RIP Tony Menjivar

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

RIP Tony Menjivar

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>General >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RIP Tony Menjivar

My long time band mate passed away today from COVID. He was an incredible congero who played with Malo, Larry Coryell, Joe Satriani, Narada Michael Walden, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and many others. He was a unique talent, and if I wanted to take over a room, all I had to do was give Tony a solo, and he’d tear the place down. I’ll miss you my friend.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (1)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2021 2:02:10

Pgh_flamenco

Posts: 1506
Joined: Dec. 5 2007
From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

RIP. Sorry for your loss. It seems like a lot of people have been dying these past few months.

Which tracks did he perform on for Satch?

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2021 3:20:50

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Pgh_flamenco)

Here are some of his recording credits:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tony-menjivar-mn0001265225/credits

I'm heartbroken over his passing. He was an incredible character.

We had a regular gig at a club in Marin, CA that was owned by a former picador from Spain. He was a very formal and intense man. No BS kind of guy. First time Tony meets him he puffs out his chest in imitation of the guy, and puts on a fake Spanish accent and says "FERNANDO! Mucho gusto! I held my breath, not knowing what the reaction would be. Feranado cracked up at being mocked.

A local flamenco group played the club on a different night of the week. When they heard Tony, they hired him even though he wasn't versed in flamenco compas. His talent transcended gendre.

This is how I'll remember him-jamming with Jorge and Carlos Santana, with his mentor and friend Leo Rosales on timbales:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=360864711717705

In the last year he had cancer surgery and heart surgery. When I heard he was in the hospital with covid, I thought he'd recover. I still can't believe it.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2021 16:55:53

BarkellWH

Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

Condolences on the passing of your old friend, Mark.

Bill

_____________________________

And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."

--Rudyard Kipling

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2021 20:10:58

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

Sorry about your loss, Mark. Losing a friend is never easy.
Best,

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 6 2021 22:35:33

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

Thanks fellows. When you play music and do gigs with someone for twenty years, their departure leaves a large hole.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 7 2021 16:20:30

Stu

Posts: 2529
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

oh jee, sorry to hear this Mark. quite a roll call of names there. He mustve been some musiciam! condolences.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 7 2021 18:16:37

Piwin

Posts: 3559
Joined: Feb. 9 2016

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

My condolences, Mark. Seems like he was a great person and musician.

_____________________________

"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2021 4:48:47

Filip

Posts: 403
Joined: Apr. 23 2006
From: Paris

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

I'm sorry to hear that your dear friend has passed away.
I've just looked at the video you shared, Tony was amazing!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2021 10:36:22

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

Thanks guys. It's very sad to think I'll never play music or hang out with him again. Our group really hasn't been active for the last decade- just a gig here and there.

In the back of your mind though you always think there is a possibility of it catching fire again, but now Tony's passing makes that impossible.

In the early 80's I was playing in southern rock style band and after rehearsal I drove by a club where they were playing Latin rock. I stopped and asked to sit in, and that decision led to opening the door to the Latin rock scene in San Francisco.

I've been so fortunate to be part of it. It's full of great musicians inspired above all by by Santana, but also Malo, and War. Seeing my friends in that video playing with Carlos brings me great joy. I know how special that was for them. Carlos is the father of that whole school, and his success is an inspiration and source of pride to the whole Mission district of SF.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2021 17:19:41

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: RIP Tony Menjivar (in reply to Mark2)

One more memory-I decided I wanted to learn to play congas a bit, and asked Tony if he had a set he'd sell me. He gave me a deal on a beautiful set of LP congas. I looked at a few videos and learned a few beats. I really worked on one in particular.

At the next gig I was dying to show Tony and have him jam while I laid down the groove. He asked me to do a different beat, but I said "no man, let me just do this" thinking I could maintain the groove doing this one simple thing while I listened to him jam.

Within seconds he started syncopating and a smile broke out on my face because he was doing such crazy cool stuff. After a less than a minute I was so caught up and dazzled by his skills I completely lost the beat.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2021 17:50:34