Carlos Valverde
Carlos Valverde
Carlos Valverde (Charlie) was born in Corpus Christi, TX, in 1947. His family moved to Detroit, in 1952, where he still resides. He attended Western High School in Detroit where he took vocal lessons and was selected to sing solo the song "Maria" from West Side Story at age fourteen
His Teen years were spent hanging out at practice sessions of one local group known as The Latin Counts where he could listen and sometimes harmonize with them.
In 1967, at age 20 Carlos was appointed Business Agent for AFL-CIO Local 1991 and was elected Vice President of the same union, but, continued to attend the practice sessions for The Latin Counts and occasionally joined them on stage
Carlos pursued a career as a Detroit Police Officer in 1977 and retired in 2001. During his law enforcement career he pursued his musical interest by singing whenever he could at local clubs or parties and still maintained his friendship with The Latin Counts which included Andy Alonzo and Stuart Avig.
Prior to 2007, Carlos had never sang with a vocal group professional until The Shades of Blue invited him to audition for them. His understanding of the history of harmonizing and the hard work it takes to attain the perfection required by The Shades of Blue, he is honored to be the fourth member of the group.
Finally, Carlos is enjoying his lifetime dream of performing with the group and singing the music he has always considered a huge part of his life.
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