Johnny 'Dandy' Rodriguez obit

Johnny 'Dandy' Rodriguez, veteran bongo player of Tito Puente's orchestra, has died

 

He was not on the list.

The death of Rodríguez, who spent 30 years in Tito Puente 's orchestra , sparked a wave of farewell messages from renowned artists, including Gilberto Santa Rosa and Eddie Palmieri.

Puerto Rican musician Johnny 'Dandy' Rodríguez , director and founder of the Típica 73 orchestra and veteran bongo player for Tito Puente , died this Saturday at the age of 78 in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA).

The death of Rodríguez, who spent 30 years in Puente's orchestra, provoked a trail of farewell messages from renowned musicians and artists, among them, Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa , who confirmed the death of his colleague on his social networks.

"Today we say goodbye to this great teacher. Life and music gave me his friendship and the opportunity to enjoy his talent many times... Rest in peace Master, we will always remember and miss you," expressed Santa Rosa, known as 'The Gentleman of Salsa' next to a photo with the late percussionist.

Fania mourns the death of Johny 'Dandy' Rodriguez

'Dandy' (1945-2024), son of fellow musician Johnny Rodriguez, also stood out in the orchestras of  Tito Rodriguez , Ray Barretto and Alfredo de la Fe , and in the Fania All-Stars and Tico All-Stars .

"Rest in peace Johny. One of the greats of our music, quality percussionist Johny "Dandy" Rodriguez , has just passed away," the Fania music label said on its Facebook account.

For his part, Eddie Palmieri , the legendary pianist and musician of Puerto Rican origin, highlighted on his Facebook page "Rodríguez's contributions to Latin music are incalculable since he was in our rhythmic pocket of our genre from the beginning of LP.

"Dandy was always a reliable bandmate on stage playing for the best orchestras in our industry," said Palmieri.

"Johnny will be deeply missed, his presence was one of strength and kindness, and he always carried the history of our music with grace. May his spirit be blessed, and on behalf of the Palmieri family, we send our condolences to his family and his loved ones," he noted.

Bongo Master

In 2009, Johny 'Dandy' Rodriguez  entrusted musical instrument brand Latin Percussion (LP) with the development of bongos bearing his name from the LP Legends series.

The bongos have visual and sonic characteristics that make Rodriguez proud to bear his name, the brand highlights on its website.

Rodriguez began his musical career at age 17 playing bongos in the orchestra of Puente, considered 'The King of Timbales'.

After Puente's death in 2000, Rodriguez teamed up with Jose Madera and Mitch Frohman and formed the Orquesta de Gigantes Latinos in 2001.

Rodriguez also remained active with the Mambo Legends Orchestra, which features stars from Puente's former group.

The band performs famous music from the Palladium days of Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito, and also recorded the album 'The Giants Play the Music of the Palladium' (2002).