
Born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1944, multi-percussionist Orestes Vilató is one of the most influential figures in the world of Latin percussion. His unique style on the timbales is one of the most emulated in the genre. His artistry has graced the stage and recording studios with a Who’s Who of musical legends, from Aretha Franklin to Carlos Santana.
As a pioneer of the East Coast Salsa phenomenon, Vilató played a seminal role with such musical institutions and artists as the Fania All-Stars, Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, and many others. After 25 years in New York, Orestes found new musical opportunities in Northern California as a member of the Santana band, forging a road into the Latin Rock genre. As a result, his virtuoso percussion work would become a prominent fixture with numerous national and international artists, covering a range of styles from authentic Cuban music to Latin jazz, Salsa, Rock, and beyond.
In 1995, Orestes earned a Grammy nomination for the groundbreaking album Ritmo y Candela alongside fellow Cuban percussion legends Carlos “Patato” Valdez and José Luis Quintana “Changuito,” and has graced the Grammy-winning albums of Cuban bassist/composer and original Mambo King Israel “Cachao” López.
Since relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1981, Orestes has maintained his place as one of the most in-demand percussionists on the planet. In addition, Orestes continues to share his musical talent as a clinician for several prestigious music institutions such as Stanford University, UCLA, The Berklee College of Music, and the University of Anchorage. He has also recorded on the soundtracks for several highly acclaimed films, including The Mambo Kings, Our Latin Thing, and Dance With Me.
Considered one of the most influential Cuban timbaleros, Orestes Vilató maintains one foot in the rich tradition of his homeland and the other in the vast exploration of musical fusion in North America and beyond.
IN CONVERSATION (2009)
Tomas Peña: Welcome, Maestro! I understand your father was a musician and an opera singer. Also, he won your first set of bongos in a poker game.
Orestes Vilató: That’s true!
TP: Did your father teach you to play the bongos?
OV: Sort of. My father grew up in the country, so he came from the Changui side, which is a pre-Son style.
TP: Your family moved from Camaguey, Cuba, to New York when you were twelve. Until you saw Tito Puente play the timbales, you weren’t thrilled with the idea of living in New York.
OV: I met Tito through my father, who helped Tito get a permit to open a ticket agency. The First Time I saw Tito perform was on television. Then I saw him at the Manhattan Center backing up Beny More. Also, Arsenio Rodriguez was there.
TP: I read that as a child, you practiced relentlessly.
OV: I used to put the bongos on a chair, and I would make believe they were timbales and play the conga with my left hand. Also, I created a cymbal by attaching the top of a tin cracker box to a wire coat hanger. It made a nice crashing sound!
TP: Tell me about your first “unofficial” gig.
OV: It was with the Cuban Rhythm Boys, which had two trumpets and sax, the same configuration I have today.
TP: I understand you and your underage friends cleaned nightclubs to gain entry.
OV: Yes, I did that at the nightclub, The Ateneo Cubano, which was on 109th Street and Broadway (NYC).
TP: With who did you perform?
OV: I played with the Orquesta Oriental Cubana at Ateneo Cubano and Club Cuban del Bronx, an Afro-Cuban social club where Arsenio Rodriguez and Belisario Lopez played frequently.
TP: Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez was the conguero with the Orquesta Oriental Cubana, correct?
OV: Yes, in the beginning.
TP: Also, the Puerto Rican timbalero, Hector Zeno.
OV: He was Tipica Novel’s founder and one of the first guys who played the Charanga with Cuban timbales, bass drum, and a bell.
TP: After that, you joined Belisario Lopez y su Charanga.
OV: When Belisario came from Cuba, he performed at The Ateneo. He liked how I played and asked me to join the band. He took me under his wing.
TP: How old were you?
OV: I was sixteen.
TP: How did you meet (the Cuban flutist) Jose Fajardo and become a member of his band?
OV: My father picked up Cachao at the airport and brought him to Fajardo’s rehearsal at (the nightclub) La Barranca. Playing with Fajardo and Cachao was a dream come true. Cachao stayed with Fajardo for a while, then joined Tito Rodriguez’s band, and the rest is history.
