Changuito – Jose Luis Quintana
CHANGUITO AND THE MELT 2000 YEARS
The late Cuban percussion master José Luis “Changuito” Quintana—the rhythmic architect behind songo and a founding force in the legendary Los Van Van—brought his signature fusion of Afro-Cuban groove and jazz imagination into the orbit of MELT 2000 during the label’s formative years. Known for reinventing the language of timbales and for mentoring generations of drummers, Changuito’s journey with MELT 2000 began even before the label formally took shape.
The Early Connection — “Speed of Light” (1993)
Changuito’s first collaboration with producer Robert Trunz came through Flora Purim’s album Speed of Light, recorded under the B&W Music banner in 1993 — a direct precursor to MELT 2000.
On that record, Changuito joined Airto Moreira, Billy Cobham, Giovanni Hidalgo, Freddie Santiago and a global ensemble of jazz and world musicians, laying down the powerful Afro-Cuban rhythmic foundations that would later become a signature ingredient in MELT’s sound. His contribution to Speed of Light reflected both his mastery of Latin rhythm and his openness to the world-music ethos that Robert Trunz was cultivating.
The Brownhill Sessions and Amampondo Collaboration
By the mid-1990s, Changuito reunited with Robert Trunz at Brownhill Farm Studios in England, where MELT 2000 had become a creative hub for artists from Africa, Cuba, and beyond. Changuito worked with other world-class percussionists and musicians, including Chucho Valdes, fellow MELT2000 artists like South African percussion group Amampondo and Cameroonian drummer Brice Wassy.
Invited to record and perform with Amampondo, Mabi Gabriel Thobejane and Airto Moreira, Changuito’s sessions were of spontaneous collaboration — a dialogue between Afro-Cuban precision and Southern African pulse. This collaboration laid the groundwork for his own MELT 2000 solo project and for the cross-continental rhythm exchange that defined the label’s most vibrant period.
Syncopation — The Album
From those sessions came Syncopation, Changuito’s MELT 2000 solo album, produced by Tony Thorpe and recorded at Brownhill Farm. The record fused Changuito’s virtuosic percussion with the label’s forward-thinking sound design — a meeting of Havana, London, and Johannesburg.
Described as “Cuba meets South Africa in London”, Syncopation stood out for its fearless mix of live drumming, electronic layering, and cultural synthesis. Later reissued digitally under the M2KR Revisited series (Blaq Spirit ElectricMelt Vol. 3), the album remains one of MELT’s experimental and rhythmically adventurous releases.
Africa 2000 @ Bagley’s, London
Changuito’s MELT 2000 chapter reached its live peak at the Africa 2000 concert at Bagley’s, King’s Cross, London (1996) — a historic gathering of percussion giants.
The performance, released on DVD as Africa 2000 @ Bagley’s, featured Amampondo, Airto Moreira, Mabi Gabriel Thobejane, Brice Wassy, Byron Wallen, and Risenga Makondo, alongside Changuito in a breathtaking display of global rhythm unity.
This concert stands as a visual and sonic manifesto of MELT 2000’s vision: a fusion of African, Latin, and jazz traditions bound by improvisation and mutual respect.
Legacy
Changuito’s work with MELT 2000 — from Speed of Light through Syncopation and Africa 2000 — documents a crucial phase in his evolution as a world artist. It bridges the Afro-Cuban rhythmic revolution he helped create with the global rhythm movement that MELT 2000 embodied.
Through these collaborations, Changuito became not only a link between continents but also a living symbol of MELT’s guiding principle: music as the universal heartbeat of cultural exchange.