Cándido Camero

Thus, he was an innovator in the realm of Latin multi-percussion setups, and many high-profile Latin percussionists point to Cándido as a mentor. After moving to New York in 1946, Camero played with Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Taylor and Stan Kenton, and from 1956 he recorded several albums as a leader. His biggest success came in 1979 with his disco recordings for Salsoul. He continued to perform until the late 2010s, recording several albums for the audiophile label Chesky Records, including Inolvidable, with Graciela, which earned him a nomination at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.

The field of work recorded is jazz and percussion performance. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz and disco. Places of work recorded in the authority are New York City. Distinctions recorded are Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and NEA Jazz Masters.

• Name — Cándido Camero • Birth Name — Cándido Camero Guerra • Born — 22 April 1921 • Birthplace — Havana, Cuba • Died — 7 November 2020 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Genre — * Afro-Cuban jazz • disco • descarga • son cubano • Occupation — * Musician • bandleader • Instrument — * Conga • bongo • tres • bass • Label — * ABC-Paramount • Blue Note • Roulette • Polydor • Salsoul • Chesky

Cándido Camero Guerra was born in the barrio known as El Cerro, in Havana, to Caridad Guerra and Cándido Camero. His interest in music began at the age of 4, when his maternal uncle Andrés, a professional bongosero for the Septeto Segundo Nacional, taught him to play bongos on condensed milk cans. At a very young age, he moved with his family to Cerro, a neighborhood in Havana. Camero's father taught him how to play the tres, a type of Cuban guitar. While focusing on the tres, he also learned to play bass and percussion, mostly bongo and conga. In 1935, at the age of 14, Camero began to play tres professionally for various son ensembles such as Gloria Habanera, Sonora Piñón and Conjunto Segundo de Arsenio Rodríguez (Arsenio's backup band). The increasing popularity of the conga drums—promoted primarily by Arsenio's conjunto—and the fact that Camero could not read sheet music, led him to switch to the conga, which became his primary instrument, although he would also record with other percussion instruments, especially the bongó.

Early in his career, Camero played as conguero and bongosero for the Cuban radio stations Radio Progresso and Radio CMQ (for 6 years) and for the Tropicana Club (also for 6 years). As a tresero, he was also a member of Chano Pozo's Conjunto Azul, where he met Mongo Santamaría, who then played bongos. He moved to New York City in 1946, after first arriving in the city on a tour. He first performed in New York in the musical revue Tidbits at the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway in 1946 backing up the Cuban dance team of Carmen and Rolando.

In 1948, he made his first U.S. recording with Machito and His Afro-Cubans on the tune "El Rey del Mambo", but he did not become a member of the band, since they already had Carlos Vidal Bolado on congas. When Chano Pozo was murdered in 1948 (he arrived in New York shortly after Cándido), Dizzy Gillespie contacted Camero and they began a fruitful collaboration that culminated in the 1954 recording of Afro. Camero was also a member of the Billy Taylor Trio, with whom he recorded in 1953–54, and in 1954 he performed and recorded with Stan Kenton. As one of the best known congueros in the U.S., Camero performed on variety shows such as The Jackie Gleason Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. Camero recorded several albums as a leader for ABC-Paramount in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the early 1970s, he recorded for the independent jazz label Blue Note Records, before joining the dance music record company Salsoul. With the latter, Camero recorded two albums which were relatively successful and remain in rotation by DJs in the U.S. In 1979, he released Jingo, a disco-oriented track written by Babatunde Olatunji and recorded on Salsoul Records; but released in the UK by EMI under the Salsoul Label as the B side to "Dancing and Prancing" as the A side. This track was also released as a 12" single in June, 1981 in the UK on the Excalibur Record label / PRT Precision Records and Tape, running for over 9 minutes, and reached #55 in the BBC Top 75 chart. "Jingo" was his most successful hit in the UK discos and clubs becoming a huge floor filler at that time and ever since as it has been covered by various artists since. In the 2000s, Camero was a member of the Conga Kings alongside Patato and Giovanni Hidalgo. They recorded two albums for Chesky. He recorded another album for Chesky in 2004, Inolvidable, with Graciela, the long-time lead singer for Machito. This album earned a Grammy Award nomination. In 2014, Camero recorded his last album, The Master, also for Chesky. He continued to perform in jazz clubs in New York until the late 2010s.

