Torres was born Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) in 1957. At the age of 12, he began playing the flute and enrolled at the Escuela Libre de Musica. He later attended Puerto Rico’s Inter-American University. He moved to New York at the age of 18 with his family. Torres studied jazz and classical music at both the Mannes College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music, respectively. In 1981, he moved to Miami and signed with PolyGram. Morning Ride was his first album. His debut major label album quickly rose to the top on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charts, and soon he received widespread acclaim. An accident during a celebrity boat race resulted in him suffering 18 fractured ribs, 2 broken clavicles, and a collapsed lung. His record company dropped him and he and his wife were divorced. His home was almost repossessed. Torres has been a long-time practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism, the Soka Gakkai International. Torres was a Latin Grammy nominee in 2007, when he performed at the World Music Concert at One World Week 2007. Torres’ music fuses fiery rhythms and melody to echo Cuban and Puerto Rican dance musics, Puerto Rican bomba, plena, Brazilian samba, merengue of the Dominican Republic, Colombia cumbia, and the rhythms from Panama. He pays tribute to salsa’s stars, including Willie Colon and Celia Cruz. He is the best for instrumental smooth jazz. You won’t be disappointed. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
