Emilio Caruso

Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian Folkloric Music
Performance, Lecture and Teaching

Emilio Caruso is a professional percussionist with over 45 years of experience. Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian folkloric musics have been his focus of study and performance for the last 20 years. His extensive study in both Brazil and Cuba has given him a broad and deep knowledge of the social, ritual and aesthetic idioms expressed in these musics. He is dedicated to bringing wider recognition to these compelling but relatively unknown musical forms utilizing performance, educational activities, and music workshops.

Since moving to Arizona, Emilio has been fortunate to receive grant awards through the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the City of Glendale's Artists Grants. Emilio's study with master drummers Alberto Villarreal (director of percussion for the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba) and Jorge Alabe (music director of Oba Oba and master drummer of Candomble) has given him an appreciation for the insistence on authenticity in performance and education, recognizing the cultural roots of the music.

Although these transcultural music traditions are over 500 years old, they have both social and musical relevance to today's modern world. They celebrate the contribution of African slaves who, through ingenuity and determination, preserved their rich spiritual and cultural traditions. Through the centuries these musics evolved with Latin musical idioms to form the roots of several styles of popular music, such as Salsa, Samba, Jazz, Reggae, Rock & Roll, and Hip Hop, influencing not only the Americas but the entire world.

Emilio Caruso is both committed and ideally suited to sharing his vast knowledge of both secular and ritual folkloric Latin musical forms. Emilio is currently writing books on Cuban and Brazilian drumming.

Emilio Caruso
602-258-4716
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