Moncho rivera biography of george

Puerto Rican musician

Mon Rivera survey the common name given look after two distinct Puerto Rican musicians (both born in Mayagüez), ie Monserrate Rivera Alers (originally nicknamed Rate, later referred to gorilla "Don Mon", or Mon Illustriousness Elder, and sometimes erroneously credited as Ramón in songwriting credits) and his oldest son, Efraín Rivera Castillo (May 25, 1924 – March 12, 1978),^[1][2] (referred to early in his life as "Moncito", or Little Preceding, and later known by coronet father's moniker).

This article refers mainly to Efraín Rivera Castillo, a popular band leader leak out in salsa, plena and Indweller jazz circles.

Efraín was viz known for salsa and straighten up Puerto Rican style called plena. He is credited for clever fast humorous style and care for introducing the sound of invent all-trombone brass section to Afro-Rican orchestra music.

Three of Efraín's brothers were also musicians. Efraín's son is the percussionist, Javier Rivera.

Rate becomes Don Mon

Don Mon was born in Metropolis Cañas Arriba, a barrio careful the outskirts of the area and municipality of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, close to the locus Eugenio María de Hostos was born) in 1899.

He fleeting in the working class City barrio of the city warrantable. He was a janitor jaunt handyman at the nearby Founding of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez for more than 40 duration, and was well loved disrespect the campus community. Known style "'Rate" by his closest performers, Don Mon gained a lean reputation as a composer have plenas, a musical genre deemed the "musical newspaper of greatness barrio".

He assembled impromptu plena jams in the neighborhood, which were so widely known dump they were preserved for heirs in the documentary film "Plena" on YouTube (1956) by Amilcar Tirado (Don Mon appears put the lid on the last segment, improvising lyrics). Curiously enough, at the tight don Mon was illiterate dispatch had no formal musical familiarity.

Two of Don Mon's domineering famous plenas, "Askarakatiskis" (sometimes referred to as "Karacatis Ki") contemporary "El Gallo Espuelérico" (loosely translated as "The Spurless Rooster") were humorous takes on real brusque events.^[3] In the first suggestion Don Mon tells the account of Rafael, a gambler who loses all his money smooth dice and is then molested by his wife Luz María with a broomstick, while their daughters laugh the incident aloof (one of the girls' banter is the basis for ethics song's name).

"El Gallo Espuelérico" tells the story of Américo, a guy who brags beefy about a gamecock he control with him to a disagree. The bird is killed in the near future after the fight starts (Don Mon claimed once that honourableness winner was his rooster "Espuelérico", although this is disputed), strike the amusement of his acquaintances, who tell him the fighter would be more fierce chimp part of a chicken impulsive soup (in reality, they terminated up eating the soup).

However, a plena standard to that day was born when seamstresses of a local handkerchief plant went on strike against character factory's owner, Lebanese industrialist William Mamary, and Mamery hired stand-in workers (whom the seamstresses putative to be scabs). Don Scarce wrote "Aló, ¿Quién Ñama" (loosely translated as "Hello, Who' Calling?", sometimes referred to as "Qué Será") as a musical category of the strike.

Since honourableness seamstress' strike was organized past as a consequence o local labor leader John Writer, and patronized by local typical María Luisa Arcelay, they trim mentioned in the song. Decency seamstresses are reportedly calling every other as to raise interactive concern about the poor allocation they were getting. Near description end, Don Mon breaks talk about what his son later known as "trabalenguas" (tongue twisters), which bring off fact is a style albatross scat singing where some worm your way in the syllables of the valid song are slurred nasally dispatch delivered quickly along with honourableness scatting.

The skill was passed from father to son; Efraín became so adept at contemn "trabalenguas" that he eventually was called "El Rey del Trabalengua" ("The Tongue Twister King") once upon a time he became famous.^[3][4]

Efraín's early days

Efraín's mother died when he was a little boy, and Abettor Mon remarried a few era after, fathering a total more than a few twelve children.

Since the family's economic situation was precarious, Efraín had to support and setting after his younger brothers stomachturning taking various odd jobs. Ethics one that he was chief successful at, besides music, was as shortstop for the Indios de Mayagüez,^[3] the local season league baseball team, for which he had been the sparkle boy at an earlier be in charge of.

He played with them betwixt 1943 and 1945.^[3] To that date, he still holds rank league record for most triples in a game (three) meticulous most consecutive doubles in trim double-header (five).

Efraín was necessary as a multi-instrumentalist: he worked timbales, congas, bongos, saxophone, bragger, trombone and bass guitar.

Require his beginnings as a player, Efraín and Germán Vélez (father of Wilkins Vélez) formed Carry out Dúo Huasteco, and sang Mexican folk songs that were favourite in Latin America at authority time (they even dressed interpretation part). Santos Colon joined grandeur duo occasionally and made leaving a trio. Their talent artificial Gilbert Mamery to feature them as part of musical reviews staged at Mayagüez's San José Theater.

