Ochún

Rhythms and sounds of Cuban music, born from the traditional tempo of danza criolla and contradanza - music that emerged from habaneras and guajira.   Miguel and Paul Armstrong co-founded Ochún in 2003. the two began to work closely with the well known arranger/tres player, Pablo Moya on both Cuban classics and original tunes. Together with Octavio Ponce on flute and sax, Gabriel 'Chinchilita' Machado and Nestor Villar on percussion, classically trained bassist Victor Sanchez, John Hines and Tomer Levy on Trumpet, they fine tuned the unique rythm that has become synonymous with 'Ochún'. The groups first CD simply named "Ochún" is now available to be downloaded below. MIGUEL GARCIA  - VOCALS
 
MIGUEL WAS BORN IN 1947 IN PANAMA CITY TO A CUBAN MOTHER AND A COLOMBIAN FATHER.....AT THE AGE OF 2, HIS FAMILY RETURNED TO HAVANA WHERE THEY LIVED UNTIL MIGUEL WAS 14 YEARS OLD.
 
IN 1961, MIGUEL CAME TO THE UNITED STATES AND PURSUED HIS AMBITION TO BE A MUSICIAN AND SINGER BY TEACHING HIMSELF THE GUITAR AND STARTING HIS FIRST POP MUSIC BAND.
 
DURING THE EARLY 70’S, MIGUEL  CO-FOUNDED HIS FIRST LATIN ROCK BAND, ‘MACAU’, WITH GUITARIST JAIME VILLA AND BASSIST NINO TORRENTE...THEY PERFORMED WITH MUCH SUCCESS IN THE TRI-STATE AREA FOR SEVERAL YEARS. DURING THIS TIME, ‘MACAU’ OPENED FOR TITO PUENTE AND ‘ORQUESTA YAMBU’, AMONG OTHER WELL KNOWN LATIN PERFORMERS.
 
IN THE MID 70’S, MIGUEL JOINED FORCES WITH A CUBAN GUITARIST, ALFONSO OSUNA, WHO SHARED HIS LOVE OF TRADITIONAL CUBAN MUSIC. TOGETHER, THEY ASSEMBLED AN OUTSTANDING GROUP OF 7 MUSICIANS ( AMONG THEM RAUL OSUNA ON BASS, JESUS FERNANDEZ ON CONGAS, AND A TIMBALERO NAMED ALBERTO GARCIA) ...THEY PERFORMED THE SON MONTUNO, CHARANGA, AND RUMBAS THAT SO INFLUENCED THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG.....DURING THIS PERIOD, ‘OSUNA SON’  FREQUENTLY OPENED FOR CHARLIE PALMIERI, TITO PUENTE, AND OTHERS.
 
‘ SON DE HOY’ CAME INTO BEING IN EARLY 2002. ONCE AGAIN, MIGUEL JOINED WITH ALFONSO OSUNA AND NINO TORRENTE TO EXPLORE THEIR NATIVE CUBAN RHYTHMS...THIS TIME, THEY WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO FIND PAUL ARMSTRONG, A TEXAS BORN PIANIST WITH A CUBAN HEART. THE REKNOWNED FLUTIST MAURICIO SMITH AND PERCUSSIONIST RENATO THOMS SOON FOLLOWED.
MIGUEL AND PAUL ARMSTRONG CO-FOUNDED ‘OCHUN’ IN 2003...THE TWO BEGAN TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE WELL KNOWN ARRANGER/ TRES Player, PABLO MOYA ON BOTH CUBAN CLASSICS AND ORIGINAL TUNES..TOGETHER WITH OCTAVIO PONCE ON FLUTE AND SAX, GABRIEL ‘CHINCHILITA’  MACHADO AND NESTOR VILLAR ON PERCUSSION, CLASSICALLY TRAINED BASSIST VICTOR SANCHEZ, JOHN HINES AND TOMER LEVY ON TRUMPET, THEY FINE TUNED THE UNIQUE RHYTHM THAT HAS BECOME SYNONOMOUS WITH ‘OCHUN’. THE GROUPS FIRST CD, “OCHUN” IS SOON TO BE RELEASED.
 

OCTAVIO MARIO PONCE RUIZ – SAXOPHONE & FLUTE
 
OCTAVIO WAS BORN IN THE TOWN OF PROVINCIA DE LAS VILLA,  CUBA IN JANUARY OF 1949. AT 8 YEARS OLD, OCTAVIO RECEIVED HIS FIRST MUSIC LESSONS FROM THE DIRECTOR DE LA BANDA MUNICIPAL, LEONARDO CASTELLANOS....IT WAS WITH THIS BAND THAT OCTAVIO FIRST PERFORMED PUBLICLY AT THE AGE OF 12.
 
