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Tata Güines known as Manos de Oro, Cuban rumbero and percussionist
Known as Manos de Oro, he modernized the tumbadoras and played with the most important musicians of the island of Cuba.
He was born in Güines, Havana on June 30, 1930, in the bosom of a family of musicians, son of Joseíto “El tresero” and Niñita, who from a very young age used to play a boot-cleaning box in the corner of the Chapel of Santa Bárbara, in the legendary neighborhood of Leguina, where so many congas and bembés have been made and will continue to be enjoyed.
Artistic trajectory
Saying Federico Arístides Soto Alejo may not say anything to some music neophytes, but when you say Tata Güines, things change radically and everyone thinks: That is the tumbadora made soul and flavor.
He became attached to percussion instruments, especially the tumbadora, which, as a Cuban, groaned under the effect of his prodigious hands. Under the influence of Chano Pozo, whose touches bewitched him and gave him the key to create his own style.
He was formed as a musician among the drums and the religious festivities of his neighborhood. He adopted his nickname as a child -el Tata-, and as a surname the name of the town where he grew up. Music was in his blood: his father and uncles made music with their hides.
He played double bass in the group Ases del Ritmo. He was part of the Partagás group, led by his uncle Dionisio Martínez, and later founded the Estrellas Nacientes orchestra and performed with the Swing Casino orchestra in Güines.
In 1946 he performed in his hometown with the Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez.
}In 1948 he moved to Havana, where he was a member of the orchestras La Nueva América, led by Pao Domini; La Habana Sport led by José Antonio Díaz, Unión, led by Orestes López, La Sensación led by Belisario López, and in 1952 he joined Fajardo y sus Estrellas, with which he traveled to New York in 1956.
He joined Los Jóvenes del Cayo, with which he appeared on the radio station La Voz del Aire; later he performed with the ensembles Camacho and Gloria Matancera.
He accompanied the trio Taicuba as a bongo player, and worked with Guillermo Portabales, Celina y Reutilio, and Ramón Veloz. He participated, along with Chano Pozo, in the comparsa Los Dandys de Belén; also, Los Mosqueteros del Rey, Los Mambises and Las Boyeras.
He recorded with Arturo O’Farrill (Chico) and with Cachao y su Ritmo Caliente, Frank Emilio, Guillermo Barreto, Gustavo Tamayo and others. He was part of the Quinteto Instrumental de Música Moderna (later Los Amigos), led by pianist Frank Emilio; Guillermo Barreto, timbal, Gustavo Tamayo, güiro, Israel López (Cachao) and Orlando Hernández (Papito), double bass.
In 1955 he travels to Caracas, Venezuela, to participate in the carnivals of that city. He traveled to New York with the Fajardo y sus Estrellas orchestra, with which he performed at the Palladium, where he coincided with Machito y sus Afro-Cubans and Benny Moré, whom he accompanied on the tumbadora; he also performed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where he worked for the first time as a soloist.
He prepared a show and shared the stage with Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, Maynard Ferguson and Los Chavales de España, with whom he recorded the piece “No te puedo querer”.
In 1960 he returned to Cuba. Four years later he founded Los Tatagüinitos. He offered a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manuel Duchesne Cuzán, with which he performed his work Perico no llores más. He accompanied the guitarist and composer Sergio Vitier in his work Ad Libitum, danced by Alicia Alonso and Antonio Gades.
International tours
He toured California, Chicago, Miami, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Martinique, Monte Carlo, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hungary, where he participated in the Jazz Festival; Soviet Union, Finland, Spain.
Musical Validity
Tata Güines was a master of masters of Cuban percussion. His death represents a notable loss for Cuban culture. Nobody like him in Cuba to make percussion an art.
In front of Tata Güines, the leather of the drum seemed the most delicate and expensive silk. He would place his agile hand on the tanned skin stretched by the fire, and with his fingernails he would achieve the saddest of laments as well as the most contagious smile.
