Arsenio Rodríguez (musician)

Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Rodríguez (born August 30, 1911 in Güira de Macurijes , Matanzas Province , Cuba , † December 30, 1970 in Los Angeles ) was a Cuban musician who is considered to be the innovator of Son montuno . As one of the most important composers of popular Cuban music , he wrote over 200 pieces.

origin

Rodríguez was born as one of fifteen children of farm worker Bonifacio Travieso and housewife Dorotea Rodríguez Scull in the small village of Güira de Macurijes , part of the municipality of Bolondrón (Matanzas province). Around 1915 the family moved to the small town of Güines in the south of what was then the province of Havana . When the city was badly damaged by a hurricane in 1926 , the family moved on to the capital Havana, where they settled in the Marianao district. In the 1930s Arsenio put the negatively connotated surname Travieso (in German about "torn") and used his mother's more neutral family name Rodríguez for his music career.

Rodríguez 'had family roots in the African Congo Basin - both his father and his father practiced the religious cult Palo Monte , to which Rodríguez was also introduced. Several texts of his sones testify to a detailed knowledge of the remnants of African languages such as Yoruba and Mandinka that have survived on the largest island in the Antilles .

youth

As a child (between the ages of seven and twelve, according to various sources in his family), Rodríguez went completely blind after receiving inadequate medical treatment after being kicked by a mule in the face. At the age of 15 he met the carpenter Victor Feliciano , who took the blind boy into his care and provided him with - at least basic - training in the only area that in his almost hopeless situation still had the prospect of a self-determined, perhaps even successful life Cuba at that time promised: music.

Feliciano taught the young Rodríguez the basics of Cuban music as well as the playing technique of some of the most important instruments, including maracas , bongos and double bass . Arsenio as he was then already known, but showed a special talent for Tres , a special Cuban variant of the guitar , the six strings (three span. Tres ) Double choirs are tuned, usually on a major - or minor - triad .

Beginning of the professional career

Due to his obvious talent, Rodríguez soon received his first engagements as a tresero and singer in the province of Matanzas. During this time he was first announced as El Cieguito Maravilloso (in German, for example: the wonderful little blind man ), which was his nickname until the end of his life.

In the meantime he improved his technique (of course exclusively by ear) using the example of his guitarist role models, above all Isaac Malviedo , Nené Manfugás from Haiti and Saint Domingue and Eliseo Silvera .

Around 1930 he ventured into the metropolis of Havana and quickly made contact with the local music scene, so that he was soon able to found his own band , with which he was able to present his own compositions to the public for the first time: the Sexteto Boston . He disbanded this ensemble in 1937 because, as a blind man, he felt overwhelmed by the duties of a band leader , in order to join the Septeto Bellamar of the cornetist José Interián .

The conjunto

In 1940 he went into business again and introduced a new ensemble, which with its gripping compositions, which in their arrangement style betray a strong influence of the emerging modern jazz , was to become one of the most influential bands in Cuban music history. The “classic” cast of Arsenio Rodríguez y su Conjunto was there from 1940 to 1947:

• • Félix Chappotín, Carmelo Álvarez and Chocolate Armenteros , trumpets
  • Arsenio Rodríguez , Tres, compositions and arrangements
  • Luis "Lilí" Martinez , piano , with Lilí joining the band on the recommendation of Rubén González , who was actually planned
  • Carlos Ramirez , guitar and coro
  • Lázaro Prieto , double bass
  • Antolín 'Papa Kila Quique' Suárez , bongos
  • Félix Alonso , Conga
  • René Scull , vocals - by the way, René was Arsenio's cousin.

The band became a resounding success practically overnight and from then on performed every Sunday at Club La Tropical in Havana for years .

Modern European ears can hardly understand how revolutionary the increase in the number of trumpets and the inclusion of the “worthy,” “European” (but also “hip” and “ jazzy ”) piano on the one hand and the “earthy”, “African” congas on the other worked in the dance and entertainment addicted Havana of 1940. But it is no exaggeration to claim that the later success of salsa can be traced back to Rodríguez '"invention" of the conjunto line-up.

Also the inclusion of so far exclusively “black” rumba rhythms such as the Guaguancó ( Los Sitios Haceré ), but also more obscure forms such as the Canto de Palo ( Dundunbanza ) in Cuban dance music can hardly be overemphasized in its history - these impulses were by later, pronounced "Afro-Cuban" bands such as Irakere recorded and developed.

