The Early Years

I was born in Key West, Florida on April 5, 1950. My childhood started our like any ordinary kid's except for a couple of things. First of all, this was Key West. Need I say anything more? Now, granted, the Key West of those days was nothing like the Key West of today, but it was still very different from most US cities and towns. For one thing, we were an island. An island originally populated with Bahamian Conchs and later Cuban cigar makers. My ancestry is from the latter. My grandfather, Perfecto G. Ayala was a cigar maker, and later a cigar picker. He also played trombone and baritone horn. In the 1890's he played in the band "La Libertad." This was the band that played for all of the Cuban political functions of which there many at this time. He played for the first arrival of Jose Marti to Key West on December 25, 1892. Marti was greeted on the dock by my great great grandfather, Jose Francisco Lamadriz. There was a famous quote made here. Upon seeing Marti, Lamadriz said: "I embrace the new revolution" to which Marti replied, "And I embrace the old revolution." Hence, the torch was passed. Lamadriz the the great patriot of the earlier revolution. And, Perfecto Ayala was playing in the band. My roll was cast three generations ago.

Let's fast forward to my dad, Gus J. Ayala. He grew up in a musical household. His dad taught him trumpet and piano. When my dad reached a certain point in his piano studies, he was sent to the convent to concentrate on piano technique. And my dad had a great technique. It took me many years to get to the point where he was. He matured into a wonderful musician and person.

To be continued