Few knew him as Federico Arístides Soto Alejo, but everyone knew that he had modernized the tumbadoras, that he was a master at placing the “loose” beats in a song, as if “carelessly”, but that the piece could not survive if it lacked that imprint of someone who let himself be carried away by the rhythm of the claves, by his very fine ear and by the demands of a body accustomed, since he was almost a child, to music.
He died on February 4, 2008 in Güines, Havana.
Awards and recognitions
National Music Award 2006
Félix Varela Order 2004
Alejo Carpentier Medal 2002
Read also: Carlos “Patato” Valdés one of the best percussionists in the history of Latin Jazz
Steffen Kuehn and Christian Tumalan talk about their musical roots and orchestra
Preamble
This time, we are going to talk with German producer, arranger, composer and trumpet player Steffen Kuehn and Mexican bandleader, composer and musician Christian Tumalan. Both are at the head of the Pacific Mambo Orchestra and share the role of co-executive director of Pacific Mambo LLC and Pacific Mambo Records. Also, each has his own record label and separate musical achievements, but unify their skills to make the group they have in common one of the best in the United States.
Both expressed their points view about the orchestra, the work they do in it and what each one has done in music in general. These views reveal that quality, professionalism and adaptability are the main values on which the orchestra they lead is based.
A bit of Steffen’s story
The start of the conversation focused on the beginnings of Steffen Kuehn, who ackowledges having been a musician all his life, since he started playing the trumpet when he was just eight years old. He attended the University of North Texas to start his formal music education and learned to arrange music, compose and specialize more in the trumpet. He now focuses on is teaching trumpet, playing for the orchestra, arranging, selling music for television and movies, among other activities (all have to do with music).
When we talk about his written publications, he mentioned a instruction book to help beginners to play the trumpet some years ago. Today, He is working on a second book and a new record production. What he has planned for Pacific Mambo is to make about 10 songs for its new album, of which two have already been made.
Christian’s musical background
Christian told us a bit about his musical training and confirmed that he studied piano for more than 10 years. He has also played piano since the age of 14 when he was in high school and started much more formal musical training at the age of 15. It can be said that he was already an expert at playing both instruments after a decade of much dedication and practice.
When asked about his roots in jazz, he commented to us that almost all jazz musicians have some training in classical music and direct access to technical elements with the instruments. His goal in learning about classical music was not to become a performer dedicated only to that style, but to gain as much knowledge as possible about music in general and to improve his piano skills.
How do you apply German and Mexican heritage to the music of the orchestra?
As for this interesting subject, both artists pointed out that polka music and Mexican banda music were very similar in terms of sounds and instrumentation used for both. In Steffen’s case, he was always very interested in going to the United States to learn and study about jazz, how and where it originated. He comments that, if he had wanted to study classical music, the best places would have been Germany, France and Italy, as many of its greatest exponents come from there.
Both Christian and I went to the root of how the jazz movement started, how it originated and developed over the years. However, I studied Latin music here in the United States and my Colombian roommate at the time explained to me a lot of things and introduced me to a lot of Latin rhythms I have ever heard before,” said Kuehn.
They both started to introduce jazz and this knowledge to the music of the orchestra. About this, Christian said that the mixture of rhythms was like ”a battle of entities” in which they were looking for what works and what does not work, since not everything can be mixed. ”What I usually do is combine my knowledge in classical music with my own Big Band arrangements,” Christian said.
”The fact that we have musicians from various countries in Europe and Latin America has helped us a lot to see different perspectives. Also, due to the number of musicians we are, we can play in different styles that other groups cannot” added Steffen.
Skills they look for in their musicians
Steffen pointed out that the first thing they look for in their musicians is the chemistry we can have with them. In this sense, he mentioned that he has met excellent musicians with whom he does not get along with at all, which makes the work environment very heavy. Therefore, he does not take them into consideration for the orchestra because, if there is no chemistry and an atmosphere of respect, everything else does not work.
