The concept of Latin Rudiments began years ago when I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a great drummer, Victor Lewis. Mr. Lewis was visiting a house in Miami where I lived with several other musicians. I noticed that he was playing the clave along with a Cuban radio station. I inquired why he was doing this and Mr. Lewis' response was that he wanted to get into the rhythms of the music and what better way than to use the backbone of Cuban music, the clave. Mr. Lewis, at the time, was in Miami recording with saxophone great David Sanborn. I must have thought that his playing the clave to understand the music was a good idea because I immediately began to use his idea to enhance my own understanding and appreciation of Cuban music. I don't remember if Mr. Lewis used any particular sticking. All I remember was that his concept impressed me and started me on my way to developing, literally, hundreds of grooves and exercises which have their roots with Latin and Brazilian music.