Tomás Rivera Morales

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Tomás Rivera Morales (born November 13, 1927 in Toa Alta , † February 4, 2001 in San Juan ), known as Maso Rivera , was a Puerto Rican composer , cuatro player and music teacher .

Morales started playing the cuatro at the age of five. He had to leave school after the sixth grade to help his parents in farming and a small business. He also performed as a musician in order to support his family financially. In the early 1950s he joined the US Army, which he was a member of until 1954.

With the support of his friend Abelardo Diaz Alfaro , he then concentrated on his musical career, worked with representatives of Puerto Rican music such as Ramito , Chuíto el de Bayamón and Guzmán Rosario , and finally released his first album Sobre mis colinas . Supported by Rafael Quiñones Vidal , he also began working for radio and television - among other things, he moderated the radio programs Maratón , La infancia and Radio Borinquen . In the late 1950s he went on a concert tour with Ramito.

In total, Morales composed more than 1000 works for the Cuatro, including pieces such as Lo que Dios me ha dado and Nélida . He taught numerous students - there is talk of around 2000 - in the Cuatro game, among them the brothers Charlie and Alvin Rodríguez . In the last years of his life and posthumously, he received numerous honors. In 2002 Charlie Rodríguez paid tribute to him, and in 2003 Edwin Colón Zayas dedicated the production Homenaje a los maestros del cuatro: Volume 1 to him .

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personal data
SURNAME Rivera Morales, Tomás
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rivera, Maso
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Puerto Rican singer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Toa Alta
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 2001
Place of death San Juan (Puerto Rico)