I am a Yonkers, native of Puerto Rican descent. I am Twenty-seven years old. My first contact with music was at the age of 4, playing those two notes melody of " So What", Miles Davis Composition, with my Father’s old trumpet, thanks to my Dad for inducing me to listen to this great music of Jazz and Latin Jazz. It has been a mysterious and endless undertaking to learn it and approach to it in many different ways; it is why I was born listening to it. It was in school when I first received musical lessons from my first teacher Mr. Pablo Leon at the Francisco Zayas Santana’s high school in Puerto Rico. At the age of 10, I continued to be devoted to the trumpet so I form part of the school’s band, with only 10 years old. At the end of that same year I heard a song that really inspired me to switch from trumpet to flute and that particular song was, "Song for You", performed by a great flutist called, Mr. Bobby Porcelli, which was performed on Mongo Santamaria’s album titled "Afro-Indio". For this reason I decided to ask my teacher to teach me how to play the flute and that’s exactly what he did. He thought me how to hold it and how to create a first sound, witch was the most important element. At the age of twelve, I was involved in percussion, that means: Congas, Bongos, and Timbales. This happened because both: brother and cousin identified themselves with those particular instruments. That same year I stoped music due to some other interest. Basketball was another passionate hobbies. But that didn’t last to long although I form part of the schools’ Varsity team and the city’s Juvenile team as well. I played basketball until I finish high school and after that, I decide to come back to the city that I was born, Yonkers, New York. At the age of nineteen, my dad having thoughts about my desire to play the flute, came home for Christmas with a gift, a silver plated Yamaha flute. That was the greatest gift of all and since that day, I cannot stop playing it. At the age of, twenty-one I met a very important person, Roger, owner of Moon curser, an old record shop at City Island in the Bronx. Roger guided me to the King of Latin Jazz, Mr. Tito Puente, because I was always listening and buying Tito Puente’s record. It will be a pleasure to remember that Mr.Tito Puente was the first musician that I met. Mr. Roger told me to take one of Tito Puente’s albums, so, my dad and I chosed Dance Mania, and after that, he asked me, " Do you want to get it sign?" I said, " Yeah". He said, " Hurry up to his restaurant because he’s there right now!" And that’s how I met Tito Puente. He signed the album and spoke to him about my desire to become a flautist and he suggested that I should go to see him play at Purchase collage on December 19, 1998. Before I went to Purchase College Mr. Roger took me to see my first piano teacher, Hilton Ruiz at Defemios Restaurant in Yonkers. At Purchase College, I met my first Flute teacher in! New York, Mitch Frohman one of Tito Puente’s saxophone and flute player. Mitch Frohman has always been a great guy; he gave me a few lessons and then introduced me and recommended me to continue to learn from Mario Rivera, another great saxophone and flute player, who recorded with all the greatest big band in the Latin scene and including Dizzy Gillespie’s all-stars. Mario has been a great guide and teacher until this date. But he also introduced me and recommended that I should learn from Bobby Porcelli and I was so glad that day, because Mr. Porcelli was the flute player that inspired me to be a flutist. Bobby Porcelli has been a great friend, a teacher, a member of my band and first recording. I would like to name Jose Fajardo, one the best Cuban flute player that has ever exist, great friend and guidance, thanks to him I met Andy Gonzalez, who gave me Dave Valentin’s phone number. Dave Valentin is actually one of the best Flute players in the world, Grammy Award winner! ; with Dave, I attended three lessons in parallel with
