>> media // dos 4 y los mios: mojitos residency: xx.xx.09

I started getting some regular work with a Reggaeton-Timba band called Dos 4 y Los Mios led by former Cuban basketball player Leyder Chapman. Thanks to the recommendation of drummer Colin Douglas and keyboardist Jason Moen, I was fortunate to hold a residency with this band at Mojito's in North Beach for a good year. Eventually, I was replaced by pre-recorded bass tracks and loops as the music went into a more commercial direction. No harm. I enjoyed my time with this band and was grateful for the opportunity to make small contributions every time we shared the stage.

Because Leyder was a basketball player, he "called" numbers on the fly within tunes to signal changes in rhythmic styles in the same way that he probably called numbers on the court to signal basketball plays. The band was called Dos 4 y Los Mios because Leyder immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-four (Dos 4) and Los Mios is roughly translated as "His Homies." (Cheesy, but whatever.) The band most nights consisted of Leyder Chapman singing and rapping, Yismari dancing and singing, Mijail Cabrera playing congas and singing, Jason Moen playing keyboards, DJ Walt Digz playing drum machine and cuing sound effects, me playing bass guitar, and Colin Douglas playing rock solid time on drums and timbales.