Francisco "Kako" Bastar's Blood Runs Through....El Gran Combo
by
Nestor Louis, Geraldo Flores, & Claudio Leottau



When we hear the name, El Gran Combo, three names immediately come to mind: Jerry Rivas, Charlie Aponte, and Rafael Ithier. Hard core salseros would probably recognize Eddie Perez, Freddie Miranda, Taty Maldonado, Victor Rodriguez, Miguel Torres, and Papo Rosario. They would also remember that Gabriel "Baby" Serrano's departure, followed by Edgardo Morales' migration, and the untimely passing of Fanny Ceballos, initiated Jose Miguel Laboy's, Domingo "Cuqui" Santos', and Moises Nogueras' current tenure with the Combo. Although none of those departures was as sensational and traumatic to fans as were the exits of Andy Montañez and the late Pellin Rodriguez back in the mid-seventies, they quietly occurred without newsreels or press releases. Fans of El Gran Combo only realized changes took place when the production credits were read. "Well, as everyone knows, this is not about Jerry or Charlie. It’s not even about Rafa, he would tell you that himself. That's why for me, it's more than an honor to form part of El Gran Combo," said the newest and youngest member of the legendary group, Richie Bastar.

As a professional, the son of the renowned percussionist Francisco "Kako" Bastar has been on the scene for a little bit over two decades. Serving as an accomplished studio musician, Richie has recorded in some of the best selling productions by some of today's most celebrated artists and producers in tropical music. On top of that, Richie has performed live with some of the most popular salsa acts on the scene. "I've worked on a number of productions for Julio Alvarado, Raymond Castro & Ramon Rodriguez, Jose Gazmey, Sergio George, Isidro Infante, Jose Lugo, Humberto Ramirez, Louie Ramirez, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuco Peña, and many others whose names escape me. I owe a lot of my musical blessings to my father. He was the biggest influence in my life, (he) being an all around percussionist and a dancer, I sort of fell into the music when I was about nine years old. In turn, my grandmother, who was a percussionist in an all-female group back in the forties and fifties in Puerto Rico, inspired my father. She used to play timbales with them."

Born and raised in New York City, Richie remembers how his father would leave his instruments laying around, enticing the inherent curiosity of a child. "Like most kids, I would pick up my dad's instruments, and he would show me one or two things about how you do this and that. The first day I ever performed on a stage was a real accident! My dad was scheduled to perform on a Wednesday at the Corso on 86th Street. So he gets dressed, packs his instruments along with me in the car to take me to the baby sitter's, but the baby sitter was no where to be found. In the spirit of making lemonade out of a lemon, he asked me if I would dare to perform in front of a crowd. I was nine years old with no idea as to what I was really getting into. So, my dad and the rest of the band members got me dressed up, got to the club and the guy at the door was like - ‘where's he going?' - Nah que si el es part of the show...this and that...well ok, -  ‘just make sure that he's not seen near or around the bar'. I'm there in this dark corner all through the show, until there was this spotlight on this box with a set of timbales in front of it, in the center of the stage. The MC called my name, my dad brought me up there and I took a timbal solo. All because my dad didn't find a baby sitter." This type of mishap occurred a couple of more times, one of them included a show at Madison Square Garden, and another on Izzy Sanabria's Salsa Show which featured Meñique and Pellin Rodriguez as special guests. In front of thousands of people, a nine-year-old Richie exchanged riffs playing next to his dad. "My mom asked if I was scared to perform in front of all those people. I was like, what people? I didn't see anybody. My naivety was such, that after doing Izzy's show I was under the impression that we where going back the next week. As I am getting dressed to go to Izzy's show again, I see my dad and I on TV. I asked my dad, now how did that happen?"

