Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez

John Rodríguez Jr. (born 1945), better known as Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez, is an American bongo player. He was the long-time bongosero for Tito Puente, and also played with Tito Rodríguez, Ray Barretto and Alfredo de la Fe. He belonged to several popular bands of the salsa era such as Tico All-Stars, Fania All-Stars and Típica 73.

Life and career

Rodríguez grew up in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem), New York, being interested in stickball (street baseball), rather than music.[1] Nonetheless, influenced by his father, 17-year old Johnny earned a position playing bongos in the Tito Puente Orchestra. Johnny spent over 30 years with the orchestra, also working with Tito Rodríguez from 1965 to 1968 and with Ray Barretto from 1970 until the end of 1972. Johnny went on to form Típica 73, of which he remained a member until 1979. He then returned to Tito's band, playing alongside him until the time of Tito's death in May 2000.[2]

Personal life

He is the son of Johnny "La Vaca" Rodríguez (1930-2000), prolific conguero and bongosero of Puerto Rican ancestry who played in the bands of Noro Morales, Xavier Cugat, Machito and Tito Puente and Tito Rodríguez (preceding his son in both cases) among others.[3] He was nicknamed "La Vaca" (The Cow) by Machito's trumpeter Mario Bauzá in 1943, because of the young percussionist's large appearance.[4]

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References
  1. "Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez Jr.: Growing Up in Latin Dance Music and Jazz". Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance. January 25, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  2. "Tito Puente: Sensacion". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  3. Conzo, Joe; Pérez, David A. (2010). Mambo Diablo: My Journey With Tito Puente. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse. p. 218.
  4. Salazar, Max (February 1, 2001). "Johnny "La Vaca" Rodriguez: 1930-2000". Latin Beat Magazine. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017.
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