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Miguelito Valdés
Miguelito Valdés (September 6, 1912 – November 9, 1978), also known as Mr. Babalú, was a renowned Cuban singer. His performances were characterized by a strong voice and a particular sense of ''cubanismo''. Life Miguelito Valdés was born as Miguel Ángel Eugenio Lázaro Zacarías Izquierdo Valdés Hernández on September 6, 1912 in Havana. His father was Spanish and his mother was Mexican from Yucatán. He was born in Belén (in Old Havana), and moved to another barrio, Cayo Hueso (in Centro Habana), when his father died. In his youth he worked as an auto mechanic and was a good amateur boxer. In 1934 he won the Amateur Championship of Cuba at his weight. One of his closest friends from his days in the barrio was Chano Pozo, and in his singing style he has been called "as black a white guy as you would meet in Havana". In 1936 he married Vera Eskildsen, an aristocrate from Panama City with whom he had a son, Juan Miguel Valdés Eskildsen. In 1968 he lived in Palm Springs, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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.Cuba ''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. The city has a population of 2.3million inhabitants, and it spans a total of – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the List of metropolitan areas in the West Indies, fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city of Havana was founded by the Spanish Empire, Spanish in the 16th century, it served as a springboard for the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish conquest of the Americas becoming a stopping point for Spanish galleons returning to Spain. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
María Teresa Vera
María Teresa Vera (February 6, 1895 in Guanajay – December 17, 1965 in Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer. She was an outstanding example of the Cuban trova movement. Career She started her career as a singer in 1911 in a theatre where she sang the criolla ''Mercedes'' of Manuel Corona. Her first guitar teacher was the cigar-roller José Díaz. Manuel Corona continued her musical education by explaining such things as the different methods for first and second guitar, and eventually taught her his compositions. She formed a duo with Rafael Zequeira from 1916 until 1924 when he fell ill and died. They made over a hundred recordings together in New York, most of which have not survived. Then she met Carlos Godinez, a composer, who taught her more about the guitar; the friendship lasted until his death in 1950. She then formed the Sexteto Occidente in 1925 with Miguel García as first voice, clavé and Director (because he knew most about music), Ignacio Pi� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight To Rhythm
''Flight to Rhythm'', also known as ''The Delora Bueno Show'', was an early American television program which aired on the DuMont Television Network, and was produced by Bob Loewi (1911–1981), son of DuMont executive Mortimer Loewi (1888–1967) . Broadcast history The series ran from March to September 1949, and was a musical program hosted by Brazilian vocalist and musician Delora Bueno (1925–2012). The program, produced and distributed by DuMont, was originally titled ''The Delora Bueno Show'', and aired Thursday nights at 7pm ET on most DuMont affiliates.Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. . In May, the series was retitled ''Flight to Rhythm'' and was expanded to thirty minutes. The revamped production was set in a fictional Brazilian nightclub called "Club Rio" with Nick the Bartender (Ralph Statley) hosting each episode. In addition to Bueno, ''Flight'' featured Larry Carr and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer, and began operation on June 28, 1942.Weinstein, David (2004). ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'', p. 16. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. . The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, a freeze on new television stations in 1948 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that restricted the network's growth, and even the company's partner, Paramount Pictures. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television's biggest stars of the 1950s—Jackie Gleason—the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machito
Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. Ginell, Richard S. ''Biography''. Allmusic, 2011/ref> He was raised in Havana with the singer Graciela, his foster sister. In New York City, Machito formed the Afro-Cubans in 1940, and with Mario Bauzá as musical director, brought together Cuban rhythms and big band arrangements in one group. He made numerous recordings from the 1940s to the 1980s, many with Graciela as singer. Machito changed to a smaller ensemble format in 1975, touring Europe extensively. He brought his son and daughter into the band, and received a Grammy Award in 1983, one year before he died. Machito's music had an effect on the careers of many musicians who played in the Afro-Cubans over the years, and on those who were attracted to Latin jazz after hearing him. George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tito Rodríguez
