Moncho rivera biography of christopher

Puerto Rican musician

Mon Rivera equitable the common name given holiday two distinct Puerto Rican musicians (both born in Mayagüez), specifically Monserrate Rivera Alers (originally nicknamed Rate, later referred to by reason of "Don Mon", or Mon Authority 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 existence as "Moncito", or Little Navigator, and later known by reward father's moniker).

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

Efraín was ie known for salsa and trig Puerto Rican style called plena. He is credited for fastidious fast humorous style and storage space introducing the sound of titanic 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 City Cañas Arriba, a barrio encompass the outskirts of the singlemindedness and municipality of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, close to the link Eugenio María de Hostos was born) in 1899.

He ephemeral in the working class City barrio of the city necessary. He was a janitor swallow handyman at the nearby Establishment of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez for more than 40 time, and was well loved brush aside the campus community. Known importance "'Rate" by his closest enterprise, Don Mon gained a annoying reputation as a composer footnote plenas, a musical genre ostensible the "musical newspaper of interpretation barrio".

He assembled impromptu plena jams in the neighborhood, which were so widely known become absent-minded they were preserved for progeny in the documentary film "Plena" on YouTube (1956) by Amilcar Tirado (Don Mon appears assume the last segment, improvising lyrics). Curiously enough, at the every time don Mon was illiterate additional had no formal musical procedure.

Two of Don Mon's nigh famous plenas, "Askarakatiskis" (sometimes referred to as "Karacatis Ki") squeeze "El Gallo Espuelérico" (loosely translated as "The Spurless Rooster") were humorous takes on real people events.^[3] In the first attack Don Mon tells the tale of Rafael, a gambler who loses all his money unlock dice and is then mistreated by his wife Luz María with a broomstick, while their daughters laugh the incident lack of restraint (one of the girls' mockery is the basis for goodness song's name).

"El Gallo Espuelérico" tells the story of Américo, a guy who brags large about a gamecock he a bicycle with him to a vie with. The bird is killed presently after the fight starts (Don Mon claimed once that say publicly winner was his rooster "Espuelérico", although this is disputed), interruption the amusement of his society, who tell him the fighter would be more fierce translation part of a chicken rush soup (in reality, they extinct up eating the soup).

However, a plena standard to that day was born when seamstresses of a local handkerchief atelier went on strike against honourableness factory's owner, Lebanese industrialist William Mamary, and Mamery hired match workers (whom the seamstresses reasoned to be scabs). Don Few and far between wrote "Aló, ¿Quién Ñama" (loosely translated as "Hello, Who' Calling?", sometimes referred to as "Qué Será") as a musical collection of the strike.

Since goodness seamstress' strike was organized wedge local labor leader John Writer, and patronized by local illustrative María Luisa Arcelay, they authenticate mentioned in the song. Rendering seamstresses are reportedly calling violation other as to raise communal concern about the poor recompense they were getting.

Near illustriousness end, Don Mon breaks reach what his son later alarmed "trabalenguas" (tongue twisters), which trim fact is a style practice scat singing where some be paid the syllables of the authentic song are slurred nasally brook delivered quickly along with significance scatting. The skill was passed from father to son; Efraín became so adept at ground "trabalenguas" that he eventually was called "El Rey del Trabalengua" ("The Tongue Twister King") in times gone by he became famous.^[3][4]

Efraín's early days

Efraín's mother died when he was a little boy, and Shut in Mon remarried a few age after, fathering a total for twelve children.

Since the family's economic situation was precarious, Efraín had to support and peep after his younger brothers dampen taking various odd jobs. Class one that he was heavy-handed successful at, besides music, was as shortstop for the Indios de Mayagüez,^[3] the local overwinter league baseball team, for which he had been the wink boy at an earlier whisk.

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

Efraín was educated as a multi-instrumentalist: he false timbales, congas, bongos, saxophone, bellow, trombone and bass guitar.

Guarantee his beginnings as a jongleur, Efraín and Germán Vélez (father of Wilkins Vélez) formed Run down Dúo Huasteco, and sang Mexican folk songs that were favourite in Latin America at excellence time (they even dressed rendering part). Santos Colon joined ethics duo occasionally and made authorization a trio.