Camero died on 7 November 2020, at his home in New York. He was 99.

• Candido featuring Al Cohn (ABC-Paramount, 1956) • Calypso Dance Party (ABC-Paramount, 1957) • The Volcanic (ABC-Paramount, 1957) • In Indigo (ABC-Paramount, 1958) • Latin Fire (The Big Beat of Candido) (ABC-Paramount, 1959) • Conga Soul (Roulette, 1962) • Candido's Comparsa (ABC-Paramount, 1963) • Brujerías de Candido / Candido's Latin McGuffa's Dust (Tico Records, 1966) • Thousand Finger Man (Solid State, 1969, reissued by Blue Note) • Beautiful (Blue Note, 1970) • Drum Fever (Polydor, 1973) • Dancin' and Prancin' (Salsoul, 1979) • Candy's Funk (Salsoul, 1979) • The Conga Kings (Chesky, 2000) – with Giovanni Hidalgo and Carlos "Patato" Valdés • Jazz Descargas (Chesky, 2001) – with Giovanni Hidalgo and Carlos "Patato" Valdés • Inolvidable (Chesky, 2004) – with Graciela • Hands of Fire/Manos de fuego (Live) (Latin Jazz USA, 2008) • The Master (Chesky, 2014)

With Gene Ammons • The Happy Blues (Prestige, 1956) • The Boss Is Back! (Prestige, 1969) • Brother Jug! (Prestige, 1969) With Tony Bennett • The Beat of My Heart (Columbia, 1957) • In Person! (Columbia, 1959) • I Wanna Be Around... (Columbia, 1963) With Art Blakey • Drum Suite (Columbia, 1957) With Ray Bryant • Ray Bryant Trio (Epic, 1956) With Kenny Burrell • Introducing Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956) With Duke Ellington • A Drum Is a Woman (Columbia, 1956) With Don Elliott • Jamaica Jazz (ABC-Paramount, 1958) With Erroll Garner • Mambo Moves Garner (Mercury, 1954) With Bennie Green • Bennie Green Blows His Horn (Prestige, 1955) With Grant Green • His Majesty King Funk (Verve, 1965) With Dizzy Gillespie • Afro (Norgran, 1954) • Gillespiana (Verve, 1960) • The Melody Lingers On (Limelight, 1966) With Coleman Hawkins • The Hawk Talks (Decca, 1955) With Bobby Hutcherson • Now! (Blue Note, 1969) With Illinois Jacquet • Spectrum (Argo, 1965) With Jazz at the Philharmonic • Jazz at the Philharmonic in Europe (Verve, 1963) With Elvin Jones • Poly-Currents (Blue Note, 1969) • Coalition (Blue Note, 1970) • New Agenda (Vanguard, 1975) With Wynton Kelly • It's All Right! (Verve, 1964) With Stan Kenton • Kenton Showcase (Capitol, 1954) With Benjamin Lapidus • Ochosi Blues - Latin, Soul, Organ Jazz - Benjamin Lapidus & Kari B3 (2014) With The Lecuona Cuban Boys • Dance Along with the Lecuona Cuban Boys (ABC-Paramount, 1959) With Machito • Kenya (Roulette, 1958) With Gary McFarland • The In Sound (Verve, 1965) With Ellen McIlwaine • Honky Tonk Angel (Polydor, 1972) • We the People (Polydor, 1973) With Wes Montgomery • Bumpin (1965) With Tito Puente • Cuban Carnival (RCA, 1956) With Lightnin' Rod • Hustlers Convention (Celluloid, 1973) With Sonny Rollins • What's New? (RCA Victor, 1962) With Bobby Sanabria • Afro-Cuban Dream: Live & in Clave!!! Bobby Sanabria Big Band (Arabesque, 2000) • 50 Years of Mambo - A Tribute to Damaso Perez Prado - The Mambo All Stars Orchestra (Mambo Maniacs, 2003) • Kenya Revisited Live!!! Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria (Jazzheads, 2008) With Billy Taylor • The Billy Taylor Trio with Candido (Prestige, 1955) With Tico All-Stars • Descargas at the Village Gate (Tico, 1966) With Randy Weston • Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960) • Tanjah (Polydor, 1973)

Cándido Camero is recorded as having received Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and NEA Jazz Masters. Recorded at birth as Cándido de Guerra Camero.