I was born in Bogotá, Columbia on the 28th of July 1967, in the borough which takes its name from the hospital Palermo. That day there was a little earthquake (an omen perhaps) and if it wasn’t for my brother Andrea, I might not be here now: I was left almost without oxygen because of some mucus membrane that were developing during the first hours of my life and that were blocking my respiration.
I spent the first years of my childhood in my house in the borough Palermo, where my family had been living for long before my arrival: two floors, many rooms, a living room where we used to through beautiful parties, a studio where, with a record player, we used to listen to jazz and classical music and the Beatles; there was also a piano that used to be played by Maestro Marcenaro, a good family friend who delighted us with wonderful classical pieces during my mother Maria Luisa’s lunches.
We used to travel with a fantastic Chevrolet 56 in the countryside near Savana of Bogotá.
When I was 4, we moved to another house outside the city, populated by humble and hard working people, in the borough of Britalia, in the calle (street) 169, north of the city.
The new house, very wide and with a nice garden, was perfect for such an active child as I was. I became friend with my two neighbours, Alessandra and Giuliana Echavarria, and then with Armando and Luis Rovello. We used to run, play ride bikes and be outside all the time which made my childhood and teenage years a very beautiful period. I was born eight years after my brother Attire; therefore I had no brothers or sisters to share my games with, everything was for me.
The piano, the scientific games, all the records one could imagine, photographic books: that was a very stimulating environment.
I studied since kindergarten at the Italian Border School Leonardo Da Vinci, where I got my diploma at the age of 16. In my final year, I wrote an essay, which is considered one of the best even written in the Liceo Leonardo Da Vinci. Below, a picture of a school trip which I personally developed: there are Nestor and Andres playing chest while the other were sleeping or almost.
From 11th of November 1986 in Florence
Oh Yes! Twenty years have passed by, but the vision of S. Marco that day is clear in my memory. It looks so unchanged, the outlook of a city that has been able to catch and fascinate me; today I feel like the people that were waiting for bus number 14 were still there.
How lucky this city that grows up so hardly, that keeps its provincial character, while its sight goes far in the past as in the future.
Spurs, serenity and security which I never encountered in any other places of the world.
I felt Florence as my home immediately, and Florence welcomed me immediately, not without doubts, of course. I studied Political Science at the University of Florence and almost contemporary I started playing with the salsa band “Canela”. With Manuel Bramon, Diamantina Palacios, Sandro “El Chevere” Becucci, Antonio gentile, Carlo Gatteschi, Beppe Clozza and many others, we toured Tuscany all around together with a large group of friends which were following us to dance wildly over “Rumba”.
After living in many rooms in Florence, in 1989 I went to live in Sambuca Val di Pesa, near Tavarnelle, in the middle of the Chianti Shire. Those were very funny years with the foundation of the band Pikante, composed by all Latin American musicians and with which we burn down the house at Café Voltaire in Via della Scala in Florence. Living in Sambuca and later in Barberino, together with my friend Ismael Penedo, was very important for me: the peak of free creativity in music as in life.
I have to say that at the end I got bored of living so far away from Florence and I felt the urge to get more spurs, more culture and that was how I got to Controradio.
MUEVETE: The beginning:
The Calm of Barberino countryside at the end became boring for me. My rumbero soul was pushing me towards new horizons, links and more stimulating experiences.
Going up and down Chianti Sancascianese hills on the local coach started becoming quite frustrating: at the same time, Controradio was introducing me to the world political and social developments of the 90’s, starting from the covering of the first Gulf War. Then I met “Andy Yeah Man” a Nigerian D.J. and I started participating to his shows as a phone-in guests and later in the studio, always taking with me a quite big collection of pure South American records (especially Salsa and Columbian Music).
Radio has always fascinated me: since I was young I used to listen to cultural and music radio shows. Great presenters, unforgettable voices, nights spends next to the radio listening to sleepwalking weird guests, great salsa sessions which I used to record and than listen again dancing to their rhythm. In other words, the chance to go on air in Florence, especially on Controradio made me very excited. The radio managers listen to the show and proposed me a show of my own. The Latin American music of Muevete, with Cesar Martignon. For many listeners the program is a real revelation: a window on a new world to be discovered and to be loved
I was born in Bogotá, Columbia on the 28th of July 1967, in the borough which takes its name from the hospital Palermo. That day there was a little earthquake (an omen perhaps) and if it wasn’t for my brother Andrea, I might not be here now: I was left almost without oxygen because of some mucus membrane that were developing during the first hours of my life and that were blocking my respiration.
We used to travel with a fantastic Chevrolet 56 in the countryside near Savana of Bogotá.
