Bio
About Giovanni
September 7th, 1977 Giovanni discovered how to play rolls with his hands on the congas. He was about 13/14 years old. We also find out 7 is his lucky number. He was born premature at 7 months.
Gio was born in Puerto Rico in 1963 and grew up in home filled with the drums, bongos, congas and timbales used by his father and grandfather, both musicians themselves. Gio began playing on a home made conga crafted by his father from a wooden barrel, when he was just eight years old. He also practiced on other percussion instruments, applying his great talent to become one of the top Latin percussionists in the world today.
Some of the encounters Giovanni mentions are Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, and Mickey Hart and his Planet Drum group.
Giovanni mentions his teachers. His father was the first one, and his step-grandfather Francisco Hernandez “Nando”. Side note, “Nando” was a very good friend of Marcos Lopez’s grandfather, Sammy Ayala. David Rosado Cuba was a friend that Gio would play with often as well as David “La Mole” Ortiz, Anthony Carrillo, Willito Lopez, and others practicing to albums for up to 8hrs a day. They would practice to records on the normal speed (33, 1/3) and then speed them up to the 45 speed and practice some more. Also, he would play for one hour straight without stopping.
Widely acknowledged among the greatest congueros of his generation, Giovanni Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1963, first taking up the drums five years later; the son of the noted percussionist Jose “Manengue” Hidalgo, he was educated in Latin rhythms from childhood onward, and as a teen regularly walked to local gigs with his congas strapped to his back. He soon caught the attention of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, touring in his United Nations All-Star Orchestra for four years; Hidalgo also became a noted session player, recording with Freddie Hubbard, Paul Simon, and Mickey Hart‘s Planet Drum project. In 1992, he recorded his debut solo LP, Villa Hidalgo; Worldwide followed a year later, and for 1997’s Hands of Rhythm, a collaboration with pianist Michel Camilo, Hidalgo earned a Grammy nomination in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. His Greatest Hits collection followed the next year.