An interview with Ezequiel took place on 13th March 2017, Miami. Ezequiel preferred not to be filmed or recorded; instead he referred me to his website and other secondary sources for the compiling of his profile page.
Ezequiel is one of the most widely represented batá players in Miami. He features in several exhibitions (At the Cross Roads and Artist in Residence at the HistoryMiami), newspapers (New Times 1997, El Nuevo Herald 1998) and is the recipient of the 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship award. I would argue Torres has represented the ‘face’ of the batá musical tradition to those outside of the religious tradition in media, academic and art institutes in Miami.
Torres was born in Havana in 1955. He learnt to play and make batá drums from the age of 16. Arriving during the Mariel Boatlift aged 25 years, he worked for Juan ‘El Negro’ Raymat for a year before establishing himself as a drummer and drum maker in his own right. He has two sons, Arelan and Aruan who also play batá and güiro. Arelan Torres is also featured on this site. Like many other drummers I met in Miami, who have been playing ritual music in Miami for nearly forty years, Torres was disillusioned with the current status quo. He feels the next generation are changing the tradition by inventing musical aspects or not adhering to certain religious protocols, an offence he takes so seriously that it has led him to become estranged from his son Arelan. Torres is in good shape despite recovering from a stroke which happened in 2016. Whilst he is not playing as much, he explained, he is still involved in the tradition. |
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Video by National Endowment for the Arts 2010
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Video featured on Ezequiel's website afrocubanbatadrums.com
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Newspaper clipping New Times Miami 7-13th August 1997
(Clipping courtesy of South Florida Folklife Center, Caribbean Percussion Traditions in Miami Collection, HistoryMiami Museum) |
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Artist in Residence 2012 at HistoryMiami (photo courtesy of HistoryMiami)
Banté drum cover by Ezequiel Torres (photo courtesy of HistoryMiami 2012)
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