Chacho Ramirez
Berardo “Chacho” Ramirez, playing drums, congas, timbales, and other Latin percussion, has toured and performed with such greats as Ahmad Jamal, Jymie Merritt, Hal Galper, Lee Wiley, Jose Fajardo, Babatunde Olatunji, Bill Jacobs, and Alex Blake. He has recorded with the Ron Gill Group, Richie Vitale, Bill Jacobs, Alex Blake and Sweet Plantain Quartet. Commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts to write his “Nubia Suite,” his compositions have been performed by Sweet Plantain String Quartet, the Hofstra University Percussion Ensemble, and others. He has taught in workshops, drum clinics and Master Classes alongside Max Roach, Alan Dawson, Joe Morello, Bernard Purdie, and Jim Chapin. He wrote a guide on the history of salsa music for use by public school teachers. Chacho and his wife Carolyn Steinberg formed La Banda Ramirez in 2013. He has released 5 albums: in 2008 with Metrotang, Lights Out, and with La Banda Ramirez, A Family Ting, Cuban Butterflies, Lizzie's Lounge, and I Remember Bill.
Carolyn Steinberg Ramirez
Carolyn Steinberg Ramirez, flutist, composer, arranger, and producer, is co-leader of La Banda Ramirez. Her repertoire ranges from European classical and contemporary music to Latin jazz and salsa. She studied music composition in Siena, Italy, and Freiburg, Germany, where she also taught ear training at the Freiburg Musikhochshule. She hold a Bachelor's degree in music theory from Univ. of North Texas, Masters in composition (Manhattan School of Music), associate diploma (Musikhochschule Freiburg), and doctorate in music composition from The Juilliard School. A Fromm Foundation commission (her Flute Concerto) and the Goddard Lieberson prize of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1989). La Banda Ramirez plays many of her arrangements and several originals. She produced and recorded 4 albums with La Banda Ramirez: A Family Ting, Cuban Butterflies, Lizzie's Lounge, and I Remember Bill.
See also her website for classical work: