Home » Jazz Musicians » Carlos "Patato" Valdes

Carlos "Patato" Valdes

Since Patato emigrated from Cuba he had an incredible career,having the spontaneity and charm to draw audiences from all over, with the irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythms he so skillfully created. Valdez's understanding of melodic percussion was ahead of his time and required advances in drum technology. During the late 1940's he helped develop the first tunable congas, as earlier models were tuned by the previous method of heating them over a source of fire. His innovations on the conga drums have been a major contribution to music. He truly is in the master class. Born November 4, 1926 in Barrio Los Sitios in Havana, his father was a pioneer "tres" (guitar) player with the group Los Apaches, made up of longshoremen, the group was formed in 1915 and when they broke up in 1920 split into Sexteto Habanero and Sexteto Nacional. In this musical fertile environment he learned various instruments as a child, like the "marimbula" and of course the "tres." Around the age of twelve he began playing congas with a "compara" called "La Sultana" and by his teens was an established "rumbero." From the beginning it was his melodic tone that set him apart and at nineteen he broke into the big time when he replaced the ailing Valentin Cane as conguero with La Sonora Matancera. He stayed a year before his boyhood friend Armando Peraza brought him into the Conjunto Kubavana of Alberto Ruiz. In 1952 he visited New York City for a performance with Conjunto Casino at the Tropicana Nightclub. With all his friends there like Peraza, Mongo, Candido Camero, and other, he was impressed with the scene. The Palladium and the mambo were in full effect, not to speak of the bebop revolution sweeping jazz, and he decided to immigrate in 1954 to this country. Mongo recommended him to Tito Puente who quickly absorbed him into his orchestra. If jazz was a motivating factor, he took it head-on. His first record date in this country was with trumpeter Kenny Dorham on his Afro-Cuban LP alongside Art Blakey on traps. His appearance with Tito Puente at the Apollo Theater in 1955 is a legendary performance that brought the house down! A document to those years is Puente's classic Cuban Carnaval on RCA which included Mongo, Willie Bobo, Candido, and Johnny Rodriguez. He was also part of Tito's landmark Puente in Percussion. In 1956 he joined the Machito orchestra at the urging of musical director Mario Bauza.

Carlos Patato Valdes: El Hombre

by Russ Musto
May 12, 2005

Carlos Patato Valdes is arguably the most melodic of all congueros. The inventor of the tuned conga drum, he sings on his instrument like no other percussionist, so it comes as no surprise that this delightful date consists of some particularly lyrical Latin jazz. Leading an ensemble that features flutist Oriente Lopez (star of Charlie Haden's Latin Grammy-winning Land of the Sun), multi-reedist Phil Vieux (an Eddie Palmieri alumnus), pianist Edsel Gomez, bassist Joe Santiago, and percussionist Steve Berrios, plus ...

Obituary

Carlos Lyra (1933-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 12, 2024

Carlos Lyra, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist, and one of the fathers of the bossa nova who, with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Luiz Bonfá, Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli, among others, turned a new form of middle-class aspirational music into a global sensation, died in Rio de Janeiro on December 16. He was 90. In the same league as Jobim in terms of poetic lyricism and musical beauty, Lyra composed dozens of aching bossa-nova love songs that have ...
read more

Recording

Guitar Virtuosos Daniel Reyes Llinás, Harvey Valdes, Elliott Sharp Release New Collaborative Album 'String Schemas' Now Available on 7D Media

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
October 8, 2023

“In April 2022, I was about to perform in Brooklyn for the first time since the pandemic. Offering a solo set didn't excite me much, so I invited my avant-garde jazz-wizard friend, Harvey Valdes, who had just released his superb recording of Bach’s lute works on the electric guitar. To complete the trifecta, I reached out to downtown legend, experimental guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp, whom I have been a fan of for many years and recently reconnected with. ...
read more

Recording

Guitar Legend Juan Carlos Quintero Releases New Album 'Desserts'

