Legendary Cuban jazzman dies

[mgraham333]

HAVANA, July 14 — Compay Segundo, who catapulted to world stardom in his 90s with the Grammy-winning record “Buena Vista Social Club,” has died. He was 95. Born Maximo Francisco Repilado Munoz, the wiry, cigar-smoking musician carried traditional Cuban music to the world and was honored with a Grammy in 1997, when he was 90 years old.

COMPAY SET audiences dancing from Havana to Paris with “Buena Vista Social Club” hits including “Chan Chan,” which brought modern appeal to a musical genre that had largely been forgotten even at home in Cuba.

His record company, Warner, said he died on Sunday, two days after attending a tribute concert hosted by his sons at Havana’s Hotel Nacional, where a concert room is dedicated to him.

Details of his death were not immediately available, but Compay had been ailing in recent months and his sons told Cuban media that his health had deteriorated in recent days.

Born Nov. 18, 1907, in the eastern town of Siboney, Compay was 9 when he moved with his family to nearby Santiago, the heart of Cuban musical culture. By age 14 he was playing the clarinet in his hometown’s municipal band.

Cuban “son” — mixing harder African rhythms with Spanish lyricism — was coming into its own, breaking down discrimination against “black” music and laying the groundwork for modern Cuban music like salsa.

Compay emerged as a well-known musician in Cuba, playing with Nico Saquito, the Cuarteto Hatuey and his own duo, Los Compadres, until 1953.

He developed a unique seven-string guitar that he called the “armonica” that had a doubled middle string to add harmonics for Cuban son rhythms.

He got his nickname when he was about 40 and performing as the second voice in the duo “Los Compadres” — a word Cubans shorten to “compay.”

In the late 1950s, Compay formed a group called “Compay Segundo y sus Muchachos” (Compay Segundo and his Boys) for a tour of the Dominican Republic.

After the 1959 triumph of the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, Compay continued to perform intermittently as a solo artist and occasionally made appearances on local radio stations. His day job was rolling H. Upmann coronas in a local cigar factory. Compay already was in his 70s, working at Havana hotel in the late 1980s when a Spanish tourist heard him and invited him to perform in Spain. He was a hit, and went on to make several records there.

A decade later, he was packing concert halls in Europe and his fame grew far wider when he was featured on the hit record “Buena Vista Social Club,” a record of traditional Cuban son produced by Ry Cooder, which won a Grammy in 1998.

source: MSNBC

[king ubu]

there goes another one...

sad news again.

thanks for the interesting article.

he left us some wonderful music!

ubu

[Stefan Wood]

So sad to hear of his passing. But what a legacy of music he has left behind! Los Compadres to the Buena Vista Social Club. Amazing!

[mikeweil]

At least he had his share of success and international fame before it was too late. But he was not a jazzman, but a sonero!!!

[chris olivarez]

A long and productive life.Hasta luego!!!

[blake]

95 long years as a mostly underappreciated musician. perhaps there's something to be said for the socialist's model of top-notch free universal healthcare for the entire population. or maybe it was simply the cigars.