UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995
Music was always a big part of life at Girassol. I was… still am, a huge fan of Ray Barreto, Mongo Santamaria, all those congueros who were bringing a Puerto Rican flavor to all kinds of music in those days. Just about the only thing I went back to the City to grab, once we settled in, was my King Conga.
We were lucky that the big house was in such good shape, so we didn’t have to worry about building any structures for a hot minute, at least until the word got out and the community started to grow too big, and too funky, to live under one roof.
At first, the lack of electricity was a bit of an adjustment, but it forced us to adopt an old school daily schedule. We got up when the Sun came up, worked at the various jobs we found for ourselves, and by nightfall, were ready to gather around a campfire and play.
I’m proud to say that I helped introduce the descarga, the improvised jam session, that I learned from listening to all the players with the Fania All-Stars. Charlie invited this band of legit pickers from Marin that he knew, and we immediately got it on. We ended up coming up with a heady mix of bluegrass, folk, and salsa we called ¡Hierba exuberante! For obvious reasons.
Román Leão 
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