Omar Ruben Rada Silva (born 16 July 1943) is a Uruguayan percussionist, composer, and singer. He is closely associated with

candombe ''Candombe'' is a style of music and dance that originated in Uruguay among the descendants of liberated African slaves. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed ''candombe'' in its Repre ...

, a genre built around a chorus of ''tamboriles'', Uruguayan barrel drums. Rada has recorded more than thirty albums. His music, labelled ''candombe beat'', combines pop, rock, and other styles with Uruguayan sounds, such as candombe drums and

murga Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed in Montevideo, Uruguay, Panama, Argentina and Badajoz, Spain during the Carnival season. Murga groups also operate in the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo; ...

choruses. Rada has composed some of Uruguay's most cherished songs.

Career

In 1965, he and Eduardo Mateo formed the band . This was the first group in Uruguay to create the beat genre in Spanish (Castilian) and to fuse rock with Latin American musical styles. In 1969 the success of his Candombe song "Las Manzanas" ("The Apples") led to his first solo album and participation in the Festival of Popular Music in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A year later he formed the band

Tótem Tótem was an Uruguayan rock band formed in the early 1970s. One of the most important massive phenomena of Uruguayan music and represented the height of the Candombe beat. Band members 1971 *Ruben Rada (lead voice and percussion) *Eduardo Uset ...

. He has recorded more than thirty albums. In 1977, he traveled to the United States after an invitation by the Fattoruso Brothers to play with the group OPA. Over the next year, he performed with Tom Scott,

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

Hermeto Pascoal Hermeto Pascoal (born June 22, 1936) is a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in Lagoa da Canoa, Alagoas, Brazil. Pascoal is a significant figure in the history of Brazilian music, mainly known for his abilities in orches ...

, and

Flora Purim Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with nu ...

. Between 1991 and 1994, he settled in Mexico, where he worked as a composer and arranger for local musicians such as Mijares, Eugenia León, Stephanie Salas, and

Tania Libertad Tania Libertad de Souza Zúñiga (born October 24, 1952) known professionally as Tania Libertad, is a Peruvian-Mexican singer in the World Music genre. Libertad was named an Ambassador for Peace by UNESCO, Comendadora by the Peruvian government, a ...

. In 1994 he shared the spotlight with

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

and

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

at the Palacio de Deportes in Mexico City. Rada has achieved renown outside the country and recorded under international labels, including

EMI Latin Capitol Latin (formerly EMI Latin) is a brand of Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group. Previously, it was a subsidiary of EMI. History In 1989, José Behar, the former head of CBS Discos, signed Selena to E ...

and

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. His songs are played worldwide and have been recorded by

Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his alb ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

, and

Lani Hall Lani Hall (born November 6, 1945) is an American singer, lyricist, and author. From 1966 to 1971 she performed as lead vocalist for Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66. In 1972 Hall released her first solo album, ''Sun Down Lady''. She may be best know ...

. He was invited by

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

and

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

to appear on their albums ''Deseo'' and ''Utopía'', respectively. British singer

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento are among his admirers. His albums ''Montevideo'' (1996) and ''Montevideo II'' (1999) were recorded in New York City with

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Jap ...

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

, José Pedro Beledo,

Hugo Fattoruso Hugo Fattoruso was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1943. Fattoruso is a composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and vocalisAs well as developing a career as a soloist, he has participated and performed in many different genres: Trio Fattoruso ...

Bakithi Kumalo Bakithi Kumalo (; born 10 May 1956) is a South African bassist, composer, and vocalist. Kumalo is most known for his fretless bass playing on Paul Simon's 1986 album ''Graceland'', in particular the bass run on "You Can Call Me Al". Biography and ...

, and Ringo Thielmann. ''Montevideo'' reached platinum sales in Uruguay He voiced the part of Lucius Best/

Frozone The following is a list of fictional characters from the 2004 Disney/Pixar computer-animated superhero film ''The Incredibles'' and its 2018 sequel ''Incredibles 2''. The Parr Family (The Incredibles) Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) Robert "Bob" Pa ...

in the 2004 Argentinian dubbing of ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah V ...

''. He has directed radio and TV shows, such as ''Radar'' (radio) and ''El Teléfono'' (TV). Beginning in October 2007, he starred in the television sitcom ''La Oveja Negra'' (''The Black Sheep''). In April 2010, the third round of the series ''LifeLines'' at the

Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of the World's Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and so ...

in Berlin paid tribute to Rubén Rada. Three days of concerts and discussions took place about his life and career as part of the Bicentenario, focusing on 200 years of independence movements in Latin America. Also in 2010, Rada recorded a show in the Argentine program ''Encuentro en El Estudio'', which is run by that country's Ministry of Education.

