César Concepción
Cayetano César Concepción Martínez (born July 28, 1909 in Cayey , † March 11, 1974 in Río Piedras ) was a Puerto Rican trumpeter , arranger , orchestra conductor and composer .
Life
From the age of ten, Concepción received trumpet lessons from Claudio Torres , who later became a member of his orchestra. At the age of thirteen he was a member of a group of silent film musicians at the Teatro San Rafael . In 1925 the pianist Augusto Rodríguez Amador brought him to his orchestra The Midnight Serenaders in San Juan. After the orchestra was disbanded in 1932, he joined Ralph Sánchez & His Symphonians .
In 1935 he went to New York and became a member of the orchestra of the pianist Eddie LeBaron . With this he recorded pieces such as Por Corrientes va una conga by Ernesto Lecuona and a number of pieces by Eliseo Grenets under his direction. In 1940 he separated from LeBaron and performed in Los Angeles at Trocaderos's Club with the orchestras of Xavier Cugat , Enrique Madriguera , Don Maya , Carlos Molina , José Morand and Nano Rodrigo . From 1940 he made recordings in various line-ups with Pedro Flores .
In 1942 Concepción returned to Puerto Rico and joined Armando Castro & His Jazz Band . For this group he composed the classic Jack, Jack, Jack / Cutúguru , which, sung by Juan Ramón Torres, was the first title of purely Puerto Rican origin to be included in the US hit parade in 1945.
From 1945 Concepción was involved for a year and a half at the Escambrón Beach Club , led by Rafael Duchesne . At the New York Club he founded his own orchestra (in the first line-up with Juan Ramón Torres, vocals; Luisito Benjamín , piano; Tony Di Ricci and Berto Torres , second and third trumpet; Lito Peña , first alto saxophone; José Torres , second alto saxophone; Rubén Rivera , tenor saxophone; Juan Antonio Bajandas , double bass player; Pepo Talavera , Jesús Cruz and Francisco Torres , percussion), which performed for the first time on June 14, 1947, alternating with the Noro Morales ' orchestra in a broadcast on WAPA radio hosted by Mariano Artau occurred.
The orchestra gained a lot of popularity through the daily participation in the show La ruleta musical with Joe Valle as singer. From 1954 it was the orchestra of the television show Coca-Cola busca estrellas on Telemundo / Canal 2 , from 1963 to 1966 the official orchestra of El show del mediodía on WAPA TV / CANAL 4, produced by Tommy Muñiz . In addition, Concepción conducted orchestras at the Caribe Hilton and the Hotel Flamboyán during this time .
In 1968 he dissolved his famous orchestra and moved with his family to New York. In 1972 he returned to Puerto Rico and formed a new orchestra with Joe Valle. In March 1974 he died in Río Piedra of complications from a heart attack. In 1983 Nicolás Nogueras Cartagena founded a new Orquesta César Concepción from former members of Concepción's orchestra . This appeared until 1997 at the Hotel Caribe Hilton , then on other stages with the singers Freddy Gutierrez , Efrén Santiago , Edward Santiago , Aníbal Hernández , Dilores Escalera and occasionally Tato Díaz and took part in a show in the Centro de Bellas Artes in San Juan in 2003 Iris Chacón took part.
Web links
- Fundación Nacional para la cultura popular: César Concepción
- Edgardo Díaz Díaz: Cesar Concepción y su Orquesta. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- César Concepción on MusicBrainz (English)
- César Concepción at Allmusic (English)
- Cesar Concepcion at Discogs (English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Concepción, César |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Concepción Martínez, Cayetano César |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Puerto Rican trumpeter, arranger, orchestra leader and composer |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 28, 1909 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Cayey |
DATE OF DEATH | March 11, 1974 |
Place of death | Río Piedras |