My name is Euclides (Rick) Santiago Jr. and I was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 25th to the parents of Euclides (Kike) Santiago Sr. and Evelyn Maritza Soto, in a decade (the 70's) of which Salsa music would reach a height it had never reached before: 1979. Sad to say, after the 70's, Salsa has not reached that height again in regards to creativity and evolution. Although a genre that still does very well in sales and promotion, today’s' Salsa by no way shape or form compares to the innovation, intensity, diversity and power of what 70's Salsa had to offer. This is something that I would discover much later in my life. But first, let me explain where my family is from. My dad was from Rio Caña Arriba, Juana Diaz and my mom is from a place called Balcanes which lies almost between Juana Diaz, Santa Isabel, and Coamo, Puerto Rico. As seen below in the picture, music was already in my family. My dad was a bongocero and timbalero for many years throughout his youth. He played for several local orchestras here in Cleveland, Ohio. Unfortunately, the only time that I ever remember seeing him play was around '84 or '85 when I was 5 or 6. This was at the Puerto Rican parade that was held on West 25th St. in the West Side Market's parking lot. After that moment, my father decided to quit playing professionally. I do however remember him playing bongo at home and remember my first pair of bongos (which I broke).
As far back as I can remember my first love (musically) was hip hop. It was Run Dmc, the Fat Boys, LL Cool J, break dancing and etc. But then, growing up in the 80's, the "Salsa" that I do remember hearing was that of Eddie Santiago, Frankie Ruiz, Rey Ruiz and guys like that. I'm sure my father played old Salsa at home but I was too young to remember plus in '87 he was sentenced 12 to 25 years for dealing narcotics. Thus at 8 yrs old, the Latin music I mainly remember hearing was the mainstream stuff played on the radio. So as result, I really didn't care for Salsa at all. Until one day an aunt of mine played "Mi Gente" by Hector Lavoe. I fell in love with it. It was a feeling I couldn't describe nor ever felt before. The hairs on my body just stood up when I heard Hector Lavoe sing. I was around 14 at the time. A couple years later I bought my first Hector Lavoe cd from this guy I knew for 5 bucks. It's the "Dejavu" album which includes Hector Lavoe's and Willie Colon's greatest hits from the 70's. But right when I was discovering this great music, my father, after spending 9 1/2 years in prison, died as of a result of medical mal practice which in reality is a nice way of putting it due to the fact that he was denied medication and treatment (which could've easily saved his life) for being an inmate and Latino. After his death, I received his timbales from the prison along with all his belongings. What did he do with his timbales while in prison you might ask? Several years before his death, he moved to Grafton Correctional Institution and joined a Salsa Orchestra (comprised of inmates who where Latinos, African Americans, and White) directed by Jr. Santiago which was called "The Latin Express". Around mid April of '96, my father was to play in a tribute concert to the late Ismael Rivera right in the institution. But days before the concert he suddenly was sent to Elyria Memorial hospital and died around 2 weeks later.
After my father's death, I decided to discover what He was about musically. So a cousin of mine, Harry Santiago Jr. began giving me a few lessons on the basic concept of playing timbal and campana and I picked up pretty quick. I then began banging on those drums in my second floor section 8 apartment in the projects off W.85th St. and would try to learn the solo on Gran Combo's "Timbalero". I pretty much memorized it but still didn't know the structure of a salsa song so it was hard for me to know when I had to change from cascara to campana and vice versa. I then started to gain a fascination for playing congas even though I had no idea how to play them till one day I had the chance to play some over a friend's house and from that point on I said I had to buy me a pair. In '98 I bought me some LP congas and I've been playing ever since. But my playing was just by ear and I really didn't know the correct way of playing.
In that same year, I joined a Latin Jazz band at Cuyahoga Community College and I played in my first concert in December of that year.
It was a great feeling. It was then that I met a young man by the name of Hector Torres. He's a self taught percussionist, composer, and trombone player, whom happens to have autism. I've learned a lot from him and he even motivated me to learn more about the history of Salsa. One thing about Salsa is that by listening to it, I discovered my Puerto Rican roots as regards to Bomba, Plena, musica Jibara, and Aguinaldo's.
