Puntillita (Manuel Licea Lamouth; January 4, 1921 in Yareyal,

Holguín Holguín () is a municipality and city in Cuba, and the capital of Province of Holguín. After Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey, it is the fourth largest city in Cuba. History Before Columbus, the Taino people settled in huts made fro ...

– December 4, 2000 in

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.

) was a

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 popular singer. Puntillita was active in the 1940s and 1950s, and later gained notice when he joined other elderly Cuban musicians to form the Afro-Cuban All Stars and the associated group of singers who recorded the ''

Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club is an ensemble of Cuban musicians established in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and directed by Juan de Marcos González. They named the gr ...

'' with American guitarist Ry Cooder.

Career

Puntillita was a member of the ''Hermanos Licea'' in the 1940s in Camagüey. He began singing with the ''Orquesta Escorcia'', and played percussion in the ''Orquesta Tentación''. In 1945 he went to Havana to sing in trumpeter

Julio Cueva Julio Cueva (Trinidad, Cuba, 12 April 1897 – Havana, 25 December 1975) was a Cuban trumpeter, composer and band leader. He was an important figure in the spread of Cuban popular music in the 1930s. Life and career Cueva played cornet in the lo ...

's band. He got his nickname from ''Son de la puntillita'', which he sang with this band. He went on to achieve huge popularity in the 1950s as a soloist on ''Radio Cadena Habana''. 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 ...

he performed at ''El Patio'', singing with Celia Cruz and

Beny Moré Beny or Bény may refer to: Given name * Beny Alagem (born 1953), Israeli-American businessman * Beny Parnes (born 1959), Brazilian economist * Beny Primm (1928–2015), American physician and HIV/AIDS researcher * Beny Steinmetz Beny Stei ...

. With the conjunto ''Gloria Matancera'' he played at the ''Cabaret Antillano''. In the 1990s,

Juan de Marcos González Juan de Marcos González (born Juan de Marcos González-Cárdenas; January 29, 1954) is a Cuban bandleader, musician and actor, best known for his work with the Buena Vista Social Club and in the 2021 Sony Pictures Animation film '' Vivo'' as the ...

approached Puntillita to join the Afro-Cuban All Stars, which featured many musicians from Havana's pre-revolutionary era. He toured Colombia and Europe with the group. Puntillita was also later asked by Gonzalez to appear with Ry Cooder in the Buena Vista Social Club. Puntillita sang with

Ibrahim Ferrer Ibrahim Ferrer (February 20, 1927 – August 6, 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental and Mario Patterson. After his retirement in ...

and guitarist

Eliades Ochoa Eliades Ochoa Bustamante (born 22 June 1946) is a Cuban guitarist and singer from Loma de la Avispa, Songo La Maya in the east of the country near Santiago de Cuba. He began playing the guitar when he was six and in 1978 he was invited to joi ...

on ''Cuarto de Tula'' and sang lead on

La Bayamesa "" (, ) is the national anthem of Cuba. It was first performed in 1868, during the . Perucho Figueredo, who took part in the battle, wrote and composed the song. The melody, also called "" (), was composed by Figueredo in 1867. Overview On Oct ...

, the Cuban national anthem. The record won a Grammy in 1998.Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. Vol 3, p273 He died in 2000, aged 79.

References

External links

Manuel 'Puntillita' Licea Lamot obituary
{{authority control 1921 births 2000 deaths People from Holguín 20th-century Cuban male singers Buena Vista Social Club

Career

See also

References

External links