THE BONGÓ LANGUAGE

Articulating a Lifetime of Technique

An art an educational proyect by ANTHONY CARRILLO

ABOUT THE PROJECT

A Lifetime of Knowledge

Anthony Carrillo learned to play the bongó at a time when the Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean percussion instruments that shaped his musical life were not taught in schools.

His education took place through family, community, mentorship, observation, imitation, repetition, and performance.

Over nearly five decades, that knowledge became part of his own musical vocabulary.

The Bongo Language is a project to examine, articulate, and transmit the techniques and approaches Anthony has developed and refined throughout his lifetime of practice.

This is not a project to invent a new method of playing the bongó. It is an effort to document and share a body of knowledge already embedded in his artistic practice.

THE PROJECT

The Bongo Language brings Anthony Carrillo’s lifetime of technique into one comprehensive curriculum presented through two complementary forms: an artist-authored book and a video curriculum.

The video curriculum is a comprehensive series of instructional videos demonstrating the physical and sonic dimensions of Anthony’s approach—including touch, pressure, articulation, timing, coordination, dynamics, phrasing, rhythm, and improvisation.

The book provides the written and visual foundation for the curriculum through explanations, musical notation, diagrams, photographs, transcriptions, exercises, and reflections on the traditions that have shaped his playing.

One curriculum. Two complementary ways of learning.

From Practice to Curriculum

Master Percussionist · Composer · Educator · Bandleader

Anthony Carrillo is a Puerto Rican master percussionist whose career spans nearly five decades.

He has performed and recorded with Eddie Palmieri, Paul Simon, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Harry Belafonte, Residente, Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, Sikiru Adepoju, and many others.

He has been an integral member of Batacumbele, Descarga Boricua, and PUYA, and has maintained a long-standing artistic relationship with Pregones/PRTT.

His work encompasses performance, recording, composition, teaching, and the development of his own approaches to Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean percussion.

THE ARTIST

Anthony Carrillo

Much of percussion knowledge has traditionally been transmitted person to person—through listening, watching, repeating, practicing, correcting, and performing.

The Bongo Language creates another pathway for that knowledge to travel.

After nearly five decades of artistic practice, Anthony is at a point where he can examine and articulate the techniques that have become part of his individual musical language and create a meaningful way for future percussionists to encounter them.

WHY IT MATTERS

From One Generation to the Next