Keeping in mind that at nine years old offers were not exactly going to be pouring in, Richie basically played with his dad here and there, no big deals or anything that required major dedication or commitment. That was until he reached the age of fifteen. While visiting La Tierra Studios during the recording of Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez's SOY LA LEY, Kako would recommend his young son to every musician as a percussionist. "Pete comes up to my father and asks him if I can play congas and bongos. Like my agent, dad says sure. Next thing you know, my dad grabs the congas, I take the bongos, and Pete checks the whole thing out. Two weeks later he invites me to a rehearsal. About a month later, while I'm on the street playing stick ball, my mom yells out the window, ‘Rich get upstairs!!! You got a phone call,’ you know how those days were. ‘There's Pete "Conde" on the phone for you', she goes. I pick up the phone and sure enough there's Pete. ‘Richie, Como ‘ta? Todo bien? Ah chevere...You know you start with me tonight right? With me and my band at the Latin Riviera on 95th Street.' I got dressed; my dad drove me to the place, stayed for a little while and told Pete that he had to take me back home. The next day we had three gigs the same night, and later during that year we traveled to The Hollywood Palladium and played at a private party for Kareem Abdul Jabbar. At age fifteen I became a paid professional with Pete "Conde" Rodriguez for a year."

After that experience, Richie's name would become more and more popular within the musician's circuit. While working many odd jobs, which ranged from messenger to ambulance driver, he managed to freelance with many local bands. "My very first recording, is one I did in the early eighties with my dad and Ismael Rivera Jr. As far as I know, it was never sold here in the United States. It was sold mainly in South America. I don't even have it." You can just imagine how surprised he was to hear tracks from EN LA AVENIDA OTRA VEZ playing in the background. "That's the last record ever done by my father, and it's the first one I recorded on. It featured Ismael Rivera, Jr. how did you get that?" Ever since his debut, Richie Bastar has recorded on many top-selling productions. "I recorded with Louie Ramirez & Ray De La Paz on the LADRON DE TU AMOR album. I recorded and formed part of Grupo Fascinación, which was made up of some Conjunto Clasico members. Ironically, I wasn't too popular with some of the guys in Fascinación so I left and recorded three records with Conjunto Clasico. I was in Johnny Zamot's NIGHT GOLD album with Ray Sepulveda, and subsequently after Ray went solo I recorded on his first and third records for RMM. Johnny Rivera left Conjunto Clasico for a solo career also, and I too recorded on his first five RMM records. All these recordings came as a result of my joining Tony Vega's band in Puerto Rico. At that time Tony Vega, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Johnny Rivera, Willie Rosario, El Gran Combo, and many others were getting a lot of work. The musicians were also getting a lot of on-stage and in-studio work too. Tony Vega's band was, for the most part, made up of many studio musicians. Those guys connected me with lots of studio work. As a matter of fact, when Tony was performing in Venezuela I ran into my good friend Luisito Quintero. He had too many gigs lined up, so he asked me if I could go with him to a recording session with Gonzalo Rubalcaba for Issac Delgado. I get there and the next thing you know they ask me if I want to play congas. So I played congas on a tune titled Son De Cuba A Puerto Rico. Tony's band was one of the freest bands I've ever worked with. I worked and recorded with Don Perigñon and his projects, which included DE AQUI PA'LLA. All of which happened as a result of working with Tony Vega's band." Richie's musical trajectory would eventually lead him to Paul Simon's THE CAPEMAN, headed by Oscar Hernandez.

Richie has virtually played within every possible musical scheme, the conjunto, the combo, the band, and the orchestra - for each setting Richie seems to make precise adjustments in his style of playing. "I think most percussionist know that one size does not fit all. You can't play the way you would for a band, in a conjunto. In a conjunto you fill more gaps, but you really shouldn't be too flashy in filling those gaps." In an era where speed seems to determine your ability, and the execution of the ‘secret hand' defines your overall knowledge of percussion, it is good to know that not every musician is adamant on making the clave a thing of mythical proportions, known only to a privileged few. "Guys like Giovanni Hidalgo, “Changuito” Jose Luis Quintana, and Richie Flores have all taken percussive instruments to the next level. Today there are more tools designed to teach. Because videos and things like that are available, the learning curve has been drastically shortened. As a result, the time for practice and innovation has significantly increased. Percussionists are playing more Latin Jazz than ever before, and by default are being more creative. And that's a good thing, but to play salsa you still have to keep the afinque. Salsa is music geared for dancing. The key, as a percussionist, is to know the difference between the creative and the afinque. Some people would judge one’s ability on how many breaks and how many riffs are exchanged; for the most part these are people that are not dancers. I've done some work on the Latin Jazz front with Martin Arroyo and Gilberto Colon so I could tell you a little bit about it. It’s about adapting your styles and knowing when to execute them. The dancer doesn't want to dance to extra long solos, but an audience might. Sometimes less is more."

