Hector “Tito” Matos is a Puerto Rican percussionist who specialized in the traditional Puerto Rican rhythms, bomba and plena. His extensive work took him to stages and festivals all over the world playing with bands such as Pleneros de la 21 and Pleneros de la 23 Abajo.
Héctor “Tito” Matos was born in the Río Piedras Medical Center and raised in San Mateo de Cangrejos, currently known as Santurce.
Tito’s first musical instrument was a tambourine that his grandfather Felipe gave him on the Reyes Magos (Three Kings) holiday. Later, Tito learned to play the bomba barrel drums and all the tambourines, including the seguidor (follower) and punteador although he specialized in the requinto, becoming one of the most famous, and creative requintero players of his generation. The requinto is the pandereta (tambourine, originally from Spain) that constantly improvises in plena.
Tito appeared in recordings by some of the most recognized Latin jazz musicians such as Eddie Palmieri’s Rumbero del Piano and David Sanchez’s Obsesion.
In 1997, while living in New York City, he founded Viento de Agua in 1996 along with Ricardo Pons and Alberto Toro.
Viento de Agua recorded De Puerto Rico al Mundo, their first album as a band. The group modernized the traditional rhythms by including piano, bass, a brass section and, for the first time ever, a drum set. The ensemble released a second album with a more traditional approach, under the Smithsonian Folkways record label. Materia Prima was a back to the roots album featuring the genres, bomba and plena, with their original sound, using only the traditional instruments.
In addition to his work as a performing musician, Tito Matos also gave workshops to adults and children, including virtual sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May of 2021, Matos inaugurated “La Casa de la Plena”, an exhibition that preserves the history of plena music in a former school Taller Comunidad La Goyco, located on Loíza Street. The project includes a collection of books, crafts, records, and photographs that belonged to the late anthropologist and artist Ramón López, along with instruments and other materials curated by Matos.
Héctor Matos died on January 18, 2022.
Discography:
De Puerto Rico al Mundo (Qbadisc, 1998)
Materia Prima (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2004)
Fruta Madura (2009)
Opus IV (2013)
Sonidos Primarios (2015)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
updated biography.