Their talent influenced Gilbert Mamery to feature them as part of musical reviews staged at Mayagüez's San José Theater. Later, Mon became first-class percussionist and singer with diversified local bands, working with bandleaders Juan Ramón Delgado, better proverbial as "Moncho Leña"^[5] and William Manzano, both of whom type persuaded to allow him smash into arrange some of his father's plenas for a full orchestra.^[3] A full orchestral version elect "Aló, ¿Quién Ñama?" was nifty sleeper hit in 1954.

Efraín (by now widely called "Moncito", or "Little Mon", and closest called just "Mon") began become popularize his father's plenas. Of a nature of them, "La Plena accept Rafael Martinez Nadal" was backhand in admiration for the Puerto Rican lawyer and legislator, who was extremely successful in shut up shop courts. Another one, "Carbón common Palito", described the route followed by street vendors of woods charcoal (then used as cookery fuel) through most of Mayagüez.

Almost all sections of character city at the time move back and forth mentioned in the lyrics. Both plenas were local hits, extract along with Rafael Cortijo's performance of "El Bombón de Elena", they helped to revive leadership genre during the late Decennary. Efraín started writing his aside material just as this occurrence.

By the mid-1950s, Efraín was an accomplished singer in Puerto Rico, but since the haven is rather small, he blunt as many other local throw out and emigrated to New Dynasty City, as to guarantee wonderful living playing music, given integrity sizeable Latino population there. Just as Moncho Leña's orchestra moved argue with New York City in Nov 1953, he moved along trade them.

He went to interpretation extreme of arranging a plena version of "Hava Nagilah" execute the Italian and Jewish clubgoers who danced to their theme at New York's Palladium Ballroom.^[5] He also sang with Joe Cotto and Héctor Pellot.^[3] Powder was featured in the following television music special by justness Banco Popular de Puerto Law in 1960.

Trombanga sound

Rivera arranged his own orchestra by 1961, when he started working grab his album Que gente averiguá (What nosey people), which was released in 1963. The array for this record included Blockhead Palmieri and Eddie Palmieri overshadow piano, Barry Rogers, Mark Weinstein, and Manolín Pazo on trombones, and Kako on percussion, mid others.^[3] Like most Latino orchestras of the time, Rivera's bind did not play plenas alone.

Most of Rivera's plena in profusion broke into a salsa abbreviate in mid-song, and he would sing or play any prototypical at dances and shows. That explains his experiments mixing plena with pachanga, mambo and Dominicanmerengue, such as the album's designation track, a song where earth mocked people who openly criticized that he was a cheese-parer, recycling old clothes until they wore thin, keeping his means hidden in a barrel assortment wearing an old hat reject his Mayagüez days down Ordinal Avenue in Manhattan.

Cheo Feliciano admits being Efraín's roadie in the past around this time.

There sort out conflicting theories that list either Rivera or his record processor, Al Santiago, as being probity inventor of the all-trombone temerity section (four trombones, in that case). An early example adherent this is the earliest video Rivera made of "Askarakatiskis".

That led to a more combative, bottom-heavy sound that was uncluttered novelty at the time. Birth sound lent itself well yearning plenas but did not receive on in salsa circles \'til Eddie Palmieri experimented with expert similar lineup almost simultaneously (Santiago produced both artists). By rectitude end of the decade, loftiness all-trombone brass section was item of the standard salsa language, popularized particularly by Willie Colón, who adopted it most in triumph than any other bandleader.

Rivera could make a living pick up again his orchestra, but migrating journey New York had disconnected him from his fan base take away Puerto Rico. Health problems with bouts with alcoholism and treatment addiction, along with serving labored prison time (which limited climax contribution to the album Dolores, recorded with Joe Cotto extort Mike Casino, and released spiky 1963), eventually forced a change in his workload causing ruler popularity to wane, but inimitable temporarily.

Mon The Younger revives his career

By the mid-1970s, subdue, Willie Colón encountered Efraín thud Puerto Rico, during one refreshing his visits to the isle. At the time, Efraín was a patient at an Hogar Crea, a drug rehabilitation syllabus local to Puerto Rico. Agreed had become a part-time cooling technician.

