Manuel Mirabal

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Manuel Mirabal with the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club at the ZMF 2015 in Freiburg

Luis Manuel Mirabal Vázquez (born May 5, 1933 in Melena del Sur , Cuba ), also known as "El Guajiro", is a Cuban trumpeter .

He gained worldwide fame through the album " Buena Vista Social Club ", which was produced by the American guitarist Ry Cooder , and through the film of the same name by Wim Wenders .

biography

Mirabal was born on May 5, 1933 in the village of Melena del Sur in what is now the Cuban province of Mayabeque . Since his father was the leader of the local music band, he got access to music as a child. He acquired musical skills through his father and his sister, who he watched learning to sing and piano . Curiously, he tried to play with the band's instruments, including clarinet and saxophone . At the age of eleven he decided to play the trumpet. He learned very quickly, so at the age of 18 Mirabal played in the band "Conjunto Universal" , which performed in smaller towns near Havana . Since 1953 he was active in the jazz band "Swing Casino" , which was one of the many bands at the time that dedicated themselves to North American music when Cuba was a popular place to stay for many rich Americans .

Always on the lookout for changes in 1956 founded Mirabal the band "Conjunto Rumbavana" with which he with a kind of Cuban son music and the musical styles of guarachas and Mambos in many night clubs , casinos occurred and carnival events beyond Cuba. With the help of the singers Lino Borges and Raúl Planas , the band quickly became successful, so that “Conjunto Rumbavana” finally belonged to the largest Cuban music groups. Mirabal left the band in 1960 shortly before their second international tour to join the renowned "Riverside Orchestra" of the Tropicana nightclub .

In 1967 he started another musical project as a founding member of the “Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna” , to which he belonged for 23 years. Under the direction of saxophonist Armando Romeu, the group helped many Cuban jazz personalities such as Guillermo Barreto ( percussionist ), Arturo Sandoval (trumpet), Paquito D'Rivera ( saxophone ), Juan-Pablo Torres ( trombone ) and the pianists Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Chucho Valdés to success. The "Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna" successfully combined elements of classical Cuban music with new ideas, so that the group's music established itself as film music in Cuban cinemas from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s .

During this time, Mirabal toured independently from his band with the musicians Oscar D'León and José Feliciano . In 1973 he returned to the "Tropicana", whose music group was then directed by Demetrio Muñiz. For the next 30 years he stayed with the orchestra of the "Tropicana", of which he was once a founding member. After many strenuous international tours, Mirabal retired from music in 2003.

Participation in the Buena Vista Social Club project

Mirabal was one of the Cuban musicians who took part in the 1996 “Buena Vista Social Club” project by American guitarist Ry Cooder. He published his solo records after the project under the name “Buena Vista Social Club presents…” , including the album “Buena Vista Social Club Presents Manuel Guajiro Mirabal” , which he recorded in honor of the Cuban music legend Arsenio Rodríguez .

During his long time as an active musician, he worked with the greatest Cuban musicians such as Ibrahim Ferrer , Omara Portuondo , Rubén González and Compay Segundo .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Mirabal, Manuel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mirabal Vázquez, Luis Manuel (full name); Guajiro; El Guajiro; Mirabal, Guajiro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION cuban trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Melena del Sur