Bronx native Nelson “Mateo” Gonzalez was raised in a musical family. His grandfather, Benny Ayala, is a seasoned Plenero composer and folklorist. As a young child, Mateo was surrounded by Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Puerto Rican folkloric music. He began formally studying music at the Harbor Conservatory in East Harlem, New York at age eleven.

Since then, Mateo has become an accomplished percussionist, studying under Johnny Almendra, George Delgado, Louis Bauzo, Anthony Carrilo, just to mention a few. Mateo is equally gifted as a dancer and has been a member of Danza Fiesta for over 24 years. He is currently playing percussion with six-time Grammy-nominated musician Bobby Sanabria and his Big Band. He also has two plena groups: Kinto Zonó, an 11-piece plena orchestra, and Mateo y su Cumbalaya, a 5-6 member group playing traditional bomba y plena music.