About Me
FOR MORE VIDEO CLIPS, PLEASE VISIT MY YOUTUBE PAGE: www.youtube.com/garyeisenbergFOR MORE INFO, PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE: www.eisenbergworks.comAfter studying trumpet with Jack Coleman and Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy, I went on to USC Music School where I studied with the late James Stamp and Robert Marsteller. I found jazz and latin music a lot more stimulating, and jumped ship before completing my studies at USC. I had already been playing jazz gigs with a local group of young players headed up by pianist Larry Nash, called the Jazz Symphonics. We had some great moments, including playing opposite sets with Miles Davis' seminal group at Marty's on the Hill in Baldwin Hills, back in '69. Shortly thereafter, I discovered Afrocuban music and wound up in a local group that included the late Raul Travieso Rodriguez (Arsenio's brother). A few years later, while slaving away at various tedious and uninspiring dayjobs, I began working with various other bands around town, including Orlando Lopez "Mazacote," Johnny Nelson, and Johnny "Chano" Martinez. After Johnny Nelson's band broke up, our excellent bongosero, Jose "Papo" Rodriguez formed his own group, and I was with him throughout that period of time. When Camilo "Azuquita" re-settled in Los Angeles during the early eighties, I became a part of his group and at one point was handling the musical direction duties. This led to one of the high spots of my musical life - a three-nighter as one of the added Los Angeles musicians during a visit to town by Tito Puente's large group. Azuquita invited me aboard so that I could give the cues. In addition to being a high spot, it was also somewhat unnerving, because I realized that I was "out of my league," so to speak, playing with musicians who were at a much more developed level in that genre than I could ever hope to reach. After Azuquita moved back to Paris, I got together with my dear friend Eric Matos (who had worked alongside me with Johnny Nelson for years), and we did our own band - "Orquesta Caliente" (not the most original name in the world, but we didn't want to spend too much time dealing with name branding) - with the Horn Section in Front! We had a great time with that group, and were lucky enough to have top-flight musicians. The roster included Victor "Negrito" Pantoja on congas, Kevin Ricard on timbales, Ramon "Mongo" Ramos on bongo,Tavio Figueroa (and for a while there, Kathy Allmond) on Piano, Georgie Lopez on bass, Phil Robinson on vocals - and on trombones, Eric Matos, Mike Daigeau, and yours truly on valve bone. When Candilejas was sold, the band dis-banded. I worked with various different groups around town, including several stints with the legendary Francisco Aguabella. There have been occasional forays into other musical landscapes, including a thoroughly enjoyable and enriching experience with a group headed up by Guillermo Cespedes, called "Odara." He was joined in the leadership role by Lazaro Galaraga and Nengue Hernandez.For the past decade or so, I've been working primarily with Octavio Figueroa y la Combinacion. Tavio and I have been on various different bands together over past three decades, including the bands of Johnny Nelson, Papo Rodriguez, and Azuquita. He worked on the band that I co-directed with Eric Matos, as one of our sidemen. And I now have the pleasure of working in his group as a sideman. We are fortunate to have a living legend, Victor Pantoja, as our bongonsero. The balance of the band includes conguero Virgilio Figueroa, bassist Jesse Ontiveros, and vocalist Willie Cadena.The visual art that you see on this page was done by me, over the course of the last three decades. More on my website: www.eisenbergworks.com
