Conga, Big Drummers, School Partnerships
Carlos is a New York-born Puerto Rican musician who has studied and performed many Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traditions, and is a member of Funkadesi, a 10-piece world music
collective repeatedly voted Best International/World Music group by the Chicago Reader,
and cited by the Chicago Tribune as President Obama’s favorite reggae band.
Carlos is a Latin percussion instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and works as an artist-in-residence in various Chicago public schools. He also conducts drum events for people of all ages in diverse settings including hospitals, churches, senior cultural centers, companies including Zurich Insurance, The Coca Cola Company, Eli Lilly and the Whirlpool
Corporation, and in courses for global business executives at the Kellogg School of
Management at Northwestern University.
He has also served as a guest instructor of world music at Lake Forest College. Carlos has been a member of the all-percussion ensembles, Primal Connection, Sabu and Picante, as well as the Bradley Young Orchestra. He is an award-winning documentary film-maker, and has written for World Percussion and Rhythm magazine. Carlos’ intention in his work is to open pathways for others to learn about culture, listening, and collaboration, and ultimately to create opportunities for people to learn about themselves and to discover what they thought they couldn’t do.
Started at the Old Town School in January of 1997
