My name is Jose Alexis Diaz, and I was born in Bani, the Domincan Republic on 11/26/57. When I was 17 and had been playing the conga for 6 years, I heard Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo playing their version of Chano's tune Tin Tin Deo on the radio. This was my first exposure to North American jazz infused with Cuban rhythms and soul, and at that moment my life's work became clear to me; I felt I would use whatever musical talents I had to further expose the Latin jazz idiom to all audiences. I moved to new York in 1981 and started hanging out with Dizzy Gillespie, Babatunde Olatunji, Hilton Ruiz, and whoever happened to be playing at Bradley's, the legendary University Place music hangout, that week. Dizzy and I became good friends, as well as mentor and pupil, spending many nights after hours talking music, playing music and trading musical storeies. These times constituted the beginning of my ongoing musical education