Camilo Azuquita

Camilo Luis Argumédez entered the world in 1945 in Colón, Panama. Both of his parents performed Cuban son and Panamanian tamborito, the latter an African-derived style. At fifteen he secured his initial professional engagement, singing in Peru. During the mid-1960s he relocated to Puerto Rico, where he supplied lead vocals for Roberto Roena and his band Megatones on the album Se Pone Bueno/It Gets Better. In 1966 he became a member of Rafael Cortijo’s ensemble. Two years later, in New York, he participated in the recording of Live It Up alongside Kako and the descarga known as The Salsa All Stars, a session that also featured Charlie Palmieri, Israel ‘Cachao’ López, Louie Ramírez, Pupi Legarreta and additional musicians. With Cortijo he cut Ahí Na Má!/Put It There in 1969 and spent six months performing with La Sonora Matancera.

From 1972 through 1976 he traveled and recorded under the leadership of his own group, Melao. He rejoined Kako for the 1976 album Union Dinamica, which Louie Ramírez produced. The following year Camilo took over lead-singer duties in Típica 73 from Tito Allen, resulting in two albums and the band’s first trip to Paris. Johnny Pacheco oversaw 1979’s Llego Y Dijo, an early New York date for pianist Isidro Infante. After settling in Paris, Azuquita issued the live recording Salsa En Vivo in 1980, captured at the Bataclan on 20 December 1979. For that performance Melao combined locally based players such as Cuban trumpeter Ernesto ‘Tito’ Puentes and Colombian conga player Rodolfo Pacheco with New York musicians including percussionist and arranger José Madera, a longtime Tito Puente associate.

In 1981 Azuquita handled lead vocals and wrote half the material on Tito Puente’s Ce’ Magnifique, among them the track ‘Virgen De Regla’, later praised by trombonist Joe de Jesús, who played on the date, as a “nasty tune” in the affirmative sense. That same year he shared a bill with Bob Marley before 75,000 listeners at a concert in Bourges, France, and also performed at the Olympia in Paris. Salsa Internacional 83, released in 1983, divided its recording between Paris and New York. Azuquita eventually returned to the United States. Pianist Oscar Hernández, whose credits include work with Libre, Ray Barretto and Rubén Blades, produced and performed on 1988’s Azucar A Granel!, for which trumpeter José Febles served as musical director and principal arranger; the album’s launch prompted a concert at the New Morning in Paris. Embracing the salsa romántica movement, he released Amantes Secretos in 1989, with Isidro Infante credited for production, musical direction, keyboards and arrangements. In 1995 Azuquita obtained French citizenship.