Manuel Quintana is an in-demand drummer / percussionist based in New York's musically rich Hudson Valley. 

Equally at home behind a drum kit or a percussion rig, Manuel’s work ranges from acoustic minimalist sound-scaping to electronic layered percussion, American roots rock to Afro-Cuban, reggae, funk, rock, RnB and in between, blending styles and adding his own flavors. 

His career began in Puerto Rico—as a young teen he was playing drums with artists across the island, including in bands with both his brothers, also musicians. His wide musical range was sparked by a family record collection that included Salsa, Disco, classic crooners, and hard rock. “It was a real melting pot of music to grow up in, from what was hot on the radio to the classics on our stereo—Fania All Stars, El Grand Combo, Roy Brown, to Chuck Berry, Aretha, The Doors, Bob Marley, Elvis, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner and James Brown.” In the 1990’s, Puerto Rico’s live music scene was turning out Latin American Rock, Reggae, and Ska fusion bands. “I hit that pretty hard,” Quintana recalls, “A perfect blend of afro cuban drums, dirty skanky guitars and one drops!“

While visiting New York to record with a songwriter he’d met on the island, Manuel saw the active music community in the Hudson Valley and decided to lay down new roots. “This opened up a whole new scene. I’ve gotten to work with some of the most amazing session musicians, producers, engineers, and writers. And to tour with much-loved bands, road hardened acts like: Conehead Buddha, Robbie Dupree, The Big Takeover, Rachael Yamagata, and many more.”

As a drummer his tools range from the sparsest kit of maybe just a hand drum or single snare to a near-surround tom collection and billboard-sized kick drums for festival stages. As a percussionist he plays with wooden, skin, and metal instruments from around the world—and loves creating sounds from random objects and sampling organic sounds and re-inventing them via knobs and buttons into new and original sonic palettes to choose from. “I really just want whatever I’m working on to feel good and to sound good.” 

In recent years his work has expanded to include arranging and producing songs at his home base edging the beautiful Catskill mountains, Beet Recording Studio. “When I’m not on the road, I’m either dishing out tracks for someone in need or in full production mode with artists at the studio (or tending to the garden and land). The industry has changed entirely from the sessions where they made those records I grew up with, but artists are still out there doing it, writing, creating and jamming, we gotta make music.”

–Malcolm Burn, Grammy Award-winning producer whose work includes: Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Shawn Colvin, Peter Gabriel, and more.

–Danny Blume, Grammy Award-winning producer, mixer, engineer, composer, and musician whose work includes: Iggy Pop, The Lounge Lizards, Gavin Friday, The Klezmatics, Jill Sobule, Level 42, Medeski Martin Wood, Jewel, Lisa Loeb, and more.