Latin Percussion LP 452 Guiro

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human beings to achieve, to strive and to make their dreams come true.The story of Latin Percussion, Inc. is the passion of one man. A passion which drove him to create, innovate and unmistakably change the face of percussion forever.In 1956 a young mechanical engineer and avid photographer from the Bronx named Martin Cohen happened upon New Yorks famous Birdland jazz club. He walked in and was greeted by the sounds of Cal Tjaders hot Latin jazz. Cohen was so taken by the infectious music that he became a regular at the Monday night jam sessions, which were headed by flutist Herbie Mann with percussionists like Candido and Jose Mangual. It was Mangual in particular who was an inspiration to Cohen.Up until then, there was no role model that exemplified greatness, Cohen said. Thats what I saw in Mangual, and thats what I wanted to be, somebody who had that mastery of something.Cohen became a student of the 1960s Latin scene, and soon wanted his own set of bongos. It was then that he learned about the politics of Latin percussion.Because of the government imposed trade embargo against Cuba, finding good instruments in the United States was a difficult prospect at best. This obstacle did not dull the passion of young Cohen, however, and he put his engineering skills to use and created his own set of bongos. Using photos of Johnny Pachecos bongos, he created his first prototype. Of course, practice makes perfect, and this first attempt was not exactly flawless.This was the beginning of my learning, Cohen said. I knew nothing about machining or about wood or metal working. The first wood bongo shell was cut on Friday, and by Monday it was a quarter of an inch smaller. I didnt realize it was wet wood which was cut and that it had to dry first.Undeterred by this initial setback, Cohen was soon delivering bongos and cowbells to musicians in brown paper bags, soliciting feedback and using the Latin nightclubs as his research and development labs.Cohens self described love affair with Latin music led to a tradition still in place at LP; the needs of performing musicians are placed ahead of everything else.Eventually Cohen received a contract to make cowbells for Rogers Drums and continued to sell bongos on consignment. He made a set of claves for Charlie Palmieri and he designed wood blocks and sound effec
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