2006 National Jazz Awards of Canada

[Lois Gilbert]

The 2006 National Jazz Awards of Canada will honour the legendary master percussionist Candido Camero (Candido) at this year's NJA ceremony to be held on Monday April 10, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. This year's theme will be 'Latin Jazz' and will be celebrated with a host of activities and entertainment. Candido will attend the ceremony and will perform live in a variety of settings.

The NJA will present Candido with it's first annual Pioneer Award for his historic contributions to music on an international level. Candido will also present an award for a new category this year, the Latin Jazz Artist of the Year, representing the recent emergence of a powerful generation of Latin musicians in Canada at a time some have been calling a 'golden era' for Latin music in this country.

Candido will perform live including a special guest appearance with "The Montreal Cuban All Star Band, (Osmundo Calzado, Eugenio 'Kiko' Osorio, Jesus 'El Nino' Alejandro Perez, Adan de Dios, Giovanni Arteaga, John Sadowy, & Alex Bellegarde). This group of Montrealers will perform an original composition written specifically in honour of Maestro Candido. Candido will also perform solo and he will sit in for a special descarga (jam) at the finale that will include some of Canada's most extraordinary musicians.

At 85 years old, Candido is hailed as one of the greatest Cuban congueros ever. He was born in the El Cerro neighborhood in Havana. In July 1946, when Candido emigrated to the United States, his impact was felt immediately in New York and later across the country. It was the golden age of Latin jazz and Candido was a key figure in this development performing with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Machito & His Afro Cubans, and Mario Bauza, to name a few. His conga playing and distinctive melodic style contributed not only to the development of Latin jazz and Cu-bop, but also was instrumental in transforming the folkloric Son music of Cuba into the dancehall favourite, Salsa.

Candido is heralded as the father of the percussion technique called coordinated independence. He pioneered the use of two congas, and then later the use of three, whereas in the past, congueros in America used only a single drum. His playing also became distinctive because of his tendency to tune, when possible, to the melody of the song. He has performed with an enormous list of artists past and present.

Candido has been nominated for GRAMMY Awards including one for his reunion album, "Inolvidable" on Chesky Records, which pairs him with the great son singer, Graciela Perez, the sister of Machito, and for another in 2003, for his special participation in the live recording of the concert, "50 years of Mambo in the USA" produced by Latin Jazz USA at Town Hall, on November 24th, 2001.