Biography
Carlitos Del Puerto is a Grammy award winning bassist, composer and arranger from Cuba. As the son of world famous Cuban bass player, Carlos Del Puerto, one of the founders and original member of the group Irakere, as well as distinguished professor and author of the book, The True Cuban Bass, used in several prestigious conservatories such Berklee College of Music, Carlitos’ musical ability came naturally.
Since his arrival in the United States from Cuba, Carlitos has been in great demand, performing and recording with a broad range of acclaimed international stars such as Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz, Don Grusin, Ricky Martin, Gloria Gainor, Paquito De Rivera, Patti Labelle, John Secada, Sheila E, Alejandra Guzman, Diego Torres, and Joan Sebastian. In a span of only ten years, Carlitos has played on numerous famous recordings, including one of the best selling Cuban albums of all time, Cubanismo. He’s proud to have recorded and performed with the best there is: pianist Chucho Valdez, Roy Hargrove, David Sanchez, Danilo Perez Gonzalo Ruvalcava, Steve Coleman, Frank Emilio, Oscar Castro Neves, Jose Maria Vitier, and Jane Bunnett, just to name a few. Bass Player magazine has consulted and quoted Carlitos numerous times in their features on Cuban bass technique. In 1996 He was personally invited for the second consecutive year to perform with his impressive quartet at the International Montreal Jazz Festival.
Most recently, Carlitos del Puerto has added many recordings and live projects to his credit and has expanded into the areas of film music recording, television shows, music videos, such as Michael Jackson’s “You Rock My World,” and international commercials, most recently for Bose Systems with Herbie Hancock. Also, he completed the soundtrack for the HBO movie “Havana Nocturne” with Arturo Sandoval.