The way to the USA

In 1947 Rodríguez traveled to New York for the first time because he was trained by the renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Ramón Castroviejo was hoping for an operation that could cure his blindness. That hope turned out to be unfounded - Castroviejo could only confirm that his optic nerves were incurably destroyed. Rodríguez processed this devastating diagnosis in a bolero that would eventually become one of his most famous compositions: La Vida Es Un Sueño (“Life is a dream”). To what extent Arsenio, as a person of simple, colonial origin, was aware that he was quoting one of the greatest classics of Spanish literature , namely Pedro Calderón de la Barcas La vida es sueño from 1636, can hardly be assessed in retrospect.

End in California

At first, the American connection seemed to be paying off: through the percussionist Chano Pozo , Rodríguez got to know the greats of Latin jazz (not yet known at the time) , such as Dizzy Gillespie , Tito Puente and Mario Bauzá, and took part in some of the recordings that are still interesting today . He was also well received by the American audience, so that in 1953 he decided to move to the USA for good. With a broad audience, however, the mambo craze largely subsided towards the end of the 1950s, and Rodríguez, for his part, showed no particular interest in the more modern Latin styles such as guaracha or boogaloo .

In 1959, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and their supporters overthrew the regime of the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista , and when the revolution subsequently took on increasingly anti-capitalist and socialist traits, the previously flourishing music scene in Havana (temporarily) collapsed. Rodríguez - from whom no political statements have come down to us - saw the way back home blocked for himself and tried again to start over in Los Angeles, California, which he was not granted. He died on December 30, 1970 in the southern California metropolis.

Musical appreciation

Among musicians who see themselves in the tradition of Son Cubano, Arsenio Rodríguez enjoys a downright reverent admiration in three ways:

• As a Tresero , he is seen as the great, style-forming virtuoso of his instrument. The reason for this can only be guessed at from the recordings that have been preserved, as he hardly claims any solo passages and is essentially limited to the classic introductory dianas and accompanying figures. However, he delivers this with breathtaking phrasing and an unmistakable sound .
• His importance as a composer has already been pointed out - no other Cuban composer from Miguel Matamoros to Chucho Valdéz has written more pieces that have advanced to Son standards. In the recent past, the Tresero Juan de Marcos González , who became known as the musical director of bands such as Sierra Maestra , Buena Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban All Stars , has devoted himself to maintaining Rodríguez's legacy.
• Rodríguez's role as arranger cannot be clearly distinguished from the latter , as both functions are closely linked in Cuban music. However, it can be considered undisputed that Arsenio processed the innovations of modern jazz in his style immediately at the time of its creation, and he has been (not without good reason) referred to as the Duke Ellington as well as the Charlie Parker of Son.

The music world outside the narrow Latin scene, on the other hand, only became aware of Rodríguez in the last two decades, in connection with the Son revival following the CD and the film Buena Vista Social Club . For example, the American guitarist Marc Ribot , who is usually associated with the jazz avant-garde , recorded an homage album in 1998 ( The Prosthetic Cubans ).

Compositions and arrangements (selection)

• La Vida Es Un Sueño
• Bruca Manigua
• Dundunbanza
• Cangrejo Fue A Estudiar
• Kila Quique Y Chocolate
• Dile A Catalina
• Los Sitios Haceré
• Mulence
• Meta Y Guaguancó
• Yo Soy Tiburón
• Jagüey
• Swing Y Son
• Lady Un Cachito Pa 'Huele'
• La Gente Del Bronx
• Pa 'Que Gozen
• El Reloj De Pastora
• No Me Llores Más

Discography (selection)

The Catalan record label Tumbao (Barcelona) has released a high quality series of historical recordings by Arsenio Rodríguez. You can get a good overview of his entire work on the following four CDs:

• Dundunbanza Arsenio Rodríguez Y Su Conjunto 1948–1951
• Como Se Goza En El Barrio Arsenio Rodríguez Y Su Conjunto 1953
• Montuneando Con Arsenio Rodríguez Y Su Conjunto
• Chano Pozo & Arsenio Rodríguez Legendary Sessions With Machito And His Orchestra 1947–1953

An excellent indication of the effect of Rodríguez's music in jazz is:

• Palo Congo (Leader: Sabu Martinez , also with Kila Quique) on Blue Note

literature

• David Garcia: Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music. Temple University Press, 2011, ISBN 9781592133871

Web links

• Afrocubaweb - good overview of the complex connections within Cuban music and jazz (mostly English, partly Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} David Garcia: Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music. P. 13
2. ^ David Garcia: Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music. P. 15
3. ^ ^{A b} David Garcia: Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music. P. 14