Spirit of the moment michel camilo biography

Dominican pianist and composer

Musical artist

Michel Camilo (born April 4, 1954) is a Dominican pianist and composer. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work.

Spirit of the moment michel camilo biography

Background and career

Camilo was born into a musical family and as a young child showed aptitude for the accordion that his parents gave him. Although he enjoyed the accordion, it was his grandparents' piano that sparked his interest the most, so at the age of 9 he asked his parents to buy him one.

Their response was to first send him to the Elementary Music School, part of the National Conservatory, and then a year later to grant his wish.

The formal system of the music school taught Camilo to play in the classical style, and by age 16 he was playing with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic.^[1] Camilo comments on his first encounter with the sounds of jazz, in an interview^[2] with the All About Jazz website:

"The first time I heard jazz wa