Last night I went to see a very fine Latin jazz group but, they didn’t have drums. Much as I try to like the idea of hearing Latin music without drums and percussion the truth is, it just doesn’t work for me. Latin music without drums just isn’t Latin music. Most probably the reason the group I heard last night didn’t have a drummer was an economic one, cheaper to pay three people than four. Too bad it was the drums that got the axe. Drums should be the last thing cut in a Latin band, not the first. You just can’t take a music based on drumming for hundreds of years and then take that element out, sorry. It’s those layers of rhythms from the drums and percussion in Latin and African music that make it the vital force that is. Please, don’t be a Latin band without drums. Thank you.