A Cuban drummer has joined a top Bermudian teacher to stage a two-week percussion camp.

Angel Luis Ruiz will help Eddie Ming teach before a gala production of Latin jazz next week.

He said: “I love drumming, I love the connection I have with my instruments.

“I like gospel, funk and bebop, but my favourite style is Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban — I like the rhythms, they’re complicated.”

The 20-year-old was speaking after he arrived in Bermuda on his first visit last Thursday.

Mr Ming, who teaches drumming at the Rhythm Lab in St George’s, met Mr Ruiz as a nine-year-old when he taught at the boy’s elementary school.

He explained: “He’s here on an understudy cultural exchange programme, I promised him this from the first time I met him.

“I couldn’t bring him before because he was so young, so I waited for him to graduate from the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory.”

Mr Ming added: “He’s going to study with me in the morning and later he’s my assistant teaching drums and percussion.

“At the end of the workshop, there will be a Latin jazz recital, featuring him and a galaxy of musicians.”

The closing showcase will be at West Pembroke Primary School on November 2 at 6.30pm.

• For more information call 297-8422 or e-mail emingflatride@btcnet.bm