Francisco “Pancho”, a Chilean born in Concepcion in 1969, began playing the drums at age 11. He credits the music of Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles as his early inspirations. He was 13 when he formed Los Tres (The Three) with two of his friends from Concepcion. After 15 years, he moved to Santiago, Chile. The group would be the most influential and successful rock band in Latin America and Chile during the 90’s. They toured extensively in Chile, Argentina and Peru, as well as Mexico, Spain, Spain, and Italy. The group released 8 albums on Sony Music, many of which were Platinum. Molina’s career as a rock drummer was paralleled by his love of jazz. He formed a trio with two friends from Concepcion and released three albums in Chile as the leader, Los Titulares and Perseguidor – all on his own jazz label Columbus Records. Molina, who had left Los Tres in 2000, moved to Boston in 2004 to study at the Berklee College of Music. He graduated in 2007. He met Elias Meister, guitarist, and saxophonist George Garzone. Leo Genovese, pianist, and Ben Street, who appeared on Open For Business, Molina’s debut US recording. Molina also made a strong connection with Danilo Perez, the Panamanian pianist. He invited Molina to join his big band, where he recorded and performed the critically acclaimed “PanamaSuite.” Molina, who moved to New York City from Panama in 2007, has performed at Fat Cat and Teddy’s Bar and Tea Lounge. NU Blu and S.O.B. Among other venues. Since 2010 he has been working closely with the German guitarist Elias Meister whom he met at Berklee in 2005 in an ongoing workshop setting involving different musicians and performances and the production and release on their label EMPM Records of their album Open For Business from http://www.panchomolina.com
