The ascent of Chico Rey from a New York City street kid plucking a cheap bass guitar to one of the instrument's acknowledged masters tells more like fiction than fact. Raised in a foster home, he was completely disconnected from his ethnic Native American/Latino heritage and was musically shaped by a curious combination of rock-star icons, jazz giants, and several blues greats. The classic if not somewhat improbable grouping of influential bedfellows included Cream's Jack Bruce, Miles Davis and Charlie Mingus, and legendary blues musicians Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James to name a few. The impact of these and others can be heard in Rey's music to this dayTechnorati Tags: Music | Blues
