Performance · Other credits
Carlos "Patato" Valdes
real name Carlos Valdés Galán
Carlos "Patato" Valdes is credited on 166 albums across 904 pressings tracked on Gatefold, active 1955–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.
166
Albums
904
Pressings
8
Decades active
108
In collections
Biography
Showing the Discogs bio
Conga player of Cuban origin (born November 4, 1926, Havana, Cuba - died December 5, 2007, New York City), son of tresero and composer.
Considered by some to be the greatest ever Cuban conga player, Patato played with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Tito Puente, Machito, Mario Bauzá, Quincy Jones and many other salsa and jazz stars.
The first conguero to tune his congas to a song's dominant chord, Patato's influence was felt on the jazz and Latin music scenes and also in the world of film, where he gave Brigitte Bardot a mambo lesson in And God Created Woman.
Bio from Discogs
Credited work
166 albums · 904 pressings · active 1955–2025
- Performance · 1,194
- Other credits · 88
- Production · 1
Studios: Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · Newport Jazz Festival · Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey · Manhattan Towers
Discography
Records they worked on — most-collected first.

The Latin Bit
1963

The Phantom
1968

Percussion Bitter Sweet
1961

Afro-Cuban
1955

The Best Of Herbie Mann
1970

Nu Yorica! (Culture Clash In New York City: Experiments In Latin Music 1970-77)
1996

Uno Dos Tres 1•2•3
1966

A.T.'s Delight
1960

Mr. Jones
1973

The Black Angel
1970

Soul Burst
1966

Bossa Nova Bacchanal
1963

First Light
1974

Mississippi Gambler
1972

Live At Newport
1963

Brazil, Bossa Nova & Blues
1962

Have Trumpet, Will Excite!
1959

Milagro
1992

Funkia
1974

The Evolution Of Mann
1972

Esto Fue Lo Que Trajo El Barco
1972

Memphis Two-Step
1971

Shock Treatment
1968

New Mann At Newport
1966
Frequent collaborators
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