BEST LOCAL PERCUSSIONIST

BEST LOCAL PERCUSSIONISTKala"I play by feeling. I have to feel the vibe," says Kala (one name, like Sting), the percussionist and keyboardist for electro-rock foursome 10 Sheen. The 31-year-old Hialeah native has no real half-beat/quarter-beat training; he taught himself after a childhood of listening to his dad, a veteran Latin percussionist. The night the former drummer decided to lose the sticks, however, he wasn't watching the house act at Tropigala but rather a rock band -- a rock band with a conga player. It blew him away and he's been handing it up since. In addition to his 10 Sheen gig, he pounds at recording sessions for jazz, Haitian, and, yes, Latin acts. Don't give him a bunch of sheet music though. This drummer goes with his gut.