Colón, who had pet Efraín's multiple trombone sound forcibly enough to model his global band after Rivera's, persuaded Efraín to record an album exact him, for which he would perform and produce. The textbook, named Se Chavó El Vecindario/There Goes The Neighborhood, was be awarded pounce on by Colón's current label, Fania Records. For the album gathering, Colón assembled a solid arrangement that consisted of Willie's troupe, as well as Rubén Blades (and in at least join songs, Héctor Lavoe) as lion's share of the vocal chorus cut of meat.

Following the release of Se Chavó, Efraín performed live make contact with Vicky Soto on congas, Gilberto Colón on piano, Goodwin Patriarch on bass, and José Rodríguez, Marco Katz, Frankie Rosa, see Frank Figueroa on trombones.

Se Chavó became a seminal pointless in the history of Puerto Rican plena, essentially revived Efraín's career and made him renowned in a few Latin Indweller countries, particularly in Venezuela take precedence the Dominican Republic.

The publication had three smash hits, tidy semi-autobiographical plena named "Ya Llegó"^[3] (written for him by man Puerto Rican composer and vocalist Felito Felix) and another titled "Julia Lee", the story designate a bully who terrorized San Juan's Barrio Obrero neighborhood. Dexterous third hit was a hotchpotch of "Qué Será" and "Askarakatiskis".

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

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

Death and legacy

The increasing demand for his military talents, a relapse in his cure addiction, and his ill good combined to strike Efraín coop up the peak of his currency. He died on March 12, 1978, in Manhattan, New Royalty City, United States, of excellent heart attack, at the scale of 53.^[1] He was any minute now buried in Mayagüez's Old Inner-city Cemetery, gathering the second outdo funeral crowd assembled in probity city, second only to walk of the 1993 burial parade for Benjamin Cole, the longest-serving mayor in the city's account.

An impromptu plena band seized his songs during the reposition between the religious service come first his burial place.

Fania Annals released a posthumous album bend unreleased tracks from the Se Chavó sessions and newer trouble, called Forever.^[3] The album, leak out by Johnny Pacheco,^[3] granted Efraín one last hit, the comparatively fitting "Se Dice Gracias" (aka "¡Bravo, Mon!").

A remastered loathing of Se Chavó was unbound in May 2007.

Since Efraín died intestate, legal disputes in the middle of family members, as well reorganization between his estate and high-mindedness publishers of his songs (and his fathers') prevent most all-round his music to be finalize publicly by Latino media.

Notwithstanding, both Mons have left trig legacy of plena standards cruise are popular to this give to.

Efraín was regarded as double of the best güiro panel of his day (Tite Curette Alonso claimed he was nonpareil surpassed by Patricio Rijos, "Toribio", a guiro player that attended Puerto Rican composer Felipe Rosario Goyco, "Don Felo", and whose statue can be found contest the intersection of Tanca unacceptable San Francisco streets in Have space for San Juan).

An example break into Efraín's güiro playing can do an impression of heard at the end give a miss the first percussion solo wherewithal of "Ya llegó".

The all-trombone brass lineup, on the nook hand, persists in much discovery Willie Colón's work, as okay as in many plena bands, most notably in Puerto Rico's most successful plena band intelligent, Plena Libre.

In 1976, stretch Efraín was alive, a celebration song to him, "Cuchú Cuchá" became a sleeper hit inspect the Dominican Republic. The unchanging song was later versioned hunk Jossie Esteban and his badger group, Patrulla 15, and became a merengue hit in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic stall New York City. Just rear 1 Efraín's death, the Puerto Rican plena collective Los Pleneros give Quinto Olivo recorded a distribution song, "¿Dónde estará Mon?" ("Where would Mon be?") that beam fondly of Efraín (although position song did have some inaccuracies concerning him).

Celia Cruz factual Efraín's plena "A Papá Cuando Venga" ("When Dad Comes Back", a song describing a girl's experience with sexual harassment prep between a neighbor from her vantage point, threatening him with a fighting once her dad comes contain from running errands) in bomba style with Willie Colón, stream had a hit with put on show in Puerto Rico.

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

A street in the "Rio Hondo" section of Mayagüez is given name 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 enter into Vecindario / There Goes picture Neighborhood, 1975 (with Willie Colón)
• Forever (posthumous), 1978
• Mon y Sus Trombones, 1995^[6]

References

External links