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Dennis was born in Ft.Wayne, Indiana.	Dennis "Califa" & Mary Reed	Mary was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico.
Animated flags courtesy of http://www.multimediapalace.com

This site was created and is maintained with MS FrontPage 2000 (2002/08/15: upgraded to FrontPage 2002) and looks best using MS Internet Explorer 4 and above and Netscape 4.79 and above work OK but but some features and formatting are different. Most audio clips were created using Real Producer Plus which requires the RealAudio Player (click the image below to download the current free RealPlayer Basic) but I am slowly converting the files to .mp3 files.

and supports

Site Status Report:

2002/11/23: Sorry! Most audio links have been disabled until further notice due to a letter from ASCAP demanding that I pay a $300+ licensing fee which I cannot afford. Personal and other non-ASCAP audio links will be restored when I can determine which recordings are ASCAP controlled.

2006/06/12: As I determine which audio files are not controlled by ASCAP, I will convert them to .mp3 files and reactivate the links.

Background and purpose of this site:

This site started out as simply a couple of audio clips and photos to share with a couple of RMAL News Group (news:rec.music.afro-latin) members. When several additional members expressed an interest on hearing and seeing more, I began to fill in and expand the autobiography. The musical autobiography spans my life from birth to the present day with recollections, recordings, anecdotes, photos, etc., and includes original 1962 recordings of Guy Hoffman's Latins featuring Carlos Federico and original 1964 recordings of Cesar's Men. Photos include original 1970s pictures of Celia Cruz and Pete Escovedo.

My wife Mary continues to be a major influence in my appreciation of Latin music and culture, in general, and of Puerto Rican music and culture, in particular. The table format is used to allow easy updates and additions.

2004/01/23: added two new pages - Drum Stuff which includes drum tuning and other techniques and Coffee which includes links and information regarding coffee (brewing, kinds, etc.).

Please feel free to email comments or suggestions to:

Notes:

The date sequences may be a little mixed up, as it is hard to recall some of the dates (dates such as 1953/00/01 indicate probably 1953, the 00 month means unknown, and the 01 day is a probable sequence number; "00" in day with a non-zero month means the month is known but exact day is unknown). The influential LPs/CDs are samples of musical influences (the dates are approximate).

Photos are generally thumbnails of .gif or .jpg files for faster downloading and may be double clicked for viewing a larger version. If you click on a thumbnail picture, you may use the Back Button on your browser to return to the page on which you clicked the thumbnail.

Audio clips are frequently identified as follows: "title (vocalist)" for original and personal recordings or as "name" for copies of LP or CD tracks. If you are not be able to hear the RealAudio audio clips or if you experience any other problems including broken links, please send me comments or suggestions using the Comments page.

If you are so inclined, you please click the Amazon image to order CDs, books, etc., it will provide me with a little $, will be much appreciated, and will help to offset the cost of this site. Thanks.