Andy Gonzalez
01.06.2026
Andrew González (January 1, 1951 – April 9, 2020), was born in the South Bronx into a Puerto Rican family that formed part of the vibrant diaspora community known as the Nuyoricans. His early life unfolded amid an eighborhood alive with sound: Cuban, Puerto Rican andLatin jazz music pouring from apartment windows, jazz echoing through clubs and social halls, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms shaping the pulse of everyday life. Music was not a distant or abstract presence in the González household—it was central, communal, and deeply tied to identity. His father, Jerry González Sr., was a singer who immersed his children in Latin music and a wide spectrum of Afro-Caribbean musical traditions, instilling in them a respect for music as cultural inheritance as much as artistic expression. His mother Julia González Toyos recognized early on that receiving a formal music education was key to their musical development and blend what was being heard at home. She was instrumental in getting her children into NYC public schools that had strong music programs that would provide the necessary training they needed.
