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Arsenio Rodríguez, a classic of son
Rafael Lam
THIS
year commemorates the centenary of the birth of
Arsenio Rodríguez, one of the giants of Cuban son, a
founding musician, the example and guide of Latino
salsa in the Americas. The people of Güira de
Macurijes in Matanzas province organized a birthday
tribute to the great musician with a popular dance,
headed by Pancho Amat y su Cabildo, in the same
musical society in which Arsenio’s band played.
Arsenio Travieso Scull was born August 30, 1911, as
his birth certificate issued in Güines states. He
adopted the artistic name of Arsenio later in his
musical life; in those rural towns, the descendants
of slaves took the last name of important slave
owners.
ARSENIO IN HAVANA
The
musician was born by chance in Güira de Macurijes
and, aged five years, was taken to the town of
Güines outside of Havana, with a strong musical
tradition. In 1926, he moved to the capital.
He
began to visit the jam sessions and rehearsals of
son combos, learning from musicians like Isaac
Oviedo, Eliseo Silveira and Paquito Godínez, and
mastered the marímbula, botija, the tres
and some percussion instruments.
He
began his professional life in 1928 with his cousin
Jacinto Scull in the Septeto Boston. In 1934 he
joined the Septeto Bellamar, this being the stage
during which he implemented his innovative
experiments. It should be noted that in those times
African music was still very much at hand. Finally,
in 1940, Arsenio decided to create an combo of
piano, conga drum, bass, tres, guitar and trumpet.
In
Havana he filled a whole chapter in African-Cuban
dancehalls and recreation societies (the Club Social
Buena Vista, the Marianao Social Club, and La
Tropical and La Polar beer halls). His band was one
of the Three Greats, along with the Melodías del 40
charanga band and the danzón band of Arcaño y sus
Maravillas, during the prelude to the golden age of
Cuban popular music.
Arsenio spent a total of approximately 25 years in
Havana and 20 years in New York. His first visit to
the United States, in 1947, was for an eye
operation, but he was finally informed that his
sight could not be restored. That is when he wrote
the bolero “La vida es un sueño”: After one lives
through 20 disappointments/ what does one more
matter/ after you know/ the actions of life/ you
must not weep/…/ You have to live for the happy
moment/ you have to enjoy what you can enjoy/
because adding it all up/ life is a dream/ and
everything disappears.”
ARSENIO IN NEW YORK
In a
Los Angeles interview with Raúl, Arsenio’s brother,
he told me that their arrival in New York was a
success. “More musicians than dancers went to listen
to us, to learn the tricks, the concepts of Cuban
music. They were taken aback by the tres and the
conga drum in the combo. We got to play in the best
dancehalls in New York and Los Angeles: the
Hollywood Palladium, the Savoy, Carnegie Hall, Cubop
City, La Conga. In the Manhattan Palladium, we were
part of the evolutionary stage of so-called Latin
Jazz, a new musical concept in America. Although I
have to say that my brother was very traditional, he
never wanted to make concessions to the record
industry. He was a rebel, a musician of resistance.”
ARSENIO’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Arsenio’s contributions are numerous and would take
many hours to explain, but it is obligatory to
mention the format of the combo, where son is fused
with variants of rumba. His principal base was
respect for the clave, for dancers’ stability. His
ensemble constituted a veritable school of Cuban
son.
“The
clave is fundamental in Arsenio’s music,” Rubén
González explains. “It is the exact and precise
manner of carrying the beat in order to introduce
solos and maintain dancers’ steps, a march. That is
an occupation which we learnt in Arsenio’s combo.”
“Did
I learn with Arsenio? Listen, if I hadn’t played
with him I definitely wouldn’t have known son so
well. I had to learn it at his side, because he was
an authentic son musician.” (Mayra A. Martínez
interview with Lilí Martínez)
COMPOSITIONS
Arsenio composed many pieces in various genres: son,
guaracha, rumba, mambo, cha-cha-cha and all the
variants, like son montuno, laments, son-pregón,
mambo-son, bolero-son, etc.
His
compositions were to the social life of Havana’s
marginal barrios and for the people of the Bronx in
New York. Few people know that he also wrote
patriotic songs: “Pobre mi Cuba” (1935), “Amor a mi
patria“(1951), “Adórenla como a Martí.”(1957).
Some of
his most popular themes are “Fuego en el 23”, “La
vida es un sueño”, “Bruca Maniguá”, “El reloj de
Pastora”, “El Cerro tiene la llave” and “Güira de
Macurijes”.
Arsenio died in Los Angeles on December 30, 1970,
from a heart attack brought on by diabetes. His
wife, Adelina, took his body to New York, where he
was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale,
Westchester County, New York, on January 6, 1971.
His remains rest in the same cemetery as Thelonious
Monk.
Arsenio Rodríguez, “the blind wonder,” the giant of
son, left behind a legendary trail within Cuban
music.
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