Ezequiel Lino Frías Gómez was born on April 10, 1915 in Havana, Cuba.

Musician, Pianist, Arranger, Composer. He began his artistic career in the early 30’s, working with singer and composer Joseito Fernandez, in the orchestra of Raimundo Pla.

Later he became part of the Fantasía Orchestra.

At the end of the decade he worked with the Septeto Carabina de Ases.

Some time later he joined Arsenio Rodríguez’s Conjunto Todos Estrellas in September 1940, remaining in it until November 1943, leaving his place to Adolfo Oreilly Panacea, to join the Sonora Matancera in 1944, until 1976, where he contributed in an important way both in the composition and musical arrangements, imposing his particular piano solos.

In 1974 he helped found with Armando Sánchez the Conjunto Son de la Loma.

Upon his retirement from La Sonora Matancera, the Puerto Rican producer René López invited Lino, together with Israel “Cachao” López, to revive the descargas he had already recorded in the fifties, assembling a Típica together with “Cachao”.

In his independent years Lino worked with Johnny Pacheco and Carlos “Caito” Diaz.

He accompanied great artists in recordings, in that period in New York, such as La Lupe, Olga Guillot, Daniel Santos, Carmen Delia Dipini, Bobby Capo, among others.

He died on May 22, 1983 in New York, USA.

Lino Frías, who for twenty-two years was the pianist of the Sonora Matancera, composed the very popular Mata Siguaraya in 1951.

One of the most popular photos of the Sonora Matancera.

In it we can see Lino Frías from his piano looking at Celia Cruz, great interpreter of Mata Siguaraya, together with Benny Moré and Oscar D’León.

Ezequiel Lino Frías Gómez was born in Havana and died in New York in 1983.

Lino studied piano at the Havana Conservatory. For a time, in the 1930s, he played in the Raimundo Pia y Rivero Orchestra, whose singer was Joseito Fernandez. He would later play in the Orquesta Fantasía.

In 1939 he joined the Septeto Carabina de Ases, led by Mariano Oxamendi, guitarist and second voice, and with Bienvenido Grande, singer and harpsichord player, Nilo Alfonso, double bass, José Bergerey, maracas and third voice, Ramón Liviano Cisneros, tres player, Florencio Coco Morejón, bongos player, and Félix Chappotín, trumpet player.

In 1944, Lino joined the Sonora Matancera as a pianist, where he remained until 1976.

In the 1960s, Frías joined the movement that created the so-called salsa music, alongside Fania All Stars, Johny Pacheco, Bobby Rodríguez, Carlos Patato Valdés y Caíto, Carlos Manuel Díaz (Matanzas 1905-New York 1990), among others.

Don Adolfo, a Puerto Rican timbalero, worked with Lino Frías in a group that included some of the most renowned musicians and singers of the 1950s and 60s: Olga Guillot, Daniel Santos, Lucecita Benítez, Bobby Capó, Marco Antonio Múñiz, Carmen Delia Depiní, Chucho Avellaneda, Sergio González Siaba and La Lupe, among others.

In 1974, parallel to his work as a pianist in the Sonora Matancera, Lino Frías created the ensemble Son de la Loma, with the participation of Cuban-Niuyorquinos such as Marcelino Guerra, Rapindey (Cienfuegos 1914-Spain 1996), author of Convergencia, and Pedro Rudy Calzado (Santiago de Cuba 1929-New York 2002).

Due to arthritis, in 1976 Lino left the Sonora. His place is taken by Javier Vázquez, (Matanzas 1936), son of the double bass player Pablo Vázquez.

It is said that the death of Lino Frías, in 1983, was a hard blow for his great and faithful friend Celia Cruz (Havana 1925-New Jersey 2003).

In addition to Mata Siguaraya, Lino Frías composed Pan de piquito, Óyela, gózala, Vamos todos de panchanga, Cañonazo, Vive la vida hoy, Suena mi bajo, Convencida, Afecto y cariño, Has vuelto a mí, Baila Yemayá.

Also Read: Israel “Cachao” López Sobrado en fama y respeto en los años setenta se dedicó a mantener la tradición a nivel supremo