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Bobby Matos, born in the Bronx, began his musical journey by beating on pots and pans in his grandmother’s apartment. He honed his skills through informal lessons with conga drum masters Patato Valdez and Mongo Santamaria. In the early 1960s, he performed in Greenwich Village cafes and expanded his repertoire to various venues, including Bronx dance halls, Carnegie Hall, elegant supper clubs, Central Park concerts, Off Broadway theaters, and "After Hours" clubs in El Barrio. Inspired by Willie Bobo and Tito Puente, Bobby took up the timbales and studied composition and arranging at the New School and Manhattan School of Music in the late 1960s. During this vibrant period for Latin music in New York, he recorded "My Latin Soul" for Philips Records, which later became a cult classic and influenced many Acid Jazz groups in the 1970s and 1980s. After touring and recording with artists such as Ben Vereen, Bette Midler, Fred Neil, Jim Croce, Ray Rivera, Joe Loco, and Miriam Makeeba, Bobby moved to Los Angeles, where he experimented with an Afro Cuban Jazz band, blending elements from legends like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Wayne Shorter, and Eddie Palmieri. In the 1980s and 1990s, he released several albums, notably five critically acclaimed CDs for Ubiquity Records’ “Cub

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