Who is Pedrito Vargas?

Inspired by the great Cuban percussionists Changuito and Tatagüines, Pedro began playing conga when he was just eight years old.  By the time he arrived in La Habana at the age of twenty-three, he had added bongos and timbales as well.  In 1997, he joined the Piquete Cubano and started touring with Barbarito Torres of “Buena Vista Social Club" fame.  It was during this period that Pedro began playing "set," a unique one-man combination of conga, bongo and timbales.  Pedro recorded two albums with Barbarito, including “Havana Café” and the Grammy nominated self-titled “Barbarito Torres.”  Pedro has toured worldwide, performing in North and South America, Europe and Asia with Barbarito and timba legends Los Van Van.  He performs locally in Seattle with various latin music groups and will debut his own band, Pedrito Vargas y su Grupo Ashé in 2008

Click here for more information (my resume).

Contact me:

Click Here to send a message via this website.

 

You can also email me directly at: percuba2@gmail.com

Or call

(206) 697-7063.

Click here for information on percussion lessons.

All rights reserved (2008).

To learn more about Cuban music and my background, check out these links:

Timba.com

Brought to you by a handful of Cuban music lovers from around the world, timba.com's goal is to bring the world the most complete and up-to-date information regarding Cuban music and culture.

Barbarito Torres at World Music Central

World Music Central is a portal dedicated to World Music featuring the latest news, CD and concert reviews, articles, an events calendar, and resources for music fans, industry professionals and researchers.

Check out this video of Barbarito Torres y su Piquete Cubana with guest Pio Leyva performing in Mexico.

Also appearing are:

Onelio (Tati) Arias on tres

Nilso Arias on guitar and vocals

Victor Villa on bass

Robin Martinez on trumpet

Tati, Nilso, Villa and myself made up the original Piquete Cubano and played together for several years at the Plaza de la Catedral in central Habana.  We were later recruited to back up Barbarito Torres by his wife Sonya.

Today, Tati continues to play in Central Havana and performs in Europe with various groups.

Nilso tours worldwide with Compay Segundo's band.

Robin currently tours and records with Manolito y su Trabuco in Havana and beyond.