In Verna Gillis’ apartment in Greenwich Village’s west side, the doorbell rings with a special rhythm—the clave; the beat that underlies almost all Cuban music. And if Verna’s phone could ring to that rhythm, it would because she owns Soundscape, a large club in a loft that serves as headquarters for Latin jazz in New York City. Naturally, it’s at Soundscape that some of the best young Cuban musicians, impelled to leave Cuba by politics, find each other and play together. Two of the people you’re likely to see there are drummer Ignacio Berroa and conguera Daniel Ponce. Ignacio Berroa, who has always played the North American drumset, not Cuban percussion, arrived in Key West, Florida on a boat from Cuba on May 25, 1980. He brought one change of underwear, one extra shirt, a toothbrush and comb, leaving everything else, including his practice pad, behind in Cuba. He had […]

January 1984 Issue