Cuban reedman Paquito D'Rivera was in the audience and offered him a place in his band. On a recommendation, without hearing him, Puente asked Camilo to play.

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. 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. His influences at this time also included Horace Silver, Errol Garner, and the ragtime music of Scott Joplin. Then I found out it was jazz.'Ĭamilo studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory, and whilst developing his strong classical abilities was also heavily influenced by the bop tradition, and by the contemporary jazz of Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. I just wanted to soak it in, to learn to play that style. I heard the great Art Tatum on the radio playing his solo piano rendition of 'Tea for Two.' That immediately caught my ear. 'The first time I heard jazz was when I was 14 and a half. Camilo comments on his first encounter with the sounds of jazz, in an interview with the All About Jazz website: 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.

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

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