User:Kamole/Joaquin McWhinney

Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney is the lead singer and founding member of the reggae band "Big Mountain".

Biography
Quino was born and attended school in San Diego, California. Influenced by Bob Marley as a child, Quino was drawn to reggae music and especially its social and political messages. "I got into reggae music because I wanted to change the world. To me Bob Marley was Che Guevara with a guitar."

Early Years
In 1986 he started the reggae band the "Rainbow Warriors", which later merged with several other leading southern california reggae musicians becoming the reggae band "Shiloh". In 1988 Shiloh released the album "California Reggae"

Big Mountain
Shiloh became "Big Mountain" 1992 with the release of the album "Wake Up".

Mahalo
Hawaii had been a very loyal audience to Quino, beginning with "California Reggae" and throughout the Big Mountain years. In 1998 Quino recorded and released his first solo album. It was recorded in Hawaii, with many of Hawaii's entertainers as guest artists. Mahalo is the hawaiian word for thank you, and the album was intended as a thank you to Big Mountains' fans in Hawaii.

Quinazo
Quinazo is the new solo project for Joaquin McWhinney. Quinazo performs Latin roots reggae, and features some of San Diego's top brass and rhythm musicians with original Big Mountain guitarist, Jerome Cruz. Quinazo released their debut album "La Offrenda" in May of 2009.