damian Draghici
Damian Drăghici is a Romanian-Romani musician, best known as nai player, and possibly the most noted exponent of this particular instrument in the world of jazz.- Early life :...
COSTA RICA and IRAN: Strunz & Farah
Strunz & Farah
Strunz & Farah is a guitar duo with an eclectic sound that have been described as a cross between world fusion and flamenco.-History:Jorge Strunz, born in Costa Rica, and Ardeshir Farah, hailing from Iran, met in the United States in 1979. Jorge Strunz was one of the founders of the Latin jazz...
PUERTO RICO: Wilkins and Ritchie Gajate Garcia
ESPAÑA: Camilo Sesto, Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...
, Trigo Limpio, Paloma San Basilio
Paloma San Basilio
Paloma San Basilio is a Spanish singer. Although she was born in Madrid, at the age of 6 months the family moved to Sevilla , where she was raised till the age of 8...
, Lola Flores
Lola Flores
María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz was a Spanish singer, dancer, and actress.- Professional career :Flores was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz . Although thought to be only part gypsy, she strongly identified with the Spanish gypsy culture...
, Los Marismeños and Mocedades
URUGUAY: Ruben Rada
Rubén Rada
Rubén Rada is an Afro-Uruguayan percussionist, composer and singer. He is closely associated with Candombe, an Afro–Uruguayan rhythmic style music, which is based on the sound of three types of drums: ´chico´, ‘repique’ and ‘piano’...
, Eduardo Mateo
Eduardo Mateo
Eduardo Mateo was a Uruguayan singer, songwriter, guitarist and arranger. He played a key role in the development of the modern Uruguayan music mixing beat, jazz, bossa nova and local rhythms like candombe, in a similar way than Brazilian Tropicalismo.Musicians like Academy Award winner Jorge...
, Hugo Fattoruso
Hugo Fattoruso
Hugo Fattoruso was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1943. Fattoruso is a composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.As well as developing a career as a soloist, he has participated and performed in many different genres: Trio Fattoruso, Hot Blowers, Los Shakers, Opa, Eduardo Mateo, etc...
, Osvaldo Fattoruso, Jaime Roos
Jaime Roos
Jaime Roos is an Uruguayan singer, composer and record producer. In 2000 he won a Silver Condor Award for Best Score Musician in El Amateur.- Discography :*Candombe del 31 *Para espantar el sueño...
, Jorge Galemire, Laura Canoura, Los Iracundos...
Selected film collaborations
Federico also has participated in movies and television's soundtracks such as The Blue IguanaThe Blue Iguana
The Blue Iguana is a 1988 crime film about a bounty hunter who is blackmailed into stopping the transfer of twenty million dollars from a Mexican tax paradise into the United States. The film was directed by John Lafia and stars Dylan McDermott, Jessica Harper, Pamela Gidley and James Russo...
(Polygram Films 1988), The Fistfighter (Mecamerica 1989), Crackdown (Concorde Film 1990), Raging Angels (New Image 1994), School Spirit (TNA/New Horizon 1995), Night Hunter (Concorde Film/New Horizon 1995), Under the Hula Moon (Periscope Pictures 1995), Steal Big Steal Little
Steal Big Steal Little
Steal Big Steal Little is a 1995 film directed by Andrew Davis. It stars Andy García in dual roles, plus Alan Arkin and Joe Pantoliano.-Plot summary:...
(Paramount Pictures 1995), Hercules (KTLA 1995), The Larry Sanders Show (HBO 1996), Terry Plumeri's Deadly Ransom (Master Film International 1997), Ambushed (HBO 1998), and many more. As a session player on selected TV and films Federico also worked with Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...
(DreamWorks 1999), The Road to El Dorado and for Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
on the soundtracks of Proof of Life
Proof of Life
Proof of Life is a 2000 American film, directed by Taylor Hackford. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive...
and in 2006 with Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre
Nacho Libre is a 2006 comedy film directed by Jared Hess. It is a production of Nickelodeon Movies.The script was written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess and Mike White. It was loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta , aka Rev. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a...
. With famed composer James Horner
James Horner
James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
in The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro is a 2005 sequel to The Mask of Zorro , both directed by Martin Campbell. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reprise their roles as the titular hero and his spouse, and Rufus Sewell stars as the villain...
, and with John Powell
John Powell
John Powell is a British composer, best known for his scores to motion pictures. He has been based in the United States since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. He rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s, scoring numerous animated films, and collaborating with...
in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...
(2005 film).
External links
- Federico Ramos