OCTAVIO MADE HIS PROFESSIONAL DEBUT  IN 1963 WITH THE ORCHESTRA THAT ACCOMPANIED MANY ARTISTS FEATURED AT THE HOTEL ‘LAS CUEVAS DE TRINIDAD’.
 
LATER, IN 1967, OCTAVIO PLAYED THE BARITONE SAX FOR   THE SHOWBAND ‘MONTE CASINO’ IN THE CITY OF SANCTI-SPIRITUS. HE ALSO FOUND TIME TO EXPAND HIS MUSICAL  REPETOIRE BY STUDYING CLARINET AT THE ESCUELA NACIONAL DE ARTE.
 
IN 1976, HE PLAYED FLUTE FOR ‘LA ORQUESTA ESTRELLAS DE TRINIDAD’..... UPON HEARING HIM PLAY, THE BAND ‘EL GRUPO YAYABO DE SANTI-SPIRITUS’ INVITED HIM TO PLAY FLUTE AND TENOR SAX WITH THEM....HE PERFORMED REGULARLY WITH THIS GROUP UNTIL HE LEFT CUBA FOR THE UNITED STATES IN 1991.
 
ONCE RELOCATED IN NEW YORK, OCTAVIO HAD LITTLE TROUBLE FINDING WORK WITH SEVERAL LOCAL ORQUESTAS...AMONG THEM ‘CARIBE BAND’, ‘ORO SOLIDO’, AND ‘AFRO CARIBE HASTA LA ACTUALIDAD’.... HE HAS ALSO PERFORMED WITH JOHNNY GALAN AND CHICO ALVEREZ.
 

NESTOR VILLAR – PERCUSSION
 
NESTOR WAS BORN INTO A MUSICAL FAMILY IN BOLIVAR, VENEZUELA IN 1973.
 
NESTOR STARTED HIS MUSICAL CAREER VERY YOUNG  - HE PLAYED PERCUSSION WITH HIS BROTHER’S BAND, ‘CONJUNTO HERMANOS VILLAR’. THEY PERFORMED IN VARIOUS CITIES AROUND VENEZUELA.
 
NESTOR BEGAN HIS FORMAL MUSICAL TRAINING WHEN HE ENROLLED IN ‘ESCUELA MODERNA DE MUSICA’ IN HIS HOMETOWN OF BOLIVAR. IT WAS HERE HE EXPANDED HIS KNOWLEDGE OF PERCUSSION IN ALL IT’S VARIOUS FORMS.
 
HIS TALENT FINE TUNED, NESTOR WAS SORT AFTER BY MANY WELL-KNOWN MUSICIANS TO COLLABORATE ON VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS.
 
AFTER RELOCATING TO THE U.S., NESTOR WORKED WITH SEVERAL LATIN MUSICIANS....AMONG THEM: VIOLINIST ALFREDO DE LA FE, HECTOR MARTINON, JOHN BENITEZ AND TRECERO ENRIQUE LOPEZ.
 

  PAUL ARMSTONG – PIANO
 
TEXAS BORN AND BRED, PAUL PERFORMED PROFESSIONALLY IN COLORADO AND TOURED EUROPE EARLY IN HIS CAREER.
 
FROM 1993 THROUGH 2000 PAUL RAN THE SKY TRAIL RECORDING STUDIO WHERE HE PRODUCED MUSIC FOR ORIGINAL ARTISTS, CARTOONS AND COMMERCIALS.
 
AFTER RELOCATING TO NEW YORK CITY IN 2001, PAUL WORKED AS SOUND EDITOR AND/OR COMPOSER FOR SEVERAL PROJECTS, AMONG THEM, “THE FIGHTING FOODONS”, A JAPANESE ANIMATED SERIES THAT AIRED ON WARNER BROTHERS NETWORK AND THE MA-YI THEATRE PRODUCTION OF “SALAD DAYS’.
 
PAUL JOINED MIGUEL GARCIA AND NINO TORRENTE IN EARLY 2002 TO FOUND THE CUBAN BAND “SON DE HOY’.....THEY BECAME FAVORITES WITH LOCAL RESTAURANTS AND WHEN NOT PLAYING IN RESTAURANTS, WERE KEPT BUSY WITH FUND RAISERS AND PRIVATE PARTIES.
 
