Compay Segundo - R.I.P.

[moneyp]

Buena Vista maestro dies

Cuban musician Compay Segundo, who starred in Wim Wenders' film Buena Vista Social Club, has died in Havana aged 95. The performer suffered from a severe kidney infection, his Spanish record company Dro-EastWest, said, and had to cancel a series of concerts planned for this summer around Europe.

Segundo, who played the clarinet and a Cuban string instrument called the tres, came to worldwide attention in 1999 with the release of Wenders' film, which followed the legendary Buena Vista Social Club musicians as they played in Cuba and abroad.

The soundtrack to the film sold more than four million copies around the world.

Segundo had been bedridden at his home in the Miramar district of Havana, according to local reports, where he was being looked after by a doctor and his family.

Born Francisco Repilado in Santiago in 1907, Segundo learned his musical skills in the 1920s, but did not pick up his nickname until the 1940s - Compay was slang for compadre and Segundo referred to his bass harmony voice.

His group, Compay Segundo y sus Muchachos, was formed in 1956 and was still active at the time of his death.

However, following the 1958 revolution, he disappeared from music to roll cigars for a living.
But he returned to acclaim in the late 1980s.

In 1996 he released a new album - Lo Mejor de la Vida (The best in life) - to mark his 90th birthday, and his 1999 album Calle Salud was critically acclaimed.

[Sergio Zamora]

Associated Press
Compay Segundo, who catapulted to world stardom in his 90s with the Grammy-winning record "Buena Vista Social Club," has died. He was 95.

HAVANA –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.

[bostontricky]

I first heard Segundo's voice on the Buena Vista Social Club album, big, deep and rich. "Calle Salud" is spinning and right now his voice seems more melancholy than usual. I'm glad to see he was able to get some well-deserved (and overdue) recognition before he passed.

RIP, amigo. He's gonna give the Big Fella a run for the money with that voice.

[bluenoter]

Moné started a similar thread in the Alley. I'm asking him to combine it with this thread and to keep the thread here in Speak Out.

Edit: Thanks, Moné.

I hadn't heard of Segundo and don't know his music, so all I can say is R.I.P.

[bostontricky]

Rita, you have to hear. I still can't believe how, well, thick, his voice is.

Any comparisons? (Jazz and otherwise) The first joker who brings up Ricardo Montalban gets a smack in the chops.

[bluenoter]

Thanks, Tricky. I'll try to hear him.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Listen to "Chan-Chan" from Buena Vista Social Club. You'll be hooked.

He seemed such a nice man. His use of certain Spanish phrases was very sweet, especially when he commented in Buena Vista how, at his age, he was "luchando" (fighting) to have another kid...brought a smile to my face.

[Gary Sisco]

Adios, Compay.

Cool that he and the other BV guys got such a huge hit in their later years.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco
Cool that he and the other BV guys got such a huge hit in their later years.

Huge indeed. I believe it's still #1 on the Billboard world music chart, 6 (or 7?) years later.

If anybody gets the Ovation cable network, they occasionally play a concert Compay did at the Paris Olympia.