THe Jazz Bakery's Movable Feast Series adds the spice with an evening of Afro-Cuban jazz by multiple Juno Award winner Jane Bunnett on soprano sax and flute, Hilario Duran on piano, and Jazz Master Candido on congas at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 3rd at the Musicians Institute Concert Center in Hollywood. So well known and respected, his first name alone -- Candido -- is all that is necessary for jazz aficionados to know who he is. Credited with being the first percussionist to bring conga drumming to jazz, Candido Camero is also known for his contributions to the development of mambo and Afro-Cuban jazz. The subject of the 2006 documentary, Candido: Hands of Fire, Camero (in his 90s) continues to perform throughout the world.
Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1921, Camero first began making music as a young child, beating rhythms on empty condensed milk cans in place of bongos. He worked for six years with the CMQ Radio Orchestra and at the famed Cabaret Tropicana. He came to the United States in 1946 with the dance team Carmen and Rolando, and very soon after was playing with Billy Taylor, who wrote in 1954, "I have not heard anyone who even approaches the wonderful balance between jazz and Cuban elements that Candido demonstrates."
By the early 1950s, Camero was a featured soloist with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, with whom he toured the U.S. playing three congas (at a time when other congueros were playing only one) in addition to a cowbell and guiro (a fluted gourd played with strokes from a stick). He created another unique playing style by tuning his congas to specific pitches so that he could play melodies like a pianist. He became one of the best known congueros in the country, appearing on such television shows as the Ed Sullivan Show and the Jackie Gleason Show.
He has recorded and performed with seemingly everybody in the jazz field, including such luminaries as Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Slide Hampton, Charles Mingus, Wes Montgomery, Gerry Mulligan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and Clark Terry. Among his many awards are the Latin Jazz USA Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) and a special achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers as a "Legend of Jazz" (2005).
Bio adapted from the NEA Jazz Masters website: http://www.nea.gov/honors/jazz/index.html
With an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University, Jane Bunnett, the Toronto soprano saxophonist, flutist and bandleader, has built her career at the crossroads between Cuban music and jazz. Twice nominated for Grammy Awards, (Best Latin Jazz Recording 2002 for Alma de Santiago and 2003 for Cuban Odyssey), a fixture of nominations for Canada’s Juno Awards, winner at Canada’s Urban Music Awards for Best Global Recording in 2003 for Cuban Odyssey, and honoured with an appointment to the Order of Canada in 2004; Toronto’s own jazz virtuoso has turned her bands into showcases for the finest musical talent from Canada, the United States and Cuba. For more information, visit www.janebunnett.com/
Musicians Institute Concert Center is located at 1655 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, California.
For tickets vidit www.jazzbakery.org or call 310-271-9039
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