IN 2003, ‘OCHUN’ CAME INTO BEING THRU THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF PAUL AND MIGUEL GARCIA.....ALTHOUGH HE WAS KEPT BUSY WITH ‘OCHUN’,  PAUL CONTINUED TO WORK ON SOLO PROJECTS....HE PLAYED WITH THE CUBAN BAND ‘LA MACHINA AMARILLA’ AND THE BRAZILIAN GROUP ‘ART TROPICALIA’.........IN 2004, HE COMPOSED AND RECORDED THE ENTIRE 15 SONG SOUNDTRACK FOR THE FILM ‘MAKING GRACE’, AN AUBIN PICTURES RELEASE.
 
 
PABLO MOYA – TRES
 
PABLO WAS BORN IN CENTRAL SOLEDAD, GUANTANAMO, CUBA. HIS FATHER, PABLO MOYA TELLEZ, LEAD A LOCAL CHANGUI GROUP, AND IT WAS HE  WHO GAVE YOUNG PABLO HIS FIRST TRES LESSONS.
 
PABLO TRAVELED TO SANTIAGO DE CUBA TO JOIN FAMILY FRIEND ELIADES OCHOA ( OF ‘BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB’ FAME) TO PLAY IN BARS, RESTAURANTS, AND BROTHELS. KNOWING HE NEEDED TO FURTHER HIS STUDIES, PABLO SOON LEFT FOR HAVANA, WHERE HE ATTENDED THE SALESIANO COLLEGE, ‘DON BOSCO’ AT GUANABACOA....HIS MAJOR, NATURALLY, WAS MUSIC.
 
PABLO RETURNED TO SANTIAGO DE CUBA AS A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN....HE QUICKLY FOUND WORK AS A GUITARIST WITH THE ‘MODERN MUSIC CUBAN ORQUESTA’ AND ANOTHER POPULAR ORQUESTA, ‘THE TAINOS’.
 
IN 1974, PABLO FORMED HIS OWN BAND, ‘LOS KARACHI’, WHICH ENJOYED MUCH SUCCESS. THE GROUP WON SEVERAL PRIZES...AMONG THEM FIRST PRIZE IN THE 1979 NATIONAL SON FESTIVAL AND THE 1984 VARADERO 84 FESTIVAL. ‘LOS KARACHI’ BECAME WELL-KNOWN IN SEVERAL CONTINENTS (EUROPE, MIDDLE AND SOUTH AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES)  THROUGH THEIR PARTICIPATION IN MANY INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVALS.
 
IN 1976, PABLO ENTERED THE UNIVERSITY ‘GUILLERMON MONCADA’...HE GRADUATED IN 1978 WITH DEGREES IN ARRANGING AND COMPOSING ...NOT YET SATISFIED WITH HIS MUSICAL EDUCATION, PABLO CONTINUED TO STUDY AND TEACH BASS AT THE MUSIC CONSERVATORY, ‘ESTABAN SALAS’.
 
WHEN PABLO CAME TO THE UNITED STATES, HE QUICKLY FOUND WORK AS A TRECERO WITH LOCAL CUBAN BANDS. CURRENTLY, PABLO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PLAYING HIS AMAZING TRES AND  ARRANGING THE RYTHMIC SOUNDS OF ‘OCHUN’.
 

GABRIEL “ CHINCHILITA” MACHADO – PERCUSSION
 
  GABRIEL IS THE COMPLETE LATIN PERCUSSIONIST. HE WAS BORN IN THE RHYTHM –RICH  DANCE-CRAZED ATMOSPHERE OF ORIENTE , CUBA. SINCE HIS ARRIVAL TO THIS COUNTRY, HE HAS PERFORMED HERE AND AROUND THE WORLD WITH MAJOR LATIN JAZZ MUSIC STARS, AMONG THEM: DIZZY GILLESPIE, LIONEL HAMPTON, PAQUITO D’RIVERA, DUKE ELLINGTON’S ORCHESTRA, ARTURO SANDAVAL, JOHN FADDIS, BRANFORD MARSALIS, TIPICA NOVEL, ORQUESTA
BROADWAY, CHARANGA 76 AND ORQUESTA FAJARDO.
 

JOHN HINES - TRUMPET
 
JOHN IS A BUSY FREELANCE TRUMPET Player IN THE NEW YORK AREA. JOHN HAS BEEN PERFORMING WITH SALSA AND LATIN JAZZ GROUPS FOR OVER 25 YEARS. IN ADDITION TO ‘OCHUN’, JOHN HAS PERFORMED WITH OTHER IMPORTANT SALSA GROUPS, INCLUDING ‘SALSA PICANTE’ AND ‘CONJUNTO CHANEY’. HE HAS PLAYED LEAD TRUMPET FOR MANY ON AND OFF BROADWAY SHOWS AND POPULAR SINGERS/COMPOSERS – INCLUDING THE TEMPTATIONS, BURT BACHARACH, AND ARETHA FRANKLIN.