Dec 05, 2007, 07:33 PM
Posted on Wed, Dec. 05, 2007
BY ENRIQUE FERNANDEZ
One of the greatest Cuban percussionists ever died Wednesday night in New York City of complications from emphysema. The diminutive Carlos ''Patato'' Valdés not only enjoyed a great musical career, but revolutionized the playing of his instrument, the tall Cuban hand-drums commonly known as congas. Hospitalized with emphysema, he was 81.
His roots were deep in Afro-Cuban music, growing up playing a version of the African piano, the double-stringed tres guitar and wooden crates for beating out percussion -- in his youth, he also did stints as a dancer and boxer. He played in the comparsas, when musical organizations from the barrios would parade dancing during carnival -- the sharp beat of his high-tuned drum could be heard blocks away.
In the 1940s, Patato (a Cuban nickname for short people) played with top Cuban artists like Miguelito Valdés and joined famous groups like La Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino. In the next decade, he began touring in the United States, mostly New York, where he would eventually settle.
Once in the States, Patato joined forces with the leaders of Afro-Cuban music in New York: Insult deleted Santamaría, Tito Puente and Machito. And he sparked the attention of the jazz masters, who asked him to join their ensembles. Patato would work with Herbie Mann, Art Taylor, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones.
In the 1960s, he embarked on a solo career, recording under his own name. And he enriched the salsa scene, working with bandleader Johnny Pacheco, as well as continuing collaborations with Puente and other Latin stalwarts. He moved to the West Coast, later to Paris, but eventually returned to New York.
A great showman, Patato took advantage of his feather weight to do dance steps on top of his congas. But clowning aside, his contribution to Afro-Cuban music was fine-tuning the drums to draw, not just beats, but true melodies from the hand-slapped skins. Conga playing, the mainstay of a Latin band, was never the same after Patato.
According to New York promoter Jessie Ramírez, who arranged tours for the percussionist and was a close friend, a nurse reported Tuesday night that Patato removed all his life-support gear, raised his hands up to the heavens, brought them down and died, as he said something the nurse only understood as ``Go!''
BY ENRIQUE FERNANDEZ
One of the greatest Cuban percussionists ever died Wednesday night in New York City of complications from emphysema. The diminutive Carlos ''Patato'' Valdés not only enjoyed a great musical career, but revolutionized the playing of his instrument, the tall Cuban hand-drums commonly known as congas. Hospitalized with emphysema, he was 81.
His roots were deep in Afro-Cuban music, growing up playing a version of the African piano, the double-stringed tres guitar and wooden crates for beating out percussion -- in his youth, he also did stints as a dancer and boxer. He played in the comparsas, when musical organizations from the barrios would parade dancing during carnival -- the sharp beat of his high-tuned drum could be heard blocks away.
In the 1940s, Patato (a Cuban nickname for short people) played with top Cuban artists like Miguelito Valdés and joined famous groups like La Sonora Matancera and Conjunto Casino. In the next decade, he began touring in the United States, mostly New York, where he would eventually settle.
Once in the States, Patato joined forces with the leaders of Afro-Cuban music in New York: Insult deleted Santamaría, Tito Puente and Machito. And he sparked the attention of the jazz masters, who asked him to join their ensembles. Patato would work with Herbie Mann, Art Taylor, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones.
In the 1960s, he embarked on a solo career, recording under his own name. And he enriched the salsa scene, working with bandleader Johnny Pacheco, as well as continuing collaborations with Puente and other Latin stalwarts. He moved to the West Coast, later to Paris, but eventually returned to New York.
A great showman, Patato took advantage of his feather weight to do dance steps on top of his congas. But clowning aside, his contribution to Afro-Cuban music was fine-tuning the drums to draw, not just beats, but true melodies from the hand-slapped skins. Conga playing, the mainstay of a Latin band, was never the same after Patato.
According to New York promoter Jessie Ramírez, who arranged tours for the percussionist and was a close friend, a nurse reported Tuesday night that Patato removed all his life-support gear, raised his hands up to the heavens, brought them down and died, as he said something the nurse only understood as ``Go!''