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Carlos "Patato" Valdes was the most influential conguero of his generation. In addition to his unrivaled rhythmic and melodic sensibilities, he also created the tunable conga, virtually reinventing the instrument in the process.
Valdes was born November 4, 1926 in Havana, where his father played guitar with local group Los Apaches. A child prodigy, he mastered a series of instruments and began playing professionally as a teen, earning the lifelong nickname "Patato" for his diminutive stature. At 12,
Valdes began studying congas under local legend La Sultana, honing a melodic flair that quickly set him apart from his peers. In 1946, he replaced the ailing Valentin Cane in the group
La Sonora Matancera, and a year later signed on with
Alberto Ruíz. In 1952
Valdes first visited New York City on tour with
Conjunto Casino, and returned for good two years later -- another soon-to-be legendary conguero,
Mongo Santamaria, recommended him to bandleader
Tito Puente, and
Valdes soon emerged as one of the orchestra's premier attractions. A superb, indefatigable showman,
Valdes somehow managed to dance on top of his congas in the middle of performances, but he remained most renowned for his instrumental virtuosity. His first studio session, trumpeter
Kenny Dorham's 1955 classic
Afro-Cuban, vaulted him to the frontlines of the Latin jazz movement, and the
Puente LPs
Cuban Carnaval and
Puente in Percussion further boosted his profile. He even taught
Brigitte Bardot the mambo in Roger Vadim's cult classic 1956 film And God Created Woman.
By the time Vadim's film hit theaters,
Valdes was a member of bandleader
Machito's influential Latin jazz orchestra; recommended to
Machito by musical director
Mario Bauzá, he remained in the lineup for five years. While most of his peers relied on one or two congas, over time
Valdes expanded his arsenal to include three or even four drums, enabling a wider range of tones. He reached his greatest fame during a decade-long association with flautist
Herbie Mann, appearing on best-selling LPs including
Flautista!,
Right Now, and
The Beat Goes On. During the '60s, he also cut sessions in support of guitarist
Grant Green, vibist
Cal Tjader and tenorist
Charlie Rouse. Only in 1967 did
Valdes finally lead his own session, teaming with co-headliner and singer Eugene "Totico" Arango (a childhood friend from Havana) for the landmark
Patato & Totíco, a groundbreaking rhumba date that abandoned the traditional formula of vocals and drums to add contributions from guitarist
Arsenio Rodríguez and bassist
Israel "Cachao" López. The record proved a turning point in Latin jazz history: "I had these ideas and wanted to advance them through jazz,"
Valdes said in a 1997 interview with the magazine Latin Beat. "I wanted something progressive." Despite the session's critical acclaim
Valdes led precious few subsequent dates, waiting a decade to issue a follow-up, the 1977 Latin Percussion label effort Ready for Freddy.
Valdes began working on tunable conga prototypes as early as the late '40s. Up to that time, the drums were tuned by heating them over a source of heat, typically a Sterno can. During the mid-'50s he befriended mechanical engineer and photographer
Martin Cohen, a Latin jazz buff and regular at Mann's Monday night jam sessions at the famed New York City jazz club Birdland -- when
Cohen founded the instrument manufacturing firm Latin Percussion, he and
Valdes collaborated on the pioneering LP Patato Model Congas, tunable fiberglass drums notable for their wide bellies and small bottoms. First released commercially in 1978, the congas are now an industry standard. After releasing his third LP
Masterpiece in 1984,
Valdes enjoyed his biggest mainstream stage ever when he appeared alongside
Puente and jazz greats
Art Blakey,
Jimmy Heath, and
Slide Hampton in a 1986 episode of the hit NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Five years later, he also appeared on the big screen in The Mambo Kings. During the '90s he fronted the band
Afrojazzia, and in 1995 recorded the first of two albums in the series Ritmo y Candela, with the follow-up appearing a year later. Both sessions received Grammy nominations in the nascent Latin Jazz category.
Valdes continued touring into his 80s, at the end of his life leading the Conga Kings, a group including percussionists
Giovanni Hidalgo and
Candido Cameró, the latter a fellow octogenarian.
Valdes died of respiratory failure on December 4, 2007, one month past his 81st birthday. ~ Jason Ankeny