Another thing that the performer considers important is the spirituality of music, which many times is not attained by all musicians. When a musician opens up to the spirituality of the music, that’s when the magic happens and the chemistry hits us. We are very fortunate to have so many musicians who share this feeling and have reached that point as we have,” he added.
How do you share roles in the orchestra?
Christian commented that both he and Steffen were very good in different areas separately. Steffen has a quite charismatic way of communicating with people and knows how to earn the respect of others very quickly, while I focus more on the technical and musical aspects of the group. I think that complements us very well”. He also said that the German was very good with information and details such as tours, hotels, flights, names, taxes, among other things.
When Steffen’s came to talk about his partner, he said that he knew a lot about everything to do with music technology, stage direction, tempos, editing, mixing, video, audio and many other things. He confesses that he is unable to do many of these things, so they are left to Christian.
Read also: Multi-Percussionist Carlos Navarro and his Son Y Clave Orchestra
Maelo y su Klan want to bring tropical rhythms to the whole world
Maelo y su Klan is the latest project, and one of the dreams, of the producer with more than twenty years of experience, Johnny Ysmael Salaverria Dicurú. The popular “Maelo” as his dearest friends call him, continues his career by working and pouring his heart into this project. With them the first genre fusion between Son and Kizomba is known. In the following lines we will talk about Maelo and his most beloved project.
Who is Maelo?
Johnny Ysmael Salaverria Dicurú was born in San Juan parish, in Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, where he spent his childhood surrounded by the joy of the Caribbean “soneros and salseros”. He was a child when he first expressed his interest in one of the most popular tropical Caribbean rhythms, salsa. Part of his influences came from his uncle, Héctor Bruno Dicurú.
Ysmael D´La O, is his artistic name on stage and producing, but his closest friends call him “El Tiburón de la Salsa”. He left with $80, and a luggage full of dreams, to look out for adventures abroad. His destiny was Tenerife, where he quickly earned the love and respect of the natives, and was embraced as an adopted son.
Maelo as a producer has worked with renowned soloists and groups, from all over the world. To name a few: Nicky Jam, El Binomio de Oro, Tito Rojas, Oscar D’León, Porfi Baloa, Tony Vega, La Dimensión Latina, Ray Sepúlveda, Guayacán, El Grupo Niche. As a promoter and producer of events, one of his greatest achievements was El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico who celebrated their 50th anniversary, and visited Europe hand in hand with him.
We can call Maelo, the cultural ambassador of Caribbean rhythms, making more than 30 countries listen and enjoy them. He was the first Latin American to have 100 continuous virtual conversations during the pandemic, a time when creativity was the escape of many artists.
Among his awards and recognitions is being nominated as International Producer of the Year in 2020, Producer and Promoter of the Virtual Euro Festival in the 20/21 edition. But soon more will come, since Maelo’s talent is infinite.
Defining Maelo and his Klan
The band stands out in danceable rhythms such as: Son, Charanga, Guaguancó, Salsa, Tropical, Latin Jazz and a lot of fusion with an original sound, which is inspired by African rhythms. Of course, with the influences of great masters of the old tropical school. In this way, a combination is created that generates a modern sound, worthy of the new generation. But what most characterizes this Klan is the creation of the fusion of the genres between Son and Kizomba.
The works of Maelo y su Klan have the collaboration of the renowned arranger and director of Billo’s Caracas Boys, the Venezuelan Julio Cesar Estrada. Also by Paquito Barón, ex-member of the Orquesta Bronco of Venezuela, in the musical production.
The Klan has all the merits and the support of the Anglo-Saxon and Asian public. One of his productions entitled ¡Cultura viva! Fusion is positioned as the new sound in Afro-Caribbean music. Maelo not only puts his talent for the band, but also puts all his knowledge of the tropical rhythms of Latin America, as well as its movements through Europe and Asia. Let’s hope that the journey of Maelo y su Klan will be a very long one, full of great successes, so that they can continue to please the public that loves these tropical rhythms.
Multi-Percussionist Carlos Navarro and his Son Y Clave Orchestra
Who is Carlos Navarro?
