Candido
Camero
and Carlos
"Patato" Valdez both call Cuba their
homeland. In his early days, Candido worked
the Cuban nightclubs and cabarets. Candido
left for the United States before Patato,
arriving on our shores in July of 1946.
He began performing with the dance team,
Carmen and Rolando. Candido
pioneered the now common practice of playing
several percussion instruments simultaneously.
In the early 1950s, he was featured soloist
with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and used
three congas, a guiro mounted to the conga,
and a cowbell played with a bass drum
pedal.
Patato
immigrated to the United States in 1952.
He worked in New York's Tropicana with
Conjunto Casino. His first foray into
jazz was with pianist Billy Taylor in
Philadelphia's Blue Note club. Later he
appeared at New York's Apollo Theater
with trumpet player Chip Murray.
