![]() "He could feel anything and knew exactly where to put his part and it was just perfect." A 'goofball' personalityīut Negrón's personality was equally infectious and inspiring. "His musical instincts were so incredibly pure," Wake said. When it came to creating harmony, Negrón's talent went a long way. … He had this way of bringing people together." "Anytime he would go somewhere he knew somebody from every walk of life and every niche in the city. "He was in the jazz scene, he was in the Latin scene, he was in the reggae scene, he was in the hip-hop scene," Wake said of Negrón. "He brought all the scenes together," said Wake, who immediately "hit it off" with Negrón when the two of them met in 1997 as members of musical collective One Drum, and grew to become "like brothers." It’s where he began using his affectionate nickname, Cee Loe. In addition to playing in Latin bands, Negrón was in long-running Milwaukee reggae group Urbanites, and after high school, spent time in New York as an aspiring rapper, producer and break-dancer. was "really hungry to make music," Wake said.Īnd he did it across a wide variety of styles. His curiosity never satiated - "He wanted to learn the whole depth of whatever instrument he was learning," Jecilia said - Negrón Jr. "I'm a more conservative player, and right on point and traditional. "He's an ass-kicking drummer," Cecil Negrón Sr. was taking his father's place in a resurrected iteration of traditional salsa group Septeto Charambo, a band that his father originated in the 1980s alongside his brother-in-law, Negrón Jr.'s uncle. And Negrón Jr.'s uncle's Milwaukee band, La Chazz, ended up having a major influence on the sound and style of De La Buena, his father said.Įventually, father and son would play side-by-side in Latin music band Cache. He said his son started playing piano, his first instrument, when he was just 3, moving on to percussion three years later and jamming in his father's bands at rehearsals. Growing up in a large musical family in Milwaukee, "music was always in the house," said Negrón's father, Cecil Negrón, a musician himself. It's shared collectively." Music was 'always' in the Negrón house "He had an impact on so many people's lives," said Negrón's oldest son Giovanni Negrón, 25. "I am now a business owner and chose to pursue what I loved, and I learned that growing up and seeing him build his empire and build his community and build his impact. "One of the biggest things that inspired me was to see him do what he loved for a living and pour all of himself into it," said Negrón's oldest daughter Jecilia Negrón, 26. I have never seen anybody play the congas like that before.' And that happened wherever we went." "When Kings Go Forth was at the Bumbershoot (music festival) in Seattle … this guy who was obviously very seasoned and worked for the festival … (told me), 'I have seen just about every percussionist. … He would make your head turn and grab you, it was so infectious," Wake said. The band released an album on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, and was praised by The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio and other major media outlets. With Kings Go Forth, Negrón toured the country and Europe in 20. Bilal died in a house fire at the age of 68. ![]() He died a few days after Jesse "Black Wolf" Bilal, who like Negrón was in the Milwaukee soul band Kings Go Forth. Negrón died overnight May 24 from a heart attack, said David Wake, who co-founded the popular Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz group De La Buena with Negrón 20 years ago. Negrón blew people away, and made them smile, across Milwaukee and around the world. Watching parents see their kids participate in this, they were blown away." At the end of a two-week camp, they would perform full-fledged west African rhythms in an ensemble. "When kids would start on the first day, some of them had never touched a djembe (a west African drum). "Parents were always amazed," she continued. All you had to do to participate is listen to the rhythm in your body and feel the pulse and listen to the people around you." You didn't have to be able to read music. ![]() … It was a way of making music so everyone could access it. Everything was by vocalizing, by demonstration. … This was very different from anything I had ever seen, and it works. "I come from a standard Western classical music background. "My eyes opened wide," said Heinrich, a music teacher at Neeskara Elementary School who met Negrón in 2015 when they both worked at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. teach children music, Meaghan Heinrich said her "jaw hit the floor." The first time she saw percussionist Cecilio Negrón Jr.
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