Discipline and experience are the attributes that Richie brings to any band. Many icons of the tropical musical genre have noticed his strong commitment to the music and himself. The latest icon to tap on Richie's skills is none other than Rafael Ithier. "Apparently, everyone in New York and Puerto Rico knew about this other than me! I was so surprised when I got the call because at the time I was living in New York, and Puerto Rico has so many great percussionist. I thought it was a practical joke. Seriously! What happened was that one of the guys from the band called to tell me that a spot just opened up, and the first name that came out of Ithier's mouth was mine. Some of the guys in El Gran Combo asked Ithier if he was aware that I lived in New York, to which he asked in his inimitable voice, ‘y como lo conseguimos?’ The person I spoke to told me that Ithier has my number and that he was going to call me in a few. When I got that call...that voice, I mean a lot of people try to imitate his voice, but you know when it’s him. ‘Con Richie Bastar por favor' - Si soy yo - contigo mismo eh? Hay una plaza vacante. Que tu crees? Te interesa la plaza?' - Si, si, claro que si. Pero maestro por que es que tu pensaste en mi habiendo tantos musicos buenos en Puerto Rico? - ‘Que clase de pregunta es esa? Tu sabes que el viejo tuyo fue mi hermano, y tu eres un músico bueno y sano...y eso es lo que queremos. No queremos estrellas aqui, queremos alguien que sea parte del grupo.' That was the biggest complement I ever got." Ithier gave the astounded Richie a couple of days to think the offer over. After all, Richie has a family that lives in New York, and having a steady source of income with El Gran Combo, would basically mean that he and his family would have to uproot and live in Puerto Rico. He thought about it and consulted with Ithier, who acknowledged that the decision and the road ahead were not easy. "He told me that although many people think this line of work is easy, it's not. Being a part of El Gran Combo is like a family. We fight and we argue, but when we go on stage we take care of business. We are talking about six months here, and six months traveling. The family at home has to understand that, and adapt to it. Thank God that since May of 1999, my family has been very supportive and encouraging."

The anecdotes of Richie with El Gran Combo are filled with peculiarities. One tells of the time Richie's car, loaded with the band's uniforms, was stolen in Puerto Rico. News got out to the radio stations and in a matter of hours the uniforms appeared. Richie is still looking for the car. Another one tells of how he learned that El Gran Combo plays more than just salsa. This raises the question, why would anyone ask El Gran Combo to play anything other than El Gran Combo songs? In this period of discovery, we asked Richie if playing with El Gran Combo is the peak of his career as a percussionist. "I don't know. I've played with a lot of groups, with a lot of different people. Being part of El Gran Combo it's been such a great experience that I cannot even imagine anything greater. I've traveled to so many different parts of the world. Parts I never ever dreamed of visiting, and they have such a huge following it’s unbelievable. I grew up listening to their music and everything, but playing with them is such a different feeling. Words alone cannot describe the feeling. But to answer your question, I wouldn't mind doing other things. Maybe some jazz or something, but right now my priority is with El Gran Combo, everything else is secondary and will have to take a back seat to my work with El Gran Combo."

Youth is still on his side, and even though his commitment and priority is with El Gran Combo, Richie has a project in mind he wants to get off the ground. A project so close to his heart that it just might be the one priority in a close tie with El Gran Combo. "I would love to record an album dedicated to my father.  He did a lot of things. Lots of people got their start with him, or thanks to him, and sadly he never got credited for it. He received no type of acknowledgment from the ones he helped. So as his son, the very least I could do is a tribute album to him. That would be my way of saying thanks for the blessings I'm receiving today." 

Francisco "Kako" Bastar recorded bomba, plena, cha-cha-cha, mambos, etcetera, etcetera with Al Santiago, Charlie Palmieri, Pacheco, Cheo Feliciano, and the Alegre All Stars. His work is so extensive yet it is not well tracked or documented. However, the legacy started by his mother in the forties and fifties, is still carried out today by his son. Richie Bastar is the son of Francisco "Kako" Bastar, and the newest member of El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico.


If you would like to contact Richie Bastar you may email him at: richperc@aol.com