Later, Mon became expert percussionist and singer with diverse local bands, working with bandleaders Juan Ramón Delgado, better household as "Moncho Leña"^[5] and William Manzano, both of whom flair persuaded to allow him just a stone's throw away arrange some of his father's plenas for a full orchestra.^[3] A full orchestral version mean "Aló, ¿Quién Ñama?" was spruce up sleeper hit in 1954.

Efraín (by now widely called "Moncito", or "Little Mon", and ulterior called just "Mon") began quick popularize his father's plenas. Flavour of them, "La Plena institute Rafael Martinez Nadal" was deadly in admiration for the Puerto Rican lawyer and legislator, who was extremely successful in community courts.

Another one, "Carbón endure Palito", described the route followed by street vendors of grove charcoal (then used as chow fuel) through most of Mayagüez. Almost all sections of grandeur city at the time hook mentioned in the lyrics. Both plenas were local hits, current along with Rafael Cortijo's interpretation of "El Bombón de Elena", they helped to revive illustriousness genre during the late Decade.

Efraín started writing his defeat material just as this case in point.

By the mid-1950s, Efraín was an accomplished singer in Puerto Rico, but since the atoll is rather small, he upfront as many other local shy and emigrated to New Royalty City, as to guarantee straighten up living playing music, given integrity sizeable Latino population there.

While in the manner tha Moncho Leña's orchestra moved tell apart New York City in Nov 1953, he moved along extra them. He went to rendering extreme of arranging a plena version of "Hava Nagilah" reach the Italian and Jewish clubgoers who danced to their meeting at New York's Palladium Ballroom.^[5] He also sang with Joe Cotto and Héctor Pellot.^[3] Yes was featured in the more television music special by distinction Banco Popular de Puerto Law in 1960.

Trombanga sound

Rivera time-saving his own orchestra by 1961, when he started working confession his album Que gente averiguá (What nosey people), which was released in 1963. The roll for this record included Berk Palmieri and Eddie Palmieri bless piano, Barry Rogers, Mark Weinstein, and Manolín Pazo on trombones, and Kako on percussion, centre of others.^[3] Like most Latino orchestras of the time, Rivera's gang did not play plenas largely.

Most of Rivera's plena statistics broke into a salsa reduce in mid-song, and he would sing or play any sort at dances and shows. That explains his experiments mixing plena with pachanga, mambo and Dominicanmerengue, such as the album's name track, a song where crystalclear mocked people who openly criticized that he was a tight-arse, recycling old clothes until they wore thin, keeping his impecuniousness hidden in a barrel bring down wearing an old hat get round his Mayagüez days down Ordinal Avenue in Manhattan.

Cheo Feliciano admits being Efraín's roadie on a former occasion around this time.

There clear out conflicting theories that list either Rivera or his record manufacturer, Al Santiago, as being representation inventor of the all-trombone harlot section (four trombones, in that case). An early example expose this is the earliest soundtrack Rivera made of "Askarakatiskis".

That led to a more hostile, bottom-heavy sound that was neat novelty at the time. Goodness sound lent itself well say yes plenas but did not select on in salsa circles undetermined Eddie Palmieri experimented with organized similar lineup almost simultaneously (Santiago produced both artists). By ethics end of the decade, glory all-trombone brass section was expose of the standard salsa noesis, popularized particularly by Willie Colón, who adopted it most victoriously than any other bandleader.

Rivera could make a living get his orchestra, but migrating coalesce New York had disconnected him from his fan base give back Puerto Rico. Health problems with bouts with alcoholism and analgesic addiction, along with serving brutally prison time (which limited wreath contribution to the album Dolores, recorded with Joe Cotto with the addition of Mike Casino, and released vibrate 1963), eventually forced a simplification in his workload causing queen popularity to wane, but solitary temporarily.

Mon The Younger revives his career

By the mid-1970s, on the other hand, Willie Colón encountered Efraín unadorned Puerto Rico, during one range his visits to the atoll. At the time, Efraín was a patient at an Hogar Crea, a drug rehabilitation announcement local to Puerto Rico. Unquestionable had become a part-time chilling technician.

Colón, who had darling Efraín's multiple trombone sound muscularly enough to model his track down band after Rivera's, persuaded Efraín to record an album grow smaller him, for which he would perform and produce. The tome, named Se Chavó El Vecindario/There Goes The Neighborhood, was total by Colón's current label, Fania Records. For the album conference, Colón assembled a solid arrangement that consisted of Willie's necessitate, as well as Rubén Blades (and in at least couple songs, Héctor Lavoe) as substance of the vocal chorus sweep.

Following the release of Se Chavó, Efraín performed live fit Vicky Soto on congas, Gilberto Colón on piano, Goodwin Benzoin on bass, and José Rodríguez, Marco Katz, Frankie Rosa, take precedence Frank Figueroa on trombones.

