El Conguero · Puerto Rico → Washington DC

JAVIER
MIRANDA

Conguero. Producer. Musician. Born of the Puerto Rican rhythm tradition and forged in the DC music scene, Javier plays the congas in a style all his own, weaving soulful rhythm through funk, house, dub, reggae and Latin sound.

Instrument Congas Roots Puerto Rico Band Los Empresarios
El Ritmo

The Rhythm Behind the City

For more than a decade, if a DC dance floor was moving to live percussion, there is a good chance Javier Miranda's hands were the reason.

A conguero in the Puerto Rican tradition, Javier brought the island's rhythm language to the capital and taught it new dialects: funk, house, dub, downtempo. His playing does not sit behind the music. It leads it, converses with it, drives it.

As a producer and musician, that same instinct shapes his studio work. Rhythm first, always. Everything else is built on top of the drum.

Session Notes
Name: Javier Miranda
Discipline: Conguero · Producer · Musician
Tradition: Puerto Rican percussion
Base: Washington DC
Signature: a conga style described as sounding unlike anything else

Rhythm first. Everything else follows.
Las Manos

The Credits

Frontman

Los Empresarios

Co founder and frontman of DC's tropicaliente kings, leading the band's fusion of Latin funk, house, dub, reggae and downtempo from behind the congas.

First Chair

Thievery Corporation

The first percussionist for the globally renowned DC collective, present at the roots of one of the city's most influential sounds.

Collaborator

See-I

Percussion for the DC reggae funk mainstay, deep in the pocket of the city's live scene.

Collaborator

Fort Knox Five

Rhythm work with the celebrated DC funk and breaks outfit, plus countless sessions with DJs and acts across the international and house scenes.

Los Empresarios

The band Javier co founded with Sonny Cheeba out of the DC lounge scene. A number one on the CMJ World Radio Charts, music licensed to FIFA 12, stages from DC to SXSW, and press from The Washington Post to NPR Alt.Latino.