Edgardo Cambón y Candela

Saturday, August 13, 2011 | Kaiser Permanente Salsa Stage | 8pm

Candela (Spanish for candle and/ or fire) is a San Francisco-based, nine piece salsa music and Latin jazz band created in 1987 under the direction of lead singer and conga drummer Edgardo Cambón. Candela is also often used to describe a hot tempered character or to compliment someone's good looks, but most significantly, in the old days drummers would light a small fire by the street curve, to heat up and thus tune their congas and other type of hand drums: Darle candela al tambor! (Set the drums on fire) Candela’s repertoire includes various kinds of Latin music: Salsa, Son, Bolero, Mambo, Cha-cha-chá, Merengue, Timba, Cumbia and Latin Jazz.

Born in 1960 in Montevideo, Uruguay, Edgardo started his professional career at age 9, singing Tangos and playing traditional Bombo Leguero as well as the Uruguayan Candombe drums. When he turned thirteen, he heard Santana's Abraxas album. "I got so excited that my father bought me a cheap bongo so I would stop 'playing' bongos on the back of my Spanish guitar!"

Edgardo arrived in San-Francisco in 1986 and began making records with Chucho Valdés (with Irakere, 1994), Keith Terry & Cross Pulse, Joan Baez, Claudia Gomez, Omar Sosa, Mark Levine, Jeff Narell, Andy Narell, Sovosó, Mike Spiro, Rebeca Mauleón, Jackie Rago, Richard Olsen Big Band, Los Compas, Sol y Luna Band, Eddie Montalvo, Johnny Rodriguez, Armando Perazza and many others. Edgardo also taught workshops in Afro-Cuban percussion and vocals in many universities around the world. He also taught percussion for 5 years at Folsom State Prison as part of the rehabilitation program.

musicandela.com
myspace.com/edgardoycandela