Sylvia Rexach

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Sylvia Rexach (born January 22, 1922 in San Juan ; † October 20, 1961 there ) was a Puerto Rican singer, composer and songwriter.

Rexach came from a well-to-do family in which her musical and literary interests were encouraged at an early age. During her visit to the Escuela Superior Central in Santurce, she appeared on the radio as a singer in the radio show by the pianist and composer Arturo Somohano . It was also during this time that she wrote her first songs, including Dí Corazón and Matiz de Amor , which are now considered classics of Puerto Rican popular music and were recorded for the first time in 1939 by José Luis Moneró and the orchestra of Rafael Muñoz .

After the USA entered World War II, Rexach signed up as an assistant for the Women's Army Corps . There she met her husband William Riley, an American officer with whom she had three children. However, the marriage ended in divorce after a short time.

On her return, she ran the Diplo with José Luis Torregrosa and Ramón Ortiz del Rivero , wrote libretti and appeared as a comedian on the radio. In 1949 she founded Las Damiselas (later known as El Combo de Sylvia Rexach ), Puerto Rico's first band to be entirely women. With this she appeared in clubs and radio stations in Puerto Rico and New York and, in addition to current hits, played her own compositions such as Nave Sin Rumbo , Luna del Condado , En Mis Sueños , Nuestra Luna and Nave del Olvido .

From 1951 she wrote a column for the Diario de Puerto Rico under the heading A sotto voce . She was also a founding member of the Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Autores, Compositores y Editores de Música . Her bohemian lifestyle, however, undermined her health, so in 1961, at the age of thirty-nine, she died of complications from stomach cancer caused by alcohol abuse.

It was only posthumously that Rexach gained great popularity. While only some of their songs were recorded by musicians such as Jose Luis Moneró , Felix Castrillón , Tito Lara and Bobby Capó during their lifetime , the duo included singers such as Lucho Gatica , Tito Rodríguez , Marco Antonio Muñiz , Gilberto Monroig in the 1960s and 1970s Irizarry de Córdova , Carmen Delia Dipiní and Tato Díaz , Martha Romero , Cheo Feliciano , Juan Luis Barry and their own daughter Sharon Riley among the interpreters of their songs.

An original recording from 1958, found by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in 1965, with fourteen own songs sung by Rexach himself with the guitarist Tutti Umpierre was released as an album under the title Sylvia Rexach canta Sylia Rexach and became a coveted collector's item among its fans. In the 1970s, Juan Luis Barry produced the documentary Sylivia, e tu memoria for television . In the 1990s, her life was the subject of the miniseries Al fondo de dolor with her daughter Sharon. More recently, her songs have been spread by singers such as Chucho Avellanet , Lucecita Benítez , Linda Rodstandt , Ednita Nazario , Lourdes Robles and Lunna . Armando Manzanero recorded one of her works for his album Canciones que yo quise escrbir in 1990 .

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personal data
SURNAME Rexach, Sylvia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Puerto Rican singer, composer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH San Juan (Puerto Rico)
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1961
Place of death San Juan (Puerto Rico)