Orlando Poleo

Born around 1965 in Caracas, Venezuela, Poleo took up percussion instruments during his earliest years and spent time studying under the locally noted teacher Julio Mendez. Growing increasingly drawn to African forms, he received further instruction from Miguel Urbina. His abilities led to performances and frequent recording sessions alongside numerous prominent South American musicians, while his reputation also spread across North America and, in particular, Europe; the artists he worked with in the studio included Adrenalina, Clarox, Sergio Pérez, Alberto Naranjo, Gerardo Rosales, Pablo Gil, and Saxomania.

French enthusiasm for his playing prompted repeated visits, and beginning in the early 1990s he divided much of his time between residence in Paris and festival appearances throughout the country. He further supported visiting musicians from the Americas, sharing bills with Irakere, Arturo Sandoval, Mongo Santamaría, and others. Poleo issued his first recording under his own name in the mid-1990s, the album Cimarroneando, which featured collaborations with the flautists Orlando ‘Maraca’ Valle and Dave Valentin. Additional musicians appearing on his subsequent releases comprised the trumpeters Phillipe Slominski, Tony Russo, and Christian Martinez, the saxophonists Bobby Rangell and Allen Hoist, the pianists Julio Font and Gerardo Dí Gíusto, the bassist Xavier Padilla, the percussionists André Céccarelli, Luis Viloria, and Robert Vilera, and the vocalists Orlando Blanco and Carlos Esposito.

Many selections on these albums were Poleo’s own compositions, among them ‘Publicidad Gratuita’, ‘Je T’Apporte La Salsa’, and ‘Tema De Chaworo’; his co-writers on various pieces included Valle, Font, Dí Gíusto, and Padilla. Although most of the sessions took place in Caracas, he simultaneously directed the Paris-based ensemble Chaworo and performed at festivals during the late 1990s in Marciac, Nimes, and additional locations, including a London appearance alongside David Sanchez.