Rafael Cortijo

Rafael Antonio Cortijo Verdejo (born December 11, 1928 in Santurce , Puerto Rico , † October 3, 1982 ibid) was a Puerto Rican salsa musician , band leader and composer.

Career

As a child, Cortijo was interested in Afro-Caribbean music and learned to play congas and other rhythm instruments from Plena musicians. Rafael Cortijo grew up with Ismael Rivera in the neighborhood of Villa Palmeras in Santurce, the two played together at the Fiestas Patronales all over Puerto Rico. After Cortijo played in Rivera's Orquester for a while, he founded his first own Plena Band with trumpet and saxophone players. Rafael Cortijo became known throughout Latin America with his music, which was partly due to the special sound of his percussion. In Monterrey , Mexico , he became a member of the Conjunto Monterrey. He also worked for a radio station and was on tour with the Daniel Santos Orquesta. In 1954 he became a member of the El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico after the director Mario Roman retired. Cortijo took over the management. In the band El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico he met his old friends Sammy Ayala and Rafael Ithier, who took the music of Rafael Cortijo as their model. Ismael Rivera joined this band in 1955. From 1955 to 1960 El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico played on the TV show "La Taberna India". The Orquester disbanded in 1962 after Ismael Rivera was arrested in Panama for drug possession. It later became known that other band members had committed themselves to illegal drug possession and drug smuggling. After these incidents, Rafael Ithier decided to found the EGC. Cortijo later founded the combo "El Bonche" with his niece Fe Cortijo, until Fe Cortijo began a solo career. After the failure of this plan, Rafael Cortijo became insolvent. Cortijo and Rivera emigrated to New York City until after a time Cortijo returned to Puerto Rico. The composer Tite Curet Alonso produced a comeback album with the outdated salsa star. In 1974 EGC played together again in the old line-up for Coco Records. In 1982 Cortijo died of pancreatic cancer .

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ local folk music style from Puerto Rico
2. ↑ http://welcome.topuertorico.org/culture/festi.shtml