There have been many celebrities, orchestras, groups of all genres who played their part in the salsa cultural movement in the United States, but we cannot deny that bandleader Carlos Navarro and his Son Y Clave Orchestra played a very important role, since they achieved many goals in the Latin music scene in California, specifically in Los Angeles.
Carlos Navarro was a child of the couple formed by Rafael Navarro and Maria De Jesus Velasquez de Navarro, being at the same time the brother of Alexis Enrique (the famous singer Cherry Navarro), Manuel, Rene, Lelys and Audy. The whole family decided to move to Caracas, the parish of El Valle, where all the children continued their studies.
The first one to start an artistic career at a very young age was his older brother Alexis, who would later be known as Cherry Navarro in the artistic field. Carlos followed the same steps and also dedicates himself to music, but focused on salsa, mambo, merengue, and Latin jazz.
Las Versalles
In the early 80’s, specifically in 1983, the artist served as co-founder and percussionist in one of the first and most important orchestras in Los Angeles, California, with styles of Salsa, Guaguancó, Merengue, cha cha chá, and Latin Jazz.
This group was called Las Versalles and hired many musicians based in the same city. Here you can see some of the main members and their instruments, Güiro: Carlos Navarro and Jorge Luis Balmaseda, Vocalist, Piano, Arranger: Fito Foster, Vocalist, Guitar, Flute, and Arrangements: Niño Jesús, Bass: Geraldo Zuldo and Luis López, Trumpets: Carleton Smith and Robert Hernández, Trombo: Arturo Velazco, Violin: Gene Hugo, Congas: Humberto Hernández and José “Papo” Rodríguez, Timbales: Héctor Andrade and Edwin Rolland, Backing Vocals: Fitto Foster, Niño Jesús, Bobby Rivas, Jorge Luis Balmaseda and Bass in ‘’Cama Y Mesa’’: Cuco.
Son Y Clave
In 1999, the producer, percussionist and singer founded the Son Y Clave Orchestra and became a very important group in the nightlife of Los Angeles and surrounding areas.
One of the most attractive things for spectators of the places where they perform is the ease with which they dance and execute choreography, which are highly contagious, fast and elegant at the same time.
This diversity of performance styles is another one of the many things that has led this orchestra to the summit. In the same way, they have participated in all kinds of festivals, congresses, concerts and much more. They also had an important participation in salsa nights at venues in Los Angeles and the Bay Area such as El Floridita, where they played with Son Y Clave every Monday, until Carlos had to leave for a while and left talented musician Johnny Polanco in charge.
They have been so popular in the last few years that they have managed to open for world famous bands such as the Rolling Stones, who counted on the talent of the orchestra to grace their performances in one of their most important tours.
God & Salsa and more
They have also been involved in major film projects such as ”Almost A Woman”, whose director has a long-standing friendship with Navarro. They participated in both the promotional trailer and various parts of the film, especially where there are parties and dancing.
Kaplan was so pleased with Carlos’ work in ”Almost A Woman” that she decided to contact him again to work hand in hand on a project titled ”UNO” which is based on one of the most famous Latin American TV hosts, the famous Renny Ottolina. Once again, Son Y Clave will join forces with the renowned filmmaker to put music to ”UNO”.
”Almost A Woman” had a lot of repercussion at the time, but the film for which they became known in recent years was ”God & Salsa”. Carlos Navarro himself was the main responsible for composing much of the original music that was part of the soundtrack of the film. In addition, they were also present at the filming, displaying their great talent and dedication to the audience.
Currently, Navarro has a lot of contacts, friendships and dealings with other figures and producers of the stature of classical guitarist Yalil Guerra, with whom he has participated in multiple musical projects both with his orchestra and at the production level.
He has also shared the stage with important talents in Los Angeles such as Tito Nieves, Luis Barbarán, Guillermo Canales, Ernie Valenzuela, Melissa Campos, Roosevelt Córdova, among many others.
