Pablo Batista: El Timbero Oculto - TT: Pablo Batista: The Hidden Timbale Player

Pablo Batista is like a character actor. He's everywhere doing excellent work but, like the guys on the American Express commercials back in the day, you may have trouble recognizing him. But don't take my word for it. After all, you don't know me, and I could be a maniac, right? So get your copy of Jimmy Bosch's Soneando Trombón and re-listen to it for his slick licks. Or better yet, check out his ambitious solo project, Ancestral Call: The Messenger, which offers progressive Latin jazz, a rousing batá rumba, plus some incisive bomba and plena.

Born in Bethlehem in 1962 to Puerto Rican parents, Pablo has a mixed bag of influences that range from R&B to rumba. Mostly he's made his living slamming skins for Regina Belle, Jeffery Osborne and the late great Grover Washington Jr. But he's also very well-versed in Latin music, having studied with Angá, Changuito and Roberto Vizcaíno, among others. Currently he's with Manny Oquendo's Libre and gearing up for another solo project. Yeah yeah, I know I sound like his press agent, but I dig him for the following: in times where Latin music is dominated by the sound of fariseos who don't know a G clef from a G string, here's a guy who (and pardon me for briefly sounding like a writer for Vibe) is keeping it real. Not only does he keep alive the folkloric backbone, he pushes the music forward with funky grooves in his Latin jazz material. So consider your coat pulled and check him out.

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