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 Michael
Spiro is an internationally recognized percussionist whose extensive
knowledge of the history of Afro-Cuban music blends perfectly with his
skillful and tasteful playing. After earning his Bachelor’s Degree at the
University of California, he began private studies with Francisco Aguabella,
whom he still regards as his percussion guru. Spiro has also studied
annually in Cuba since 1982 with musicians like Jose Luis “Changuito”
Quintana, Regino Jimenez, Juan “Claro” Blanco of La Orquesta Ritmo
Oriental
and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.
Spiro’s credits include a wide range of artists, from the likes
of Ella
Fitzgerald, Lazaro Ros, Bobby McFerrin, Richard Egues, and Bobby McFerrin
to
Giovanni Hidalgo, Eddie Palmieri and Carlos Santana. He was a principal
artist on several seminal videos of the 1990s including those by Giovanni
Hidalgo, Ignacio Berroa, and of course the trio he led with Jesus Diaz
and<
David Garibaldi, “Talking Drums”, which toured internationally
for many
years after the release of their books and video on Warner Bros. In
1996 he
and Mark Lamson released their internationally acclaimed album “BataKetu”
which continues to garner them world-wide recognition, and he was nominated
for a Grammy in 2008 as both producer and artist for the Latin Jazz
release
by Mark Levine-- “Isla”.
He remains very active in the Bay Area music scene as both artist
and record
producer, and currently co-leads San Francisco’s only traditional
conjunto--
“Conjunto Karabali” with fellow LP artist Karl Perazzo, as well
as one of
the US’s few remaining charanga groups, “La Orquesta Moderna
Tradicion”.
Spiro continues to publish books and DVDs on a regular basis—his
book “The
Conga Drummer’s Guidebook” was released in 2007 by Sher
Publications, and
his DVD “Introduction to the Conga Drum” was released by
the same company at
the end of 2008. His pursuit of knowledge is a passion which he shares
through his position as Visiting Professor of Music (Percussion) at
the
Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, through the clinics he
does
around the world for LP. Finally through the online instructional websites,
“CongaMasterClass.com” and “SambaMasterClass.com”.
Equipment list: LP
Congas, LP
Bata Drums, LP
Shekeres, LP
Bar Chimes, LP
Timbales, LP
Everything Rack and LP
Gajate-Bracket
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