Daniel Ponce

A star percussionist and one of the finest to come from Cuba since the heyday of Chano Pozo, Candido Camero, and Armando Peraza, Daniel Ponce displayed rhythmic mastery of both traditional Cuban sounds and contemporary African-American rhythms. Ponce's grandfather was a famous bata drum player and gave his grandson his earliest training. Ponce played cowbell with Los Brillantes in Havana at 11. He switched to congas as a teen, and played with Comparso Federacion Estudiantil Universitario. He came to America in 1980, and soon moved to New York. Andy and Jerry González invited Ponce to sit in at the Village Gate, where he met saxophonist Paquito d'Rivera. He later played on a pair of d'Rivera albums, and did sessions for Eddie Palmieri. But producer/bassist Bill Laswell really aided Ponce. He landed him a session with Herbie Hancock that led to the critically and commercially successful release Future Shock in the mid-'80s. Ponce did several sessions for OAO and Celluloid, and issued his first session as a leader, New York Now!, in 1983. His next outing, Arawe, arrived in 1987, followed by Chango Te Llama in 1991. Ponce also led a pair of New York groups, New York Now and Jazzbata, in addition to considerable session work on dates led by others. ~ Ron Wynn & Michael G. Nastos, Rovi