Manny Oquendo

Who was Manny Oquendo?

Manny Oquendo was a percussionist of Puerto Rican ancestry. His main instruments were bongós and timbales. [See: "Timbales Demonstration" and "The Martillo [Bongo] Pattern" ].

Oquendo grew up in New York City and began studying percussion in 1945. He worked in the bands of tropical and Latin music ensembles such as Carlos Valero, Luis del Campo, Juan "El Boy" Torres, Luciano "Chano" Pozo, José Budet, Juanito Sanabria, Marcelino Guerra, José Curbelo, and Pupi Campo. In 1950, he became the bongó player for Tito Puente. Following this he played with Tito Rodríquez in 1954 and Vicentico Valdés in 1955. He worked freelance in New York before joining Eddie Palmieri's Conjunto La Perfecta in 1962, where he helped develop the New York style of the mozambique rhythm. He co-led Conjunto Libre with bassist Andy González from 1974 and had a worldwide hit with "Little Sunflower" in 1983.