Milton Cardona

Milton Cardona Milton Cardona, a Puerto Rican percussionist who was a mainstay of New York salsa, a studio musician on hundreds of albums and a Santeria priest who introduced sacred traditional rhythms to secular audiences, died on Sept. 19 in the Bronx. He was 69. The cause was heart failure, said his wife, Bruni. In Latin bands and at recording sessions led by David Byrne, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock and many others, Mr. Cardona primarily played conga drums — generally not as a flashy soloist but as the kinetic foundation and spark of a percussion section. He was an authoritative advocate for some of Latin music’s deepest traditions; he was also a vital, innovative participant in many ambitious fusions. Mr. Cardona worked with the trombonist and bandleader Willie Colón on and off through four decades and was a member of the singer Hector Lavoe’s band from 1974 to 1987. He also recorded two albums as a leader and led the Santeria group Eya Aranla. Mr. Cardona was a santero, a priest of Santeria, the Afro- Caribbean religion rooted in the Yoruba culture of West Africa. Santeria invokes a pantheon of African deities with rhythms and songs that have filtered into the popular music of Latin America and the world. Mr. Cardona studied the Yoruba language to understand the traditional prayers he was singing. “I always said, ‘Why should I learn the prayer if I don’t know what it means?’ ” he explained in an interview with Drum magazine. The rhythms of Santeria are traditionally played on batá drums, a family of three hand drums. Mr. Cardona brought the batá and its rhythms out of Santeria ceremonies and into secular contexts. After he played batá on Mr. Colón’s 1973 album “Lo Mato,” the sound spread through 1970s salsa. Mr. Cardona released the first studio recording of a bembé, a complete Santeria ceremony, in 1986 on the American Clave label. He also played drums and sang in Paul Simon’s 1998 Broadway musical, “The Capeman,” which was infused with elements of Santeria. In an email, Mr. Simon wrote, “I had already researched the melodies before I met Milton, but he brought them to life.” Milton Cardona was born on Nov. 21, 1944, in Mayagüez, P.R., and moved with his family to the South Bronx when he was 5 years old. He studied violin and bass, but the music of the South Bronx, including street-corner Latin jams, led him toward percussion. He worked as a studio bassist and percussionist in the 1960s before joining Mr. Colón’s band. Mr. Colón’s singers included Mr. Lavoe and later Rubén Blades. When Mr. Lavoe began leading his own band in 1974, Mr. Cardona joined him, while he continued to record with Mr. Colón and others. “Milton was an authority on the proper execution and the history of the drums,” Mr. Colón wrote on his Facebook page. “But that did not get in the way of him being progressive and an innovator.” Mr. Cardona formed Eya Aranla — the name means “drums and chants” in Yoruba — to perform the music of Santeria ceremonies in public. Kip Hanrahan, a producer and songwriter whose albums sought a far-reaching cross-cultural fusion, recorded Eya Aranla performing a full Santeria ceremony and released it on his American Clave label as “Bembé,” an album with the crisp detail of a pop studio recording. “I remember Milton telling me he had to ask each deity for the permission to record and present the particular rhythms owned by, or partially defining, those deities to the secular outside world,” Mr. Hanrahan wrote in an email. In 1999 American Clave released Mr. Cardona’s other solo album, “Cambucha,” which mingled Santeria music with rumba, jazz, doo-wop and more. The album’s title was also the nickname of Mr. Cardona’s daughter, Carmen; she survives him, as do his wife; two sons, Milton Jr. and Sergio; his sister, Milagros Cardona; and two grandchildren. In the ’80s and ’90s Mr. Cardona worked with Mr. Byrne, appearing on his albums “Rei Momo” and “Uh-Oh.” In the early ’90s, he made a pair of jazz-fusion albums with an oud player from Lebanon, Rabih Abou-Khalil. He also had long-running associations with jazz musicians like the flutist Dave Valentin and the clarinetist and saxophonist Don Byron, and he worked with the celebrated Latin bandleader Tito Puente on albums including Mr. Puente’s 2000 collaboration with the pianist Eddie Palmieri, “Masterpiece/Obra Maestra,” which won the Grammy Award for best salsa album. “I look at my instrument as wood and skin,” Mr. Cardona said in a 1991 interview. “They both have life, they both have a soul.” DISCOGRAPHIES: Milton Cardona appears on the followingAmerican Clave recordings: Jerry Gonzalez / Ya Yo Me Cure amcl 1001 Milton Cardona / Bembe amcl 1004 Conjure / Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed amcl 1006 Kip Hanrahan / Desire Develops an Edge amcl 1009/8 Kip Hanrahan / Vertical’s Currency amcl 1010 Kip Hanrahan / A Few Short Notes for the End Run amcl 1011EP Kip Hanrahan / Days and Nights of Blue Luck