Orlando Guerra (''gayr'-rah''; September 14, 1920 – March 20, 1973), better known as Cascarita, was a popular

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n singer who specialized in

guaracha The guaracha () is a genre of music that originated in Cuba, of rapid tempo and comic or picaresque lyrics. The word had been used in this sense at least since the late 18th and early 19th century. Guarachas were played and sung in musical thea ...

and

son montuno Son montuno is a subgenre of son cubano developed by Arsenio Rodríguez in the 1940s. Although ''son montuno'' ("mountain sound") had previously referred to the ''sones'' played in the mountains of eastern Cuba, Arsenio repurposed the term to de ...

. He became one of Cuba's most famous vocalists as a member of Julio Cueva's big band and

Orquesta Casino de la Playa Orquesta Casino de la Playa, founded in 1937 in Havana, Cuba, was a band that bridged Cuban popular music and the sound of American Jazz Big Bands. It was led by tres player Arsenio Rodríguez, and launched the career of many important musicians in ...

in the 1940s.

Life and career

Early life and career

Guerra was born on September 14, 1920 in Camagüey, the third-largest city of

and the capital of

Camagüey Province Camagüey () is the largest of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Camagüey. Other towns include Florida and Nuevitas. Geography Camagüey is mostly low lying, with no major hills or mountain ranges passing through the province. Numerous la ...

. Guerra started his professional career in his native Camagüey and

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in the early 1940s, and made his name singing in highly successful big bands. In 1942 he joined Hermanos Palau. The same year he recorded with Pepito Torres' Orquesta Siboney in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, and in 1943 he and several other members of the Palau, spearheaded by Julio Cueva, founded a new big band with the arrangements of pianist René Hernández. After the departure of Miguelito Valdés, the lead singer of

, to New York in 1940, Cascarita became the main big band vocalist in Cuba. In Cueva's band, he was accompanied on vocals by René Márquez and

Manuel "Puntillita" Licea Puntillita (Manuel Licea Lamouth; January 4, 1921 in Yareyal, Holguín – December 4, 2000 in Havana) was a Cuban popular singer. Puntillita was active in the 1940s and 1950s, and later gained notice when he joined other elderly Cuban musicians ...

. The owner of a highly personal style of vocalizing, he had an interesting sense of ease and graceful fluency to improvise, particularly interpreting guarachas, which gained him an important place in Cuban popular music history. He also became popular for his extravagant costumes and tangled sayings.

Casino de la Playa

Cascarita continued to work with Julio Cueva until 1946, when he joined

. It was through his personal recommendation that

Dámaso Pérez Prado Dámaso is a Spanish masculine given name. The name is equivalent to that of Pope Damasus I in English. The name also exists in Italian as Damaso, though it is uncommon. People * Dámaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet * Dámaso Berenguer, 1st ...

obtained the job of arranger-

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

of the orchestra. Pérez Prado had been blacklisted in Cuba from working as an arranger because his charts were "too out there". He had gone about as far as he could working for Casino de la Playa, as ''Cascarita'' was more popular than the band. The records no longer came out under the title "Casino de la Playa, featuring Cascarita", but "Cascarita accompanied by Casino de la Playa". Guerra recorded dozens of songs. Some of his greatest hits were "El baile del sillón", "El caballo y la montura", "Estoy acabando", "Llora timbero", "La ola marina", "La pelotica", "Piru, piru, pirulí", "Se murió Panchita", "Ta' bueno ya", "La última noche" and "Uampampiro", among others.

Later years and death

With the advent of young successful singers such as

Benny Moré Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez (24 August 1919 – 19 February 1963), better known as Benny Moré (also spelled Beny Moré), was a Cuban singer, bandleader and songwriter. Due to his fluid tenor voice and his great expressivity, he was k ...

, Cascarita lost much of his popularity, so he relocated to Mexico. There he joined pianist Memo Salamanca's orchestra. He died on March 20, 1973 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

at the age of 55. There are nonetheless conflicting accounts on his death. According to Juan José Reinosa he died in

Panamá Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, while Helio Orovio maintains that he died in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1975. In August 2008, Mexican writer Arturo Yáñez stated that he died in 1971 and that his remains can be found at the Panteón San Lorenzo in Tlaxcolco, Mexico.

Selected recordings

* Casino de la Playa ** Azúcar pa'un amargao' ** El baile del sillón ** El caballo y la montura ** Coge pa'la cola ** Esto es lo último ** Estoy acabando ** Llora ** La pelotica ** Quiero un sombrero ** Se murió Panchita ** Son los bobitos ** Tártara ** La última noche ** Un meneíto na'ma ** Yo pico un pan *Julio Cueva ** La butuba cubana ** Camisa sin botones ** Cerebro como plancha ** Con la comida no se juega ** El cuento del sapo ** Desintegrando ** El golpecito ** Figurina del solar ** No tengo tambó' ** Ñéngere ñéngue ** Pasito pa'lante ** Pin pin ** Piru, piru, pirulí ** La rareza del siglo ** Sabanimar ** Sacando boniato ** En tiempo de mangos *Hermanos Palau ** Acomodando ** Apriétame más ** La ola marina ** Mala maña ** Perro huevero ** Puntillita ** Rosas del pensil ** Sácale punta al lápiz ** Ta' bueno ya ** Tú verá' lo que tú va' ve ** Uampampiro ** Yo estoy aprendiendo inglés *Pepito Torres ** Ladrón de gallinas ** Llora timbero ** Un brujo en Guanabacoa

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cascarita 1920 births 1973 deaths People from Camagüey Singers from Mexico City 20th-century Cuban male singers Guaracha singers 20th-century Mexican male singers Cuban emigrants to Mexico