Biography
Given birth to March 7, 1970 in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, percussionist Paoli Mejias’ rise to Latin jazz popularity is a tale of perspiration and dedication. Totally self trained, Mejias bought his first group of congas at age group twelve, influenced by information of conga great Carlos “Potato” Valdes and Latin jazz innovators Batacumbele and Irakere. Learning by imitating the noises he heard around the information, Mejias trained himself the vocabulary from the congas minus the good thing about an trainer. By his middle- to late-teens, he could possibly be bought at jam classes in the roads and on the seashores of San Juan. He gained invites from bandleaders like Rafu Warner, José Nogueras and Charlie Sepulveda. As he worked well his way in the live music meals string in San Juan, Mejias discovered himself carrying out alongside the idols who experienced influenced him in his early years. Performers like Dave Samuels, Dave Valentin, Paquito d’Rivera, Chick Corea, David Sanchez and Danilo Perez all known as on Mejias for his exclusive mixture of melodic level of sensitivity and blinding technique. As Puerto Rico’s first-call conguero, Mejias offers performed and documented with pop performers like Luis Enrique, Marc Anthony and La India. Mejias produced his debut like a bandleader in 2004 along with his self-produced record Mi Tambor which received a Latin Grammy nomination for Greatest Latin Jazz Recording in 2005. Showered with positive press and accolades from your world-wide jazz community, Mejias’ changeover from sideman to center point was explosive. His 2006 follow-up launch Transcend was also released individually, featuring a number of the NY Latin jazz scene’s finest.