Pablo Rodríguez Lozada (January 4, 1923 – February 28, 1973), better known as Tito Rodríguez, was a Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He started his career singing under the tutelage of his brother, Johnny Rodríguez. In the 1940s, both moved to New York, where Tito worked as a percussionist in several popular rhumba ensembles, before directing his own group to great success during the 1950s. His most prolific years coincided with the peak of the mambo and cha-cha-cha dance craze. He also recorded boleros, sones, guarachas and pachangas. Rodríguez is known by many fans as "El Inolvidable" (The Unforgettable One), a moniker based on his most popular song, a bolero written by Cuban composer Julio Gutiérrez. Early years Rodríguez was born in Barrio Obrero, Santurce, Puerto Rico, to José Rodríguez Fuentes from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, and Severina Lozada from Holguín, Cuba. During his childhood he aspired to be a jockey and tried out racing horses at Hipódrom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noro Morales
Norosbaldo Morales (January 4, 1911 – January 15, 1964) was a Puerto Rican pianist and bandleader. Biography Morales was born in the subbarrio Puerta de Tierra of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and learned several instruments as a child. He played in Venezuela from 1924 to 1930, then returned to Puerto Rico to play with Rafael Muñoz. He emigrated to New York City in 1935, and played there with Alberto Socarras and Augusto Cohen. In 1939, he and brothers Humberto and Esy put together the Brothers Morales Orchestra. He released the tune "Serenata Ritmica" on Decca Records in 1942, which catapulted him to fame in the Latin music scene, then dominated by rhumba and later by mambo. His band rivaled Machito's in popularity in New York in the 1940s. It was during this time that his orchestra played for the Havana Madrid nightclub. His lush 1952 ''Mambo with Noro'' 10" album is a landmark in conjunto latin music, a classic mambo album that was part of the 1950s mambo craze, showing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat (; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria before and after World War II. He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur. The personal papers of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Life and career Cugat was born Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu * ''One, Two, Three, Kick – Congas'' (Victor, 1941) * ''Cugat's Favorite Rhumbas'' (Columbia, 1945) * ''In Santiago, Chile'' (Tain't Chilly At All) (Columbia], 1948) * ''Siesta'' (Columbia, 1948) * ''Tropical Bouquets'' (Columbia, 1949) * ''Relaxing with Cugat'' (Columbia, 1952) * ''Dancetime with Cugat'' (RCA Victor, 1953) * ''Cugat's Favorite Rhumbas'' (Columbia, 1954) * ''Ole!'' (Columbia, 1955) * ''Mambo at the Waldorf'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4 p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader. He played the tres, as well as the tumbadora, and he specialized in son, rumba and other Afro-Cuban music styles. In the 1940s and 1950s Rodríguez established the ''conjunto'' format and contributed to the development of the son montuno, the basic template of modern-day salsa. He claimed to be the true creator of the mambo and was an important as well as a prolific composer who wrote nearly two hundred songs. Despite being blind since the age of seven, Rodríguez quickly managed to become one of Cuba's foremost ''treseros''. Nonetheless, his first hit, "Bruca maniguá" by Orquesta Casino de la Playa, came as a songwriter in 1937. For the following two years, Rodríguez worked as composer and guest guitarist for the Casino de la Playa, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruca Maniguá
"Bruca maniguá" is an afro-son composed by Arsenio Rodríguez in 1937. It was first recorded by Orquesta Casino de la Playa featuring Miguelito Valdés on vocals in June 1937. Ever since it has become a Cuban son standard, with famous versions by Abelardo Barroso, Sierra Maestra, Buena Vista Social Club and Ibrahim Ferrer. The song, which has been called "a landmark in the development of Cuban popular music" by Ned Sublette, was Arsenio Rodríguez's first hit and an example of his Afro-Cuban style of son within the afrocubanismo movement. History Both the lyrics and the music of the song were written in 1937 by Arsenio Rodríguez, who at the time was 25 years old and the ''de facto'' musical director of the Septeto Bellamar, which he had joined in 1934. The popularity of the group made him become acquainted with important musicians such as Antonio Arcaño and Miguelito Valdés. The latter was the singer of the famous big band Orquesta Casino de la Playa and in June 1937, Valdés ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA-Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country. Its name is derived from the initials of its defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA Records was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment after the 2004 merger of BMG and Sony; it was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. RCA Records is the corporate successor of the Victor Talking Machine Company, founded in 1901, making it the second-oldest record label in American history, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panama
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 Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's million people. Panama was inhabited by indigenous tribes before Spanish colonists arrived in the 16th century. It broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela. After Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada eventually became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the United States Army Corps of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
