Cuban-born drummer feels beat from the heart
October 14, 2008 
LONG BEACH — For 78-year-old master drum-maker Felipe García Villamil, the drum is the heart and soul of Cuban music.
“It’s what you feel in your body,” the Cuban-born drummer said in Spanish. “It’s in the heart.”
Villamil performed with his Afro-Cuban group Emikeke at Long Beach’s Museum of Latin American Art last month as part of a free event called “Canciones del Alma” or “Songs of the Soul.”
Aside from performing for more than 70 years, Villamil is also a master craftsman who makes his own instruments - a skill that’s in his blood.
Villamil was born in Matanzas, Cuba, to a family rooted in African traditions. His mother is the granddaughter of drum makers from Oyo, now the country of Nigeria.
At age five, Villamil inherited his first set of drums from his Nigerian great-grandfathers. They were bata drums - double-headed and shaped like an hourglass.
Villamil says the various styles of Cuban music are largely influenced by Spanish and African traditions.
During the flourishing of the sugar industry in the 19 th century, thousands of African slaves flooded the Caribbean country, bringing their drums, music and religious practices. After Cuba abolished slavery in 1886, the African groups maintained their cultural traditions.
Popular Cuban styles of music in which an African influence can be heard include bolero, cha-cha-chá, charanga, conga, habanera, mambo, rumba and Son Cubano.
“It all comes from Africa,”
Villamil immigrated to the United States in the 1980 s and now lives in Los Angeles, where he has an ensemble with his sons Ajamu, Miguel and Atoyebi, and daughter Tomasa. In addition to his children in the United States, he has 16 children in Cuba.In 2000, he was honored with the National Heritage Fellowship for master folk and traditional artists, a one-time only award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Villamil says he feels lucky to live in the States and share the music of his homeland. He continues to perform live shows, teaches and lectures on the art of Afro-Cuban performance traditions.
“I’m married to my music,” the artist said.
Honoring Hispanic heritage
Hispanic Heritage Month, which began on Sept. 15 and ends Wednesday, honors those who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking nations. In September 1986, President Johnson proclaimed National Hispanic Heritage Week, observed during the week of Sept.15. It was expanded to a monthlong celebration in 1988.
Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18.
Here are some facts from the U.S. Census Bureau:
An estimated 45.5 million Hispanics were living in the United States as of July 1, 2007, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic minority.
About one of every two people added to the population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, was of Hispanic descent.
Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group and are expected to constitute 30 percent of the nation’s population by July 1, 2050.
Of the immigrants, 64 percent are from Mexico, 9 percent are Puerto Rican, 3.4 percent are Cuban, 3.1 percent are Salvadoran and 2.8 percent are Dominican. The remainder are from other Spanish-speaking countries.
New Mexico has the highest population of Hispanics at 44 percent.
As of 2007, there were 4.7 million Hispanic people living in Los Angeles County, the largest number of any county.
There are an estimated 1.1 million Hispanic veterans of the U.S. armed forces.
kelly.puente@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1305
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