IN REMEMBRANCE: CARLOS "PATATO" VALDEZ: 11.4.1926 - 12.4.2007
Carlos 'Patato' ValdezFor over 60 years Carlos "Patato" Valdez demonstrated how a musician could combine technical skill with superb showmanship. His conga playing demonstrated the fusing of melody and rhythm, and his keen understanding of rhythm is rooted in dancing. Patato even mastered the art of actually dancing ON TOP of his congas during his performances, to the delight of the audience.
Valdez dazzled an audience well into his eighties with his rumba moves. He's also is the man who gave Brigitte Bardot a mambo lesson in the film “And God Created Woman”. Valdez also expressed his understanding of melody through bass and tres, the Cuban folk guitar.
Valdez' understanding of melodic percussion was well ahead of his time and his technique required advances in drum technology. During the late 1940's he helped develop the first tunable congas, as earlier models were tuned by the unwieldy method of heating them with a sterno can. His interest in design, as well as his friendship with LP Founder Martin Cohen, led to the development of the LP Patato Model Congas, one of the top-selling conga drums of all time.
It is Valdez' spontaneity and charm that enabled him to draw audiences from vastly different backgrounds and cultures into the irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythms which he created. Patato will be remembered by all as a giant of a man, and his spirit shall live forever through his music.
[source//latin percussion]
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