Hector "Rudy "Regalado

El Chicano's timbal player Hector "Rudy" Regalado passed away on November  4, 2010. Rudy joined El Chicano with their third album Celebracion, just in time for the band's second hit, "Brown Eyed Girl."
He recorded with another East L. A. group, Yaqui.
From some conversations we had, one of his most treasured collaborations was his involvement with Weather Report's Joe Zawinul. His work with Horace Silver was another personal treasure.
Regalado was a native of Venezuela. He came to Los Angeles via Puerto Rico, where he honed his chops with authentic masters of the Afro Cuban genre. When he landed in Los Angeles, the band that he was playing with had no bookings. Rudy's musical skills and charm brought him to the attention of El Chicano's producer. The band had recorded two important albums already without a timbal player. It was ironic because it was a band that fused rock an roll, rhythm and blues, jazz, and Afro Cuban based jazz. John De Luna, the trap drums player, had taken timbal lessons from a Cubano who ran his business from an office in the second floor of a storefront on Whittier boulevard in East L. A. Ersi Arvizu, who had stayed with the band during the first two albums, had a cow bell welded to her mic stand.
Always a working musician Rudy Regalado stayed close to Bobby Espinosa and was part of most of the El Chicano line ups. He  performed in the two most recent El Chicano reunions, that resulted in a DVD recorded in Santa Rosa, California, and a PBS special titled Latin Legends.
Rudy Regalado as a bandleader kept his group Chevere going for decades.

As a photographer he was one of my favorite subjects. These are a few pictures that I took of Rudy throughout the years. It'll take a while to go thru all my files. Descanse en paz my hermano.

(Although I'm flattered to find my photos uncredited in Eastern European publications, and small boutique American publications, ASK before using. All photographs are copyrighted by Vicente Mercado Photography.)