Manny Oquendo (Brooklyn, January 1, 1931 - New York, March 25, 2009) was an American drummer.
His main instrument was the timbal and he was strongly influenced by Cuban drumming. Oquendo grew up in New York and began studying percussion in 1945. He played in some tropical and Latin American bands like Carlos Valero, Luis del Campo, Juan El Boy Torres, Chano Pozo, Jose Budet, Juanito Sanabria, Marcelino Guerra, Jose Curbelo and Pupi Campo.
In 1950 he became a bongospeler for Tito Puente. Afterwards, he continued with Tito Rodriquez in 1954 and Vincentico Valdes in 1955. He worked for Freelance in New York and became a member of Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta Orchestra in 1962. Since 1974, he played with his own group, Conjunto Libre (later Simply Libre) and had a global hit with "Little Sunflower" in 1983. Discography
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