Inverted amcl 1012 Conjure / Cab Calloway Stands in for the Moon amcl 1015 Kip Hanrahan / Tenderness amcl 1016/17 american clave / Anthology amcl 1020/26 Deep Rumba / This Night Becomes a Rumba amcl 1024 Kip Hanrahan / Exotica amcl 1027 Milton Cardona / Cambucha (Carmen) amcl 1028 Kip Hanrahan / All Roads are Made of the Flesh amcl 1029 Kip Hanrahan / Drawn from Memory (Greatest Hits, Kip on Campus, or whatever…) amcl 1033 american clave / I was born, but… amcl 1034 Kip Hanrahan / A Thousand Nights and a Night (1- Red Nights) amcl 1036 Kip Hanrahan / A Thousand Nights and a Night (Shadow Nights 1) amcl 1042 Kip Hanrahan / music from thesoundtrack to Pinero amcl 1056 Piri Thomas / Every Child is Born a Poet amcl 1032 Kip Hanrahan / Beautiful Scars amcl 1060 Videos: Credits: Year Album Artist Bongos, Claves, The Complete Album Congas, Guira, 2013 Paul Simon Collection Maracas, Vocals (Background) 2012 Latin Beat Jazz Heat Percussion A Tribute To Mario Paquito 2011 Congas Bauza d’Rivera 2010 Prayer for Peace Billy Bang Congas, Percussion Boy’s Own Odyssey: Vocals 2009 Acid House Scrapes & (Background) Capers Rabih Abou- 2009 Selection Congas Khalil Year Album Artist Choir/Chorus, The Complete Studio Congas, Coro, 2009 Héctor Lavoe Albums, Vol. 2 Musician, Percussion Vocals 2009 The Dance Years: 1994 (Background) Can You Follow 2008 Jack Bruce Congas [Deluxe Box Set] El Malo, Vol. 2: 2008 Willie Colón Coro Prisioneros del Mambo The Complete Studio Congas, Coro, 2008 Héctor Lavoe Albums, Vol. 1 Percussion 2007 Abril En Paris Luis Mangual Coro Conga Drum, Asalto Navideño, Congas, Main 2007 Héctor Lavoe Vols. 1-2 Personnel, Percussion 2007 El Cantante Marc Anthony Coro, Vocals Hed Kandi: Back to Vocals 2007 Love – True Club (Background) Classics New York City Band New York City 2007 Percussion with Luther Vandross Band Primary Artist, Percussion Maddness Luisito 2007 Vocals Revisited Quintero (Background) Bata, Congas, 2007 The Player Willie Colón Soloist Main Personnel, 2006 Come Fly with Me Dave Valentin Percussion Year Album Artist Every Child Is Born A 2006 Poet: The Life & Work Piri Thomas Coro, Percussion of Piri Thomas Congas, Primary 2006 Latin Dreams Ray Appleton Artist Additional Personnel, Luisito 2006 Percussion Madness Composer, Lead, Quintero Shekere, Vocals (Background) 2006 Top Secrets Willie Colón Choir/Chorus 2005 Bebo de Cuba Bebo Valdés Chekere, Congas Con Mucho Ritmo! The 2005 Very Best of Congas, Percussion Tropijazz Una Noche Inolvidable Member of Afro-Latin 2005 (An Unforgettable Attributed Artist, Jazz Orchestra Night) Percussion 2005 World on a String Dave Valentin Percussion Brazilian Flavour [2 Bata, Vocals 2004 Disc] (Background) Conjunto 2004 El Panadero Coro, Group Member Clasico Congas, 2004 In a Smooth Groove Percussion, Shakere 2004 Jazz Piano Masters Percussion Coro, Main 2004 Lagrimas Negras Bebo Valdés Personnel, Vocals (Background) Conjunto 2004 Las Puertas Abiertas Coro, Group Member Clasico Year Album Artist Chekere, Congas, Guest Artist, Horn Section, Main 2004 Latin Jazz Fantasy Bill O’Connell Personnel, Percussion, Personnel, Strings 2004 Mas Clasico Que Nunca Johnny Rivera Choir/Chorus 2004 Ritmo Afro-Cubano Coros, Group Composer, Coro, Guest Artist, 2004 Sonidos Nuevos Damon Grant Itotele, Iya, Vocals Bongos, Claves, The Studio Recordings Guira, Maracas, 2004 Paul Simon 1972-2000 Vocals (Background) Choir/Chorus, 2003 Carnival in San Juan Papo Vazquez Percussion 2003 Wise Children Tom Harrell Congas Brazilian Flavour, Bata, Vocals 2002 Vol. 1 (Background) Congas, Coro, 2002 Piñero Kip Hanrahan Guest Artist, Percussion, Quinto 2002 Serie 32 India Composer Tribute to Hector Junior Choir/Chorus, 2002 Lavoe Gonzalez Congas A Tribute to Mario 2001 Rudy Calzado Congas Bauza Bill O’Connell Congas, Shekere, 2001 Black Sand Latin Jazz Vocals Project Year Album Artist William Cepeda 2001 Branching Out & Afrorican Vocals Jazz Calle 54 [Music from Bata, Iya, Vocals, 2001 the Motion Picture] Voices 2001 Shadows in the Air Jack Bruce Congas The More We Know: 30 2001 Congas Years of Enja Records The Smooth Jazz 2001 Percussion Piano: Ebony & Ivory You Are #6: More Congas, Guest 2001 Music for Six Don Byron Artist, Musicians Percussion, Vocals 2000 Fool No More Peter Eldridge Congas, Shekere Greatest Hits: Vocals 2000 Shining Like a Paul Simon (Background) National Guitar Vocals 2000 Japanese Sandman Freddy Gardner (Background) Coros, Guest 2000 Libre Increible Manny Oquendo Artist Bata, Chant, Masterpiece/Obra 2000 Tito Puente Featured Artist, Maestra Primary Artist Arranger, Choir/Chorus, 2000 Terra Nova Megadrums Composer, Itotele, Iya, Shekere, Vocals The Goldberg 2000 Uri Caine Percussion Variations 2000 Two Shades of Blue Ed Byrne Percussion Year Album Artist Afro-Cuban Grooves, Congas, Vocals 1999 Vol. 4 [Melodie] (Background) Guest Artist, 1999 Ahora Manny Oquendo Vocals (Background) Featured Artist, 1999 At the Point, Vol.

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