The “Golden Hits Of The 50s”
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CATERINA VALENTE
“THE BREEZE AND I”
Decca 29467
No. 8 May 14, 1955
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Caterina (b. Jan. 14, 1931, Paris) was born into a world of entertainment. Her Italian mama Maria,
billed as “The Female Grock;’ was a famous down; Daddy, a Spaniard, was an accordion virtuoso who
went by the name of Di Zazzo.As her show biz family toured about, Caterina learned to play guitar and
to speak and sing fluently in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Swedish.
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In 1952, Caterina married a German juggler named Eric Van Aro and became a circus singer. The
following year, she auditioned and won the front spot in Kurt Edelhagen’s band. Her second disk,
“The Breeze And 1;’ a Cuban song (written by Ernesto Lecuona, known also for writing “Malaguena”)
sung in German, became her prime pop moment in the United States. No further recordings charted.
She toured the U.S. and performed on “The Colgate Comedy Hour;’ but turned down the offer to appear
in any American films. In 1964, she costarred with comedians Carol Burnett and Bob New hart in the
syndicated variety series “The Entertainers” (1964-1965).
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In the ’60s, she scored numerous European hits with such tunes as “ltsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie; ‘”Quando,
Quando, Quando,”and “Pepe:’In the mid ’70s, Cateri na married British jazz man Roy Budd, her music
director and producer of her album Caterina 86 (1988), a project that featured the Count Basie
Orchestra. While her visibility has diminished in this country, Caterina Valente is well known in Europe
as a singer, dancer, and actress.