77-year-old Cali Rivera and his wife, Lily, have been making and selling cowbells for 40 years in their JCR Percussions shop located near Yankee Stadium. Rivera helps customers who need new instruments or who need their instruments repaired.
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Unassuming Calixto Rivera, 77, has been making and selling cowbells for 40 years. He and his wife, Lily, come to their JCR Percussion shop almost every day. Rivera is one of the few remaining American craftsmen to be making cowbells by hand; he also repairs and makes various percussions. His shop, located right behind Yankee Stadium, is revered by the Latin music community. Recognizing the uniqueness of Rivera’s craft, a plethora of famous Latin music performers, such as Tito Puente, Marc Anthony, Oscar D’ Leon or Celia Cruz, but also Andy Garcia, who happens to be a percussionist, have visited and continue to visit JCR Percussions to have their instruments repaired or to buy new ones. The shop provides bells to soloists as well as entire bands in the U.S., but also Europe and Asia. Percussionist Greg Askew, 60, has been apprenticing with Rivera for the last 3 years. For Rivera, born in Puerto Rico, and also a musician, JCR Percussions has become more than just a way to make a living: it is simply a way to live. JCR Percussion has been an integral part of the Latin music culture for decades, but neither Rivera nor his wife know what will happen to the shop once they retire.
Links to other cowbells video stories:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cowbell+story+video&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=DECA6DF768DB14CF0B2BDECA6DF768DB14CF0B2B
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Saturday+Night+Live+Cowbell+Skit+Original&Form=VQFRVP#view=detail&mid=8CE20B81D3E5686B86578CE20B81D3E5686B8657
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Cowbell+Sound&Form=VQFRVP#view=detail&mid=2082EDC6F692794B562A2082EDC6F692794B562A
Potential outlets for this piece:
France USA Media (franceusamedia.com) and French Morning (http://frenchmorning.com/)
Social media links:
http://jazzwhy.com/2015/03/rivera-still-makes-cowbells-in-the-bronx-and-his-cat-loves-salsa/
https://www.facebook.com/emilie.pons.10?fref=nf&pnref=story
Transcript
[Music of Hugh Masekela]
Calixto Rivera: How long do I have this shop? 40 years. My father used to make guitars…but instead I started making bells. In salsa number one is …. is the cowbell. If I can’t have the one that I want I make it myself. That’s why you can see how many bells there [been] in this place.
Lily Rivera: You see the pictures here? Every picture that you see around is because they have come, they have been here: Tito Puente, Celia, La Sonora Poncena, which is a Puerto Rican band, Grand Combo…The day that Andy Garcia showed up! [laughs]That’s my best memory.
[Andy Garcia clip]
They all have different sounds. Sounds are High pitch, medium pitch and low pitch. All depends what they want. This is a bongo bell. He makes one by one, because there are three sounds: high pitch, medium pitch and low pitch. These are the timbal bells. These are bells going to a timba. Drums. These are the cha cha bell. It’s also going to the timbales bell.
Title: The cowbell is a sound signature sound of salsa music, but it is used in all musical genres, from jazz to classical music. Mahler and Schoenberg both used the cowbell.
Title: Calixto Rivera is one of the last remaining U.S. craftsmen to be making cowbells by hand.
[music “Oye Como Va,” from Oscar D’ Leon, in the background]
Lily: It goes from Cali — let’s say he bends it, he make the bell, one by one; then it goes to Greg . Greg do the suturing and he comes here, they clean it and shine it.
Greg Askey: It’s music. I like music! And then I like working with tools.
Rivera playing the bells and singing. “Gantanamera…”
[Celia Cruz clip: “Guantanamera.”]
Lily Rivera: We have a good sale, we have a good….you know stamp, JCR, all over the world. It will be it! It will be it. Everything comes to the end. When the shop….it will be history. I hope a good one!
[Music of Hugh Masekela ends the video]
