06/15/16 Luis Conte – Percussionist for Phil Collins, Madonna, James Taylor

Vinyl Night

Born in Santiago, Cuba, Luis Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. At 15, looking for freedom, Luis emigrated to Madrid, Spain. He soon had another opportunity to travel, this time to Hollywood. In California, Luis stayed with a cousin and attended Hollywood High School, playing guitar in numerous rock bands throughout his teens.
After high school, Luis met John Monteallegre, who reunited him with Cuban drums at LA City College. By the time he was 18, Luis was intensely interested in drumming and took every opportunity to play and to learn, drawing his inspiration from a deep source of rhythm absorbed during his youth in Cuba With this new career, Conte proved himself musically versatile , and by 1973, he was playing regularly in local clubs. He quickly became a busy studio musician, and throughout the 1970s-present playing on Madonna, Ray Charles, Phil Collins, Santana, Shakira, Jackson Browne, Sergio Mendez, Mana and Eric Clapton , just to name a few. He played in the Latin fusion band Caldera. In the 1980s, Conte toured with several different musicians,
including Madonna, guitarist Al Di Meola, and Andy Narell.
Recently, Conte has toured as part of James Taylor's "Band of Legends." Luis Conte was part of Phil Collins 1997 "Dance into the Light" tour and 2004 "First Farewell Tour", performing in both of them Afro-Cuban percussion and adding more depth into the concert songs. He also performed during The Phil Collins Big Band tours in 1996 and 1998. He won…
"Percussionist of the Year" - Modern Drummer Reader's Poll (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
"Percussionist of the Year" - Drum Magazine (2007, 2008, 2009)
"Studio Percussionist of the Year" - Drum Magazine (2007, 2008, 2009)