Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
In Memoriam: Gordon Goodwin, 1954–2025
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
Carlos Valdéz, the melodic percussionist who played with the likes of Herbie Mann, died Tuesday of respiratory failure in New York. He was 81.
Born in La Habana, Cuba, Nov. 4, 1926, Valdéz fashioned himself as a chef and was known for feeding dozens of fellow musicians and close friends in his Brooklyn home after gigs. He helped develop the tuneable congas and showed Bridgette Bardot how to dance the mambo in the closing moments of the 1956 film And God Created Woman.
In Cuba, Patato played with bands starting out as a teenager in the 1940s, he created the “penguin dance” while with the Conjunto Casino in the ‘50s. When Valdéz appeared on a daily Cuban television show, he would jump on top of the congas and do a penguin dance.
In 1955 his friends Cándido Camero and Mongo Santamaría sponsored his immigration to New York. Santamaría, who was with the Tito Puente band at the time, got some of his bandmates and others to go to the SMC/Coda studios and record two 78 rpms as a demo to demonstrate the skills of Patato. Those records led to his work with Kenny Dorham on the Afro-Cuban date for Blue Note, from there he went on to play with Herbie Mann for many years.
Goodwin was one of the most acclaimed, successful and influential jazz musicians of his generation.
Dec 9, 2025 12:28 PM
Gordon Goodwin, an award-winning saxophonist, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles.…
Belá Fleck during an interview with Fredrika Whitfield on CNN.
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“It’s a pleasure and an honor to interpret the music of Oscar Peterson in his native city,” said Jim Doxas in regard to celebrating the Canadian legend. “He traveled the world, but never forgot Montreal.”
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