Discography

The albums '' Magic Time'' (Opa – Fantasy Records), ''Montevideo'', and ''Montevideo II'' (Big World) were released in the U.S., Japan, France, Italy, Sweden, and Germany.

Released in Uruguay

* 1968 ''Circa 1968'' (Sondor) * 1969 ''Las Manzanas'' (Sondor) * 1970 ''Musicasión 4 ½'' (Sondor) * 1971 ''Totem'' (Sondor) * 1972 ''Descarga'' (Sondor) * 1972 ''Rada'' (Sondor) * 1974 ''Camerata Punta del Este'' (Sondor) * 1975 ''Radeces'' (Ayui) * 1987 ''Botija de mi pais'' (Sondor) * 1991 ''Fisico de Rock'' (Sondor) * 1992 ''Concierto por la vida'' (Orfeo) * 1993 ''Lo mejor de Rada'' Vol. I (Sondor) * 1996 ''Botijas Band con Ruben Rada'' (Orfeo) * 1996 ''Montevideo'' (Big World) * 1997 ''Miscelanea Negra'' (Ayui) * 1998 ''Black'' (Universal) * 1999 ''Rada Para Ninos'' (Zapatito) * 1999 ''Montevideo Dos'' (Big World) * 2000 ''¿Quien va a Cantar?'' (Universal) * 2001 ''Suenos de Nino'' (Zapatito) * 2003 ''Alegre Caballero'' (Zapatito) * 2004 ''Rubenra'' (Zapatito) * 2005 ''Candombe Jazz Tour'' (EMI) * 2006 ''Richie Silver'' (EMI) * 2007 ''Varsovia'' con Javier Malosetti (Zapatito/Oday) * 2008 ''Bailongo'' (Sony) * 2009 ''Fan'' (MMG) * 2011 ''Confidence, Rada Instrumental'' (MMG) * 2015 ''Tango, milonga y candombe'' (MMG)

Released in Argentina

* 1974 ''S.O.S.'' * 1980 ''La Banda'' * 1981 ''La Rada'' * 1982 ''En Familia'' * 1983 ''La Cosa Se Pone Negra'' * 1984 ''Adar Nebur'' * 1986 ''La Yapla Mata'' * 1987 ''Siete Vidas'' * 1989 ''Pa' los Uruguayos'' (Melopea) * 1990 ''Las aventuras de R. Rada y Litto Nebbia''(Melopea) * 1991 ''Las aventuras de R. Rada y H. Fattoruso'' (Melopea) * 1991 ''Terapia de Murga'' (Melopea) * 1997 ''Montevideo'' (Argendisc) * 1997 ''Miscelanea Negra'' (Aqua) * 1998 ''Black'' (Universal) * 2000 ''Quien Va a Cantar'' (Universal) * 2003 ''Alegre Caballero'' (EMI) * 2004 ''Rubenra'' (EMI) * 2005 ''Candombe Jazz Tour'' (EMI) * 2006 ''Richie Silver'' (EMI) * 2007 ''Varsovia''(Ruben Rada/Javier Malosetti) (Sony) * 2008 ''Bailongo'' (Sony) * 2010 ''Fan'' (Sony) * 2011 ''Confidence, Rada Instrumental'' (Sony) * 2015 ''Tango, milonga y candombe'' (MMG)

Filmography

* ' (1986) * ''

El chevrolé EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

'' (1999) *'' Porque te quiero así'' (2011)

Personal life

Rada, an

Afro-Uruguayan Afro-Uruguayans are Uruguayans of predominantly African descent. The majority of Afro-Uruguayans are in Montevideo. History For most of the colonial period, the port of Buenos Aires (see Afro-Argentines) served as the exclusive entry point for e ...

, is of partial Brazilian descent through his mother.

References

External links

*
Article on culturebase.net: "Uruguay’s Undiscovered Giant"

The Latin Recording Academy press release 2011 Special Awards

"Afro-Uruguayan innovator Ruben RADA Receives 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from The Latin Recording Academy"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rada, Ruben 1943 births Living people Afro-Uruguayan Musicians from Montevideo Singers from Montevideo Uruguayan musicians 20th-century Uruguayan male singers Uruguayan songwriters Male songwriters Uruguayan jazz musicians Uruguayan percussionists 21st-century Uruguayan male singers Grammy Award winners Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Latin music songwriters Uruguayan people of Brazilian descent Male jazz musicians Opa (Uruguayan band) members Recipients of the Delmira Agustini Medal