Fernando Arbello (May 30, 1906 – July 26, 1970) was a Puerto Rican

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trombonist and composer who spent most of his career in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

, to Eladio Arbelo and Raimunda Cruz, he was the second of seven children and first started on trombone at the age of 12. He later attended the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music in Ponce. He played locally in high-school bands and

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s before moving to

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 ...

in the mid-1920s, where he played with Earle Howard, Wilbur De Paris, June Clark, and

Bingie Madison Bingie Madison (October 12, 1901 – July 1978) was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. Madison began his career as a pianist, based in Des Moines, Iowa, and then touring Canada and California in 1921. He played with Bobby Brown ( ...

. Early in the 1930s, he played intermittently with

Claude Hopkins Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader. Biography Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his ...

for several years, then worked with

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. The ...

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical ...

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing music, swing and rhythm and blues, rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang ...

Billy Hicks Billy Gene Hicks (May 29, 1927 – October 7, 2016) was an American moving target shooter who distinguished himself in competitions around the world and the United States from 1955 to 1981. He was considered to be one of the foremost moving targ ...

, and

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

, before returning to play under Hopkins again near the end of the 1930s. In 1940, Arbello worked for a few months with

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

, then led his own unsuccessful band briefly in 1940–1941. Later that year, he played again in Henderson's ensemble, then with

Marty Marsala Martin Samuel "Marty" Marsala (2 April 1908 – 27 April 1975) was an Americans, American jazz trumpeter born in Chicago, perhaps best known for working from 1926-1946 with his brother Joe Marsala in a big band in New York City and Chicago. H ...

(1941) and

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, ...

(1942–1946). He led his own band again late in the 1940s, maintaining it for several years, though he never recorded with this outfit. In 1953 he played with

Rex Stewart Rex William Stewart Jr. (February 22, 1907 – September 7, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Career As a boy he studied piano and violin; most of his career was spent on cornet. Stewart dro ...

and played in a reunion band with Henderson once more; in 1960 he was a sideman for

Machito Frank Grillo (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo; December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) known professionally as Machito (previously as Macho), was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music ...

. He returned to Puerto Rico later in life, but regularly visited New York. In 1970, while visiting family in the Bronx, he fell ill and was hospitalized, where he subsequently died of a heart attack. Arbello is buried in

Ferncliff Cemetery Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is a cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, United States, about north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Ferncliff has columbariums, a crematory, a small chapel, and a main office loca ...

and was survived by his wife, six children, and grandchildren.

References

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

, Fernando Arbelloat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbello, Fernando 1906 births 1970 deaths Puerto Rican jazz musicians American jazz trombonists Male trombonists 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Musicians from Ponce Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery