Cándido Camero (April 22, 1921 – November 7, 2020) – Thousand Finger Man (1979)
This proto-soulful house dancefloor masterpiece by the great Cuban percussionist was released on Salsoul Records during his brief stint as a disco star.
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Cándido Camero was a percussionist and Afro-Cuban jazz pioneer. He was the first to play multiple congas at once, and developed the modern day multiple percussion set-up. He began his recording career in the 1950s, and had a second act during the disco era with a number of dancefloor hits on Salsoul Records.
Born in Havana, Cuba, his uncle was a professional bongo player and taught him how to play using condensed milk cans. Camero moved to New York City in 1946 and played with big band leaders like Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton. In 1954, he began recording as a sideman to Gillespie, Kenton, and Errol Garner.
Starting in 1956, he released a series of his own albums over the next decade, mostly on ABC-Paramount. He kept working with other jazz artists, appearing on seminal LP’s like Grant Green’s His Majesty King Funk (1965), Now! (1969) by Bobby Hutcherson, and Poly-Currents (1969) by Elvin Jones.
During 1969-70, Camero recorded two more LP’s as leader for Blue Note. Thousand Finger Man (1969) was originally issued on Solid State but re-issued by Blue Note the following year, when the label also released Beautiful (1970). By 1973, his sound was firmly in a Latin jazz-funk groove, and his next album Drum Fever came out on Polydor.
Highlights included the tasty, laid back jam “Succulent,” the superb Latin funk jam “Mighty Mouth,” the laid back slow jam “Kushy,” and the smooth salsa funk closing cut “Soulwanco.” And it kicked off with the appropriately titled, super funky opening cut “Candido's Funk.”
In the late seventies, the New York City-based disco label Salsoul Records took off with the success of groups like the Salsoul Orchestra, Loleatta Holloway, Double Exposure, and First Choice. They signed Camero in 1979, and he recorded his first Salsoul LP Dancin’ & Prancin’ that same year at the Power Station in NYC, produced by Latin bandleader Joe Cain.
Consisting of four extended disco tracks, its lead single “Jingo” was a cover of a Babatunde Olatunji original, and was remixed for its 12” versions by the legendary early disco DJ David Rodriguez, Jr. who was a close friend of Gallery owner Nicky Siano. It became a dancefloor classic.
Its B-side was the phenomenal, groundbreaking, proto-soulful house masterpiece “Thousand Finger Man.” It took its name from the title track to Camero’s 1970 Blue Note LP, although it was a completely new composition.
Besides Camero on congas, bongos, claves, quijada (jawbone), and tumbao, the other session players on “Thousand Finger Man” included Sandy Santana Jr. on guitar, playing a modified 1973 Stratocaster, Norman Durham on bass, Woody Cunningham on drums, Kenny Warden on flugelhorn, and Louis Small on piano and keyboards, who was a former member of Sylvester’s band and also wrote and arranged the track. Backing vocals were provided by Cunningham, Isabelle Cole, Miles McMillan, and most prominently, Al-Yasha Anderson, who for years many mistakenly thought had been Sheila E.
Durham and Cunningham were both members of Kleeer, and guested on this album right before their own group signed to Atlantic Records in 1979. The entire lineup who backed Camero on Dancin’ & Prancin’ later played together in a wedding band during the eighties, an unjust development for musicians capable of creating sounds as exquisite as were found on this record.
Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Cándido Camero.
Further info:
“Remembering Candido Camero, Percussionist and Afro-Cuban Pioneer Who Has Died at 99,” WBGO, November 7, 2020.
“Cándido Camero, Conga Master Who Transformed Jazz, Dies at 99,” obituary, The New York Times, November 22, 2020.
#soul #funk #salsa #disco #Salsoul #Kleeer #Cándido