Boying Geronimo

Phillippian Canadian percussionist and band leader. Born in Manilla, Phillippines. Died on stage in Manilla, Phillpines while on tour in 1994. Father of Raphael Geronimo. Boying was an important figure in the emerging Afro-Latin music scene. In the 1960s, he worked as a professional dancer/choreographer in Makati, and later, after studying with the legendary Poncho Sanchez, played congas in a number of local Latin jazz bands. In 1974, because of the growing political strife of the Marcos regime, Boying and his family, including his newly born son Raphael, fully immigrated to Vancouver. He worked first as a studio salesman, eventually becoming enough in demand as a percussionist that he turned professional the following year. Boying went on to mentor a whole generation of local musicians and perform with countless Afro-Latin and Latin Jazz ensembles.In 1991, he started the band Rumba Calzada, at the start, a six-piece Latin Jazz band with a commercial sound that would later perform across Canada, the US, and in the Phillipines.