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
September 2, 2023

As with all good meals, the sweets are the most memorable! It’s no wonder that guitar legend Juan Carlos Quintero’s critically acclaimed chart-topping 2022 release, Table For Five, segues so effortlessly to the sequel—the new album, Desserts… Quintero’s new album expands the music menu producing tasty treats while skillfully blending authentic grooves – originating from South American & Caribbean regions – culminating in a thread of meaningful performances honoring the beauty and breadth of Latin-Jazz traditions! Enticing gems include “The ...
read more

Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'Wave'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 11, 2022

The ever beautiful Getz/Gilberto may have been the album that popularized the bossa nova when released in 1964, but Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave was, for me, its instrumental peer. Both albums were produced by Creed Taylor, the former on Verve and the latter on Creed's CTI imprint at A&M Records. This Jobim masterpiece was arranged by Claus Ogerman and recorded in 1967 on May 22, 23 and 24 and on June 15. Jobim played guitar, piano and harpsichord. Recorded at ...
read more

Obituary

Carlos Barbosa-Lima (1944-2022)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 4, 2022

Carlos Barbosa-Lima, a Brazilian child prodigy whose touch and counterpoint on the guitar were virtually unrivaled and who arranged Antonio Carlos Jobim's music for the guitar in the 1980s at Jobim's request, died on February 23. He was 77. Barbosa-Lima began his professional career at age 12. A master of pop interpretation as well as classical guitar, Barbosa-Lima earned his living performing around the world and recording. His arrangements of songs by Brazilian composers, including Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, were ...
read more

Recording

Dave Bass Hits #15 Jazz Week - All-Star Band with Ted Nash, Karrin Allyson, Carlos Henriquez & More!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
August 31, 2019

Dave Bass No Boundaries Whaling City Sound Hits #15 on JazzWeek charts! Everyone's got a story to tell, but chances are that few have one like Dave Bass. Just out of high school in jny: Cincinnati, Bass played in bands opening for Captain Beefheart and Alice Cooper. He went onto study piano with the legendary teacher Madame Chaloff (who taught Leonard Bernstein, Steve Kuhn, Kenny Werner and others) and then to touring the world as Brenda ...
read more

Recording

Pianist, Composer, Arranger Dave Bass Releases No Boundaries, Featuring Ted Nash, Karrin Allyson, Carlos Henriquez, Jerome Jennings & More!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations
June 21, 2019

Release date: August 2, 2019 The saying goes that everyone's got a story to tell. But chances are good that few, if any, have the kind of story Dave Bass has. Without resorting to detail, Bass's rebirth as a jazz musician after decades away from the art is nothing short of astonishing. Having retired from the Office of the Attorney General of California back in 2015, Bass is back at the piano, where he promises to keep the torch burning ...
read more

Video / DVD

Carlos Lyra: Além da Bossa

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 30, 2019

In the late 1950s, Rio de Janeiro experienced enormous optimism. North American trade was on the rise, and the advent of jet travel between Brazil, France and the U.S. boosted tourism. Business at the city's hotels, lounges and restaurants soared. Throughout Rio, a new form of music was stirring. It was more jazz-romantic and folk-centric than the whistle-infused samba. It also was intimate and expressive, and celebrated the sensuality and cool of the young beach crowd. When João Gilberto released ...
read more

182

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Carlos "Patato" Valdes

Source: Michael Ricci
November 4, 2009

All About Jazz is celebrating Carlos “Patato" Valdes' birthday today!

JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Carlos “Patato" Valdes

Carlos “Patato" Valdes - congas, percussion Since Patato emigrated from Cuba he had an incredible career,having the spontaneity and charm to draw audiences from all over, with the irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythms he so skillfully created... more

Website | Videos | Articles

Follow Carlos “Patato" Valdes

Put AAJ's Musician of the Day box ...
read more

127

Obituary

Carlos Valdes, a Conga King of Jazz, Dies at 81

Source: Michael Ricci
December 6, 2007

Carlos Valdes, better known as Patato, whose melodic conga playing made him a giant of Latin jazz in Cuba and then for more than half a century in America, died on Tuesday in Cleveland. He was 81 and lived in Manhattan. The cause was respiratory failure, said his manager, Charles Carlini. Born in Havana, Patato (a reference from Cuban slang to his diminutive size) played in the 1940s and early '50s with important groups like Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino. ...
read more