In Paul de Barros’ Jackson Street After Hours (Sasquatch Books, 1993) Ernestine Anderson is quoted: “Gerald Brashear’s conga-playing was no small part of the act. Brashear had taught himself to play the style of Dizzy’s Cuban drummer, Chano Pozo. Buddy Catlett says Brashear ’played like a Cuban’, he was that good.”
Other notable Cuban percussionists who came to the U.S. during that time include Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaria, Armando Peraza, Julito Collazo, Carlos Vidal Bolado and Modesto Duran.