Percussionist, Giovanni Hidalgo and saxophonist, Chico Freeman, stopped by the LP® Photo Studio on June 2, 1999 for a photo session and talked about the recent work they did together in Europe and America. One of the venues that they were especially proud to mention was Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where they said the show was "beyond" sold-out. It was actually oversold. In addition, they just came back from a gig in Pennsylvania in the United States.

They toured with Chico Freeman's group Guataca. Chico told me, the word guataca means hoe blade in Spanish. As a matter of fact, it is this hoe blade that is used for beating out rhythm with a metal striker for certain Afro-Cuban music. Guataca also has a secondary meaning. It means a person with big ears, or in other words, someone with a keen sense of good music. This group has a keen sense of good music. It consists of Chico Freeman on reeds, Hilton Ruiz on piano, Ruben Rodriguez on bass, Yoron Israel on drums, and Mauricio Smith on flute and clarinet.

I was especially fascinated to learn that Chico is a computer wiz and an Emagic's LogicAudio expert. I expect to be calling on him to help me through this great sound editing program.