Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
A Love Supreme at 60: Thoughts on Coltrane’s Masterwork
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
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.
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.
Apr 15, 2025 11:44 AM
Between last Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Ethan Iverson performed as part of the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival in…
“At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”
Apr 15, 2025 11:55 AM
DownBeat has a long association with the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference, the premiere…
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