Se Chavó became a seminal be concerned in the history of Puerto Rican plena, essentially revived Efraín's career and made him noted in a few Latin Inhabitant countries, particularly in Venezuela gain the Dominican Republic.

The wedding album had three smash hits, elegant semi-autobiographical plena named "Ya Llegó"^[3] (written for him by counterpart Puerto Rican composer and chanteuse Felito Felix) and another named "Julia Lee", the story refreshing a bully who terrorized San Juan's Barrio Obrero neighborhood. First-class third hit was a collection of "Qué Será" and "Askarakatiskis".

In Puerto Rico, two further plenas written by Tite Curette Alonso, one called "La Humanidad" ("The Humanity"), in which Tite criticizes people's pettiness that take ruined the friendship between duo buddies, and "Tinguilikitín", which describes Mayagüez's old horse-pulled tram good turn its bell, were minor hits.

Soon after his mid-1960s albums were re-released.

Death and legacy

The increasing demand for his ceremony, a relapse in his anodyne addiction, and his ill good combined to strike Efraín lay hands on the peak of his commonness. He died on March 12, 1978, in Manhattan, New Royalty City, United States, of tidy heart attack, at the recoil of 53.^[1] He was before long buried in Mayagüez's Old State-run Cemetery, gathering the second superb funeral crowd assembled in primacy city, second only to defer of the 1993 burial flow for Benjamin Cole, the longest-serving mayor in the city's narration.

An impromptu plena band fake his songs during the go on foot between the religious service give orders to his burial place.

Fania Documents released a posthumous album nuisance unreleased tracks from the Se Chavó sessions and newer issue, called Forever.^[3] The album, advance by Johnny Pacheco,^[3] granted Efraín one last hit, the to a certain extent fitting "Se Dice Gracias" (aka "¡Bravo, Mon!").

A remastered novel of Se Chavó was floating in May 2007.

Since Efraín died intestate, legal disputes mid family members, as well variety between his estate and position publishers of his songs (and his fathers') prevent most dig up his music to be bring to an end publicly by Latino media. Even so, both Mons have left clean up legacy of plena standards roam are popular to this hour.

Efraín was regarded as collective of the best güiro warp of his day (Tite Curette Alonso claimed he was sui generis incomparabl surpassed by Patricio Rijos, "Toribio", a guiro player that attended Puerto Rican composer Felipe Rosario Goyco, "Don Felo", and whose statue can be found recoil the intersection of Tanca coupled with San Francisco streets in Stanchion San Juan).

An example training Efraín's güiro playing can aptitude heard at the end exhaust the first percussion solo detach of "Ya llegó".

The all-trombone brass lineup, on the cover up hand, persists in much put a stop to Willie Colón's work, as all right as in many plena bands, most notably in Puerto Rico's most successful plena band quick-thinking, Plena Libre.

In 1976, linctus Efraín was alive, a share out song to him, "Cuchú Cuchá" became a sleeper hit constant worry the Dominican Republic. The aforesaid song was later versioned lump Jossie Esteban and his onetime group, Patrulla 15, and became a merengue hit in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic station New York City. Just associate Efraín's death, the Puerto Rican plena collective Los Pleneros depict Quinto Olivo recorded a ceremony song, "¿Dónde estará Mon?" ("Where would Mon be?") that crosspiece fondly of Efraín (although primacy song did have some inaccuracies concerning him).

Celia Cruz authentic Efraín's plena "A Papá Cuando Venga" ("When Dad Comes Back", a song describing a girl's experience with sexual harassment unreceptive a neighbor from her vantage point, threatening him with a licking once her dad comes terminate from running errands) in bomba style with Willie Colón, don had a hit with cut your coat according to your cloth in Puerto Rico.

In distinction song "El Telefonito", from top 1981 album with Willie Colón Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos, Rubén Blades pays systematic tribute to Efraín in position 'soneos' section, parodying "Aló ¿Quien Ñama?" and its trabalengua thing. So does Héctor Lavoe hamper the studio recording of "Mi Gente", written by Johnny Pacheco and recorded in 1973.

A street in the "Rio Hondo" section of Mayagüez is denominated in Efraín's honor.

Discography

• A Gloomy at The Palladium with Moncho Leña, 1956
• Dance with Moncho Leña, 1958
• Que Gente Averigua, 1963 (re-released as Mon y Sus Trombones in 1976)
• Dolores, 1963 (with Joe Cotto y su Orquesta)
• Karakatis-Ki, Vol.

  1, 1964

• Kijis Konar, Vol. 2, 1965
• Mon Rivera y Su Orquesta, Vol. 3, 1966
• Se Chavó title Vecindario / There Goes high-mindedness Neighborhood, 1975 (with Willie Colón)
• Forever (posthumous), 1978
• Mon y Sus Trombones, 1995^[6]

References

External links