Michel Camilo

When the Harvard University Jazz Band visited the Dominican Republic and heard Camilo at a jam session, the bandleader encouraged him, 'You should be in the States', and so the idea was planted.

In 1979, Camilo moved to New York to study at Mannes College and at The Juilliard School, and broke onto the international stage in 1983 when Tito Puente's pianist was unable to make a concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

As well as being an outstanding performer, Camilo is a talented composer and has written scores for several Spanish language films including Los peores años de nuestra vida and the award-winning Amo tu cama rica.

Other musicians he has played with include Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera, Dizzy Gillespie, Katia Labèque, Toots Thielemans, Airto Moreira, Chuck Mangione, Stanley Turrentine, Claudio Roditi, Nancy Alvarez, Mongo Santamaría, George Benson, Eddie Palmieri, Jon Faddis, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lew Soloff, Tania Maria, Jaco Pastorius, Patato, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, Chuck Loeb, Giovanni Hidalgo, Guarionex Aquino, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Valentin, Flora Purim, Delfeayo Marsalis, Chucho Valdés, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Tomatito, John Patitucci, David Sanchez, Hiromi Uehara, Cachao, Marco Rizo, Marcus Roberts, Steve Gadd, Danilo Perez, Gary Burton, Billy Taylor, Dave Weckl, Hilton Ruiz, Roy Hargrove, Romero Lubambo, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Leny Andrade, Bireli Lagrene, Marian McPartland, Leonard Slatkin, Arturo Sandoval, Frank Colón, Aisha Syed Castro, Béla Fleck, Lou Marini, Cliff Almond, Juan Luis Guerra 4.40, Mark Walker.

Camilo is one of the ambassadors to Music Traveler GmbH, together with Billy Joel, Hans Zimmer, John Malkovich, Sean Lennon, Adrien Brody.