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Manolito Simonet busts the thermometers
BY
RAFAEL LAM—Special for Granma International—
MANOLITO Simonet y su
Trabuco is one of Cuban dance music’s most popular,
stable and in-demand groups. Abroad, Trabuco is
described as a vaccine against the virus of
depression. Manolito is not a high-brow musician,
being more of the self-taught type; nonetheless, he
knows very well what dancers want, how to lead a
band, and how to compose and orchestrate to achieve
a popular band, all in a country teeming with great
music bands.
Manolito comes from
Camagüey, a central Cuban province, “where I began
in the Amateur Movement and learned to play the
piano and the tres (a small three-stringed
guitar), two instruments that have a lot in common.
When I was 22, I became a professional, and worked
in groups like Lágrimas Negras, Orquesta
Inspiración, and Orquesta Maravillas de Florida, and
in Havana in was in Senén Suárez’ group.”
The Maravillas de Florida
band was one of the best-known, and Manolito stayed
with them for 17 years as director, composer and
band leader, looking for a musical concept, like the
charanga of the La Aragón band that was
always a source of inspiration. “With Maravilla, we
recorded four albums that have a different sound. I
remember songs like “Como Soy el Negro” (Since I’m
the Black man) and “Y ya para qué” (What for, now?).
He arrived in Havana during
the Cuban salsa boom, a true musical phenomenon of
the masses. “We new that jazz band-type groups were
really hot, but I was influenced by the charanga
ones; we had the example of Los Van Van, and then
there was also the influence of the son
groups like Arsenio, Chapottín, El Casino, La Sonora
Matancera, and Rumbavana.”
Manolito founded the format
of charanga with an ensemble: flute, violins,
cello, trumpets and trombones, looking for a strong
sound. Later, he added drums and synthesizer, to
meet the demands of large dances. “The band has to
sound hard, really Afro,” comments the composer of
“Caballo grande” (Big Horse).
His piano playing moves
between that of Joseito González (Rumbavana) and
César Pedroso (Los Van Van), with influences from
other classics such as Peruchín, Lili Martínez, and
Rubén González.
The lyrics of Trabuco’s
songs have caught on with everyday listeners, and
with dancers: “La Parranda” (The Party) is a true
international hit by José Valladares; “El Águila”
The Eagle) is another successful song, and the
latest “Locos por mi Habana” (Crazy about my Havana)
has become a sort of street anthem.
Awards for El Trabuco were
not long in coming.
When few people were
confident about his success, Manolito rose up as the
most popular dance band of 1994. Subsequently, he
had one hit after another. The recording company
Eurotropical contributed quite a bit to his exposure
in Europe.
In Cuba, his band is one of
the top award-winners of recent years: The Cubadisco
Dance Music Award of 1999, repeated in 2000 with the
album Se rompieron los termómetros (The
Thermometers Broke), and in 2004, it took the EGREM
awards by storm, winning three prizes: Top Sales;
Critics’ Award and Grand Prix in the category of
dance music; all of this while competing against Los
Van Van with their album Chapeando, which is
saying a lot.
After that victory, Manolito
talked to me and very simply explained the excellent
quality of Locos por mi Habana, which was
made very intelligently.
Since the start, when his
band premiered on February 25, 1993, at La Tropical
dance hall, along with Los Van Van, he always knew
how to navigate his musical ship.
“We headed for the dancers,
who guide us in our choruses, everything.”
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