What is Meditation, and How Can I Make it Easy to Practice?🧘🏻‍♂️ 

Over the years, many people have asked me about my daily meditation habit. People have asked questions such as:  

1. How is it possible to stop thinking?  

2. It’s Transcendental Meditation that you do, right? The one propagated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who taught the Beatles… So, do you have to devote your life to a Hindu guru to practice correctly? 

3. How much time do you spend on this every day? 

4. Doesn’t introspective meditation…

"For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim.  I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self.  The journey doesn't end." 
― Michelle Obama 

Back in the 1970s, when I first took up the study of conga playing in the States, the route to proficiency was: (1) learn the five main notes that you could produce from a conga (bass, open tone, slap, muff, and rim) and, (2) build up your rhythm repertoire.  Conga players then…

Hello, Friends! Welcome Back! 

You know, it just dawned on me that I've yet to acknowledge a dear friend of mine who, in turn, has grown to be an inspiration to thousands of drummers, young and old. I'm referring to the one-and-only: Giovanni Hidalgo! 

I first met Giovanni around 1980, when I went to Puerto Rico to perform shows with the Airto Moreira and Flora Purim Band. The band configuration, at that time, had Airto at the helm from the drumset, with me on multiple percussion and Flora featured on most…

Whenever I travel through an airport on my way to a performance, I am usually asked one of two questions by airport security:  

(1) "Uh, Sir, just what kind of a pipe is that?", or  
(2) "I'm sorry, Sir, but are you planning onboarding with that bow and arrow?"  

They are referring to my Berimbau, which is most likely slung over my shoulder, as I always take it on board in the airplane cabin with me! The Berimbau is definitely one of my favorite instruments in the world! Historically, the instrument's use…

On November 7, 2020, Russian fusion guitarist Roman Miroshnichenko released a new album titled "The Sixth Sense." On this album, he is joined by special guests: Jennifer Batten, Frank Colón, Charlie Bisharat, Bunny Brunel, Paul Wertico, Gary Husband, Dominique di Piazza, Daniel Figueiredo, Gumbi Ortiz, Matt Laurent, and Luis Alicea. 

I'm featured on the track titled "Ocean," performing on timbales, shekere, and accessory percussion. 
 

In Roman's own words, "It's an exceptional album, recorded during an…

In my youth as a drummer/percussionist, I had always been a "roots musician." By this, I refer to a concerted effort to learn and maintain ancient traditions of religious and folkloric drumming rituals. These were mainly imported to the Americas by the African slaves from various cultures of the old continent.  

During the early 1970s, in this quest for ancient knowledge, I collected and analyzed a vast collection of African and Caribbean L.P. records and researched/studied all of the ethnomusicology…

Hey, you all, here's a fabulous surprise that was waiting for me this morning! My friend, Paul Taras Wolkowinski, is unanimously considered by the worldwide physical fitness community at large as the world's Grandmaster of Indian Club Swinging!  He recently heard an advance release from my new CD album, "Latin Lounge," and got inspired to create a workout choreography using the song "Let's Just Go....".

And, all I can say is - I love it! This sequence is both intricate and straightforward, with a…