Q: Can you give us the status on Tolu’s upcoming album?

AA: Well, it is in the mid-stages right now. We have recorded the tracks. We still need to add the Singers and the coro. We still do not know if it is going to be out in September or October.

Q: Do you know what the album is going to be titled?

AA: We have a title but we are not sure if that’s going to be the final decision.

Q: What is the difference between this album and Tolu’s previous album, RUMBEROS POETRY?

AA: Well, this is all new and different material composed by many of us. Also, since we have been playing consistently together for the last two years we are at another level musically.

Q: Who is the composer for the group?

AA: Almost, all of us. Justo Almario, myself, Luis Conte, Harry Kim or whoever has a song, they just bring it in and all of us go to work on it.

Q: How old is Tolu?

AA: Tolu is eighteen years old. The reason why it took us a while to come out with an album is because we really did not have a chance to record. Each of us was involved in other professional projects as soloists or studio musicians. There was also never a vision to come out with an album. We formed Tolu from carefully selected players that like to play with each other. We were never trying to find a major label so we could establish ourselves as a group or anything like that. We sometimes would not play for four or five years (laughs). We have all been very good friends. Justo and I, especially since the day we met 19 years ago.

Q: You and Justo met while working together?

AA: Yes, I called Justo so he could start working on this group that I had with Abraham Laboriel that was called Koinonia.

Q: Are there any changes in Tolu’s lineup for this upcoming album?

AA: They are the same. The only new player in the group is Ricardo “Ticki” Pasillas. But he played in one or two tracks in the last album.

Q: You’re a master at everything you play. Can you tell us how you became so good at so many different kinds of percussion instruments like the ones you have collected from all around the world?

AA: First of all it is the gift that is given to you when you are born. Then there is the dedication. When you start to dedicate yourself, other gifts start coming out, and that takes us to a different level. I believe that it takes discipline, hunger, and the love for the art. Every time I get a new instrument I just start playing with it. Sometimes when I receive a new instrument they also send a new video or a CD and I just keep playing until I get comfortable with it. It is also very important to keep the perseverance.

Q: You and some members of Tolu are Christians, right?

AA: Well, in reality almost everybody in Tolu is a Christian. Luis, Michito Sanchez, Arturo Velasco, Justo, Harry, John Peña, and myself are all Christians. We all go to church and read the word of God. I think that is when everybody sees the less of everything. When God is big in your life, everything else is little. I thank God for giving me such a wonderful family and such a beautiful profession and good health to find happiness and peace.

Q: You invented a version of the cajon. Will we hear any of this in the coming album?

AA: Yes, and also in the new Aquarela de Tambores album there are going to be three songs where the cajones are utilized.

Q: That album is from Tonga Records?

AA: Yes. It will be out in a couple of weeks. Giovanni Hidalgo, Anthony Carillo, Ricardo “Ticki” Pasillas, Luis Conte, Paulinho da Costa, Richie Garcia, and others participate on it. I play drums and a bunch of percussion. A lot of us wrote the music also.

Q: Speaking of cajones, where does the instrument come from?

AA: In the last century, it was mostly played consistently in Peru. But you hear it everywhere, like Cuba. I think it was born in Africa. It is played in Spain. In Peru there is a type of music that is called musica negra Peruana, in which the Cajon is the principal instrument. It has a big body and a sound that is full and dynamic, yet powerful.Q: Can you tell us where we can get your King Cajon?

AA: Right now there are two. There is a regular one [Flamenco Cajon] that Toca Percussion is going to bring out to the public this year. You can get it where Toca products are sold. The other one can be ordered through the Alex Acuña website.

Q: When did you first come here from Peru?

AA: I was eighteen years of age. Perez Prado brought me here. He went to Peru in 1964. As soon as he saw me play, he offered me a contract for 9 months to tour the United States with him. We started in Las Vegas, continued through Arizona, Colorado, Texas, all over the East Coast, then back to Los Angeles. In 1965 I moved to Puerto Rico where I studied at the conservatory of music in San Juan. I studied there three years and worked on developing my style. Then, I came back to the States.

Q: So, by that time you knew how to read music?

AA: I already knew how to read music back in Peru. I played the trumpet and piano at twelve years of age. Now I really don’t play trumpet that much anymore, but I still play piano when I compose my music.

Q: When you were in Las Vegas, you played with Elvis Presley and Diana Ross?

AA: At that time I was working at the Hilton hotel. They would come to do their shows there so they would invite me to play with them. I played with Elvis three seasons, and with Diana I did some road tours.

Q: What is the term that really describes Alex Acuña?

AA: I am Blessed, Anointed and Appointed to be a Modern Latin Jazz Musician.

Q: Will there be another Alex Acuña and the Unknowns?

AA: This Summer we are going to start putting together the next CD. It is also a new sounding group. The playing is at another level, and it is going to be a whole different thing, straight modern Latin Jazz.

Q: We all know of the years back when you were with Weather Report. You happened to team-up with one of the greatest bass players to walk the earth. We are talking about Jaco Pastorius. How was his behavior back when you played with them?

AA: Back then he was incredibly nice. He was clean, humble, a very intelligent person. Later on, down the line, they found a manic-depressive disorder in him, but when I was there he was all right, always fun to play music with.

Q: You don’t only play with secular artists, but you also play with Christian artists such as Ron Kenoly. Can you tell us a bit about that?

AA: He is tremendous! He is very well known worldwide. Right now there is a big Christian awakening. I have noticed that a lot of very talented artists have come out of the churches rather than the conservatories. There are also a lot of other great Gospel singers out there. The first one I played with is Andrae Crouch, later with the Winans, Bee Bee and Cee Cee, and many others.

Q: Lets talk about the incredible technique you have. Tell us a bit about how you practice to get for example the left foot clave and how coordinated you are using both feet and hands, especially doing the clave with one foot then switching it to the other foot. I know it takes some time, right?

AA: You have to have a lot of patience and dedication. It is very difficult because it is boring to practice the same thing over and over. But also it is good to break it down by combinations of limb by limb, the technique in English it is called four-way coordination. But you have to be constantly practicing. You don’t really need an instrument to practice. Sometimes in the airport or in the airplane, or I will sit at home watching a movie or a soccer match and practice with my hands and feet. Everything is physical and continuity.

Q: What do you get called for the most, percussion or traps?

AA: Both things. Now they appreciate my traps more than before. Back then they did not understand the full Latin sound. Now they really understand it a lot better and they want to learn it. Right now I’m at the top of my paying and very humbly I’ll have to say that I can play both very well, but mainly because of my love for the art and my testimony as a Latin Musician.

Q: Thank you for your time Alex.

AA: Thank you everybody!!! And thank you Salsaweb…