Candido – Hands Of Fire
Picture: C+
Sound: C Extras: D Documentary: B
Candido Camero is a major innovator in Jazz percussion,
but unless you love music and are a Jazz aficionado, you likely have not heard
of him. That is why you should go out
of your way to see Candido – Hands Of Fire, a too-short but rich
documentary on the life and contributions of the genius drummer and his journey
from Cuba to The United States. In
interviews and well-researched history, Camero clicks instantly with giants
like Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Tony Bennett, Charlie Parker, Duke
Ellington, John Coltrane, Billy Taylor, Celia Cruz, Frank Sinatra and literally
thousands of other musicians form the Big Band era to date.
In a mix of very old footage and newly taped footage, we
learn in pretty chronological order how Camero brought a sound, energy and
instinct that became a square root for drumming in Jazz and beyond all the way
to the Rock genre and Sheila E. Even in
his 70s, he still has it, as the occasional performance shows. The main program runs 68 minutes and cannot
run long enough. Hopefully, this will
be the beginning of an appreciation of a key artist ignored by the mainstream
for far too long.
The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image sometimes offers some unusually
soft images, but this is still a documentary so some of the footage is expected
to be poor. All of it is still very
interesting and considering Cuba, it is amazing any footage survives. The PCM 2.0 16bit/48kHz sound is simple
stereo at best, features more reverb than we’d like and varies throughout more
than usual for a documentary. This is
particularly and unfortunately noticeable when music plays. There are no extras, though some could have
fit.
- Nicholas Sheffo
