Little Johnny Rivero - Music in Me (2016)

With one foot rooted in his native Puerto Rico, and the other firmly planted in his adopted home of New York City’s El Barrio, it is only fitting that Little Johnny Rivero’s second solo effort, Music In Me, delivers its Latin-Jazz groove with underpinnings of traditional Afro-Cuban percussion and rhythms. From the relentless, driving bata voicing in “Alambique,” to the haunting background tribal chants that color “Africa My Land,” to the staccato horn runs peppered throughout the album’s title track “Music In Me,” the album delivers a unified theme of jazzy improvisation with percussive color.

Having performed on nearly 100 recordings to date, Little Johnny’s credits include such notable artists as La Sonora Ponceña, Eddie Palmieri, Bebo Valdés, Charlie Palmieri, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Paquito D’Rivera, Brian Lynch, and Conrad Herwig. He has collaborated with such world-renowned percussionists as Changuito, Giovanni Hidalgo, Carlos “Patato” Valdes and Angel “Cachete” Maldonado as well as legendary drummers Joe Chambers and Ralph Peterson Jr. ~Stephan Nigohosian