Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban pianist and a leading composer/arranger of the day. He composed music for stage shows and films, and some famous Cuban dance music.Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. vol 2, p175 Eliseo was one of three musical brothers, all composers, the others being Emilio (Neno','' 1901–1941) and Ernesto (1908–1981). Emilio went on composing even after having a leg bitten off by a
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
Grenet began piano lessons at the age of five, with his mother as an instructor. He entered Cuba's National Conservatory at the age of ten. Eliseo studied music under Mercedes Valenzuela and Leandro Simón Guergué, the father of
Moisés Simons
Moisés Simons (born Moisés Simón Rodríguez; 24 August 1889 in Havana, Cuba – 28 June 1945 in Madrid, Spain),zarzuela
() is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name o ...
s. Later he joined the company of Regino López at the ''Teatro Cubano''.
In 1925 Grenet founded a jazz band which played in the cabaret ''Montmartre'' and the ''Jockey Club''. The line-up included Grenet (piano); Manolo Castro (
alto sax
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller th ...
); José Ramón Betancourt (
tenor sax
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...
); Pedro Mercado (
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
); Jorge Bolet (piano sub); Enrique Santiesteban (percussion and singer). In 1927 came the premiere of the zarzuela ''La Niña Rita, o La Habana de 1830'' at the ''Teatro Regina'', with music by Grenet and Ernesto Lecuona. In this zarzuela, Grenet's number, the tango-congo ''Ay, Mamá Inéz'', became a huge hit, and remains popular today and is often heard at wedding receptions. Its origins lie in a
comparsa
A comparsa is a group of singers, musicians and dancers that take part in carnivals and other festivities in Spain and Latin America. Its precise meaning depends on the specific regional celebration. The most famous comparsas are those that part ...
number of 1868, and in its new guise became one of the signature numbers for the vedette
Rita Montaner
Rita Aurelia Fulcida Montaner y Facenda (20 August 1900 – 17 April 1958), known as Rita Montaner, was a Cuban singer, pianist and actress. In Cuban parlance, she was a '' vedette'' (a star), and was well known in Mexico City, Paris, Miami and ...
. In 1930 he set a number of Nicolas Guillén's poems ''Motivos del son'' to music.
Grenet left Cuba for Barcelona, Spain in 1932 after falling foul of some of
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933.
Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...
's henchmen, for the lyric of his ''Lamento cubano'', which had the line:
:''Ay Cuba hermosa, primorosa, por qué sufres hoy tantos quebrantos?'' (Beautiful Cuba, why do you suffer such troubles isruptiontoday?)
He returned after Machado was forced out of office. Whilst abroad in Spain he directed the orchestra for the
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
''La virgen morena'', in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
. Next, in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, he directed the same work. In Paris, too, he played piano at La Cueva, the nightclub he partly owned, in the resident band of
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 l ...
. There he joined his brother Ernesto, who played percussion. It was here that playing ''La comparsa de los congos'', that he realized the potential of this carnival rhythm. It has been said that he introduced the
conga
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...
to America, and this may or may not be true. The
Lecuona Cuban Boys
The Lecuona Cuban Boys (Spanish: ''Muchachos cubanos de Lecuona'') was a popular Cuban orchestra which toured the world for over forty years.
The band was founded by Ernesto Lecuona, whose role was that of a patron-entrepreneur. He did not actual ...
, a touring band, were writing and playing congas at the same time.
In 1936 he founded the night-club ''El Yumurí'', on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. This which featured a local Puerto Rican group led by Pedro Flores, and a cabaret. In 1938 Grenet presented the review ''La Conga'' in his club, and later put on a spectacular at the ''Teatro Hispano'' in New York, with the leading Cuban singer Panchito Riset (Havana, 21 October 1911–New York, 8 August 1988).Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana. vol 4, p27 for Riset.
Summary of main compositions
Grenet wrote, arranged and sometimes directed music for a number of musical stage shows and films, and recorded for
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
History
1916–1929
Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...
. Overall, his style and influence was part of the afrocubanismo movement between the two
world wars
A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...
.
Film music
He wrote film music for ''La Princesa Tam-tam'', starring
Josephine Baker
Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...
(Paris); ''Escándalo de estrellas'', ''Conga bar'' and ''Estampas coloniales'' featuring Miguelito Valdés, (
México City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
); ''Milonga de arrabal'', (
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
); ''Noches cubanas'', (New York); and ''Susana tiene un secreto'', (
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
).
Lyric theatre
Music for the following zarzuelas and other musical theatre: ''La toma de Veracruz'', premiered in 1914 in the Teatro Alhambra (Havana), ''Bohemia'', ''Como las golondrinas'', ''El mendigo'', ''El santo del hacendado'', ''El submarino cubano'', ''El tabaquero'' (libretto: Arquimedes Pous), ''La camagüeyana'' (premiered in Barcelona 1935), ''La virgen morena'', ''Mi peregrina maldita'', ''La Niña Rita, o La Habana en 1830'', music co-authored with Ernesto Lecuona.
Recorded pieces
Grenet wrote, amongst many other numbers, ''Las perlas de tu boca'', ''El sitierito'', ''Lamento esclavo'', ''Tabaco verde'', ''La comparsa de los congos'', ''La mora'', ''México'', ''La princesa tam-tam'', ''Papá Montero'', ''Rica pulpa'', ''Mi vida es cantar'', ''Lamento cubano'', ''Negro bembón'', ''Tu no sabe inglé'', ''Sóngoro cosongo'', ''Ay! Mamá Inés'' (aka "Mama Inez") .
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...