An accomplished educator, producer, and performer,
Rebeca Mauleón is one of the West Coast's leading Latin jazz talents.
Mauleón began her performance career accompanying well-known jazzers like Steve Windwood and
Carlos "Patato" Valdez.
Mauleón earned a reputation as an up-and-coming arranger via her work on
Tito Puente's
Goza Mi Timbal, Windwood's
Junction Seven, and
Valdez's Ritmo y Candela. As her credits grew to include stints with artists at the very top of the Latin music industry, like
Israel "Cachao" López,
Sheila E., and
Carlos Santana,
Mauleón began to publish a series of educational books. 1993's Salsa Guidebook and 1997's The Latin Real Book became defining texts in the ever-growing Latin jazz world. 101 Montunos was released in 1999, at the height of her stint as musical director for
Mickey Hart's landmark group
Planet Drum. In her time with
Hart,
Mauleón performed before stadium-sized audiences and on internationally syndicated TV shows like Conan O'Brien and Live! with Regis and Kathy Lee. In addition to world-class exposure, the
Planet Drum gig offered
Mauleón the opportunity to know some of the world's finest percussionists, who would go on to become long-term collaborators. With the help of her A-list friends,
Mauleón made her solo recording debut in 1999 with
Round Trip. Followed by Latin Fire in 2004 and
Descarga en California in 2006, her solo works consistently featured Latin jazz's finest sidemen like
Giovanni Hidalgo,
Orestes Vilató,
Armando Peraza, and more. The critical acclaim garnered by her solo work made
Mauleón an in-demand clinician worldwide, offering workshops and master classes on traditional and contemporary Latin music. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez