Name: Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull
Date of birth: 31st August 1911
Died: Los Angeles, 31 December 1970
Place of birth: Güira de Macurijes in Bolondrón, Matanzas Province, Cuba.
Arsenio Rodríguez, is one of the most influential artists in the history of Cuban music. He was not only a gifted composer but also a proficient tres player, percussionist and a band leader. His innovations changed the course of the Latin dance music industry which eventually became known as Salsa.
Arsenio revolutionized the traditional instrumental line up with the introduction of the then forbidden African origin Conga drum. The set up known as the Conjunto, which he is considered the father of, had 8-12 musicians. His compositions, most of which were salsa repertoires in Cuba and New York emphasized the Afro-Cuban elements, with focus on the Congolese elements.
Arsenio Rodriguez a descendant of Congolese slaves, was born as the third of fifteen children, fourteen boys and one girl on August 30, 1911. As a child he began playing a variety of instruments, including Afro-Cuban drums, percussion, the bass and the tres. Although having been left blind by a horse kick at the age of 7, this didn’t discourage Rodriguez to pursuit his musical ambition.
His musical career took off in 1936 as Arsenio played his own compositions with the Sexteto Boston, led by his cousin Jacinto Scull. He later joined the Septeto Bellamar of cornetist José Interián in 1938 and further led a band in Cuba, Arsenio Rodríguez y su Conjunto from 1940 to 1947. In the hope of getting cured of his blindness he went to New York in 1947 but was told that his optic nerves were completely destroyed. The whole episode led him to compose the bolero La Vida es un Sueño (Life is a dream). In 1952 he migrated to New York in hope of better payments and later went on to play with percussionist Chano Pozo and other musical illuminaries like Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, and Mario Bauza of what became Latin Jazz.
He claimed to be the true creator of the mambo which is debatable as he was was not a group arranger, his lyrics and musical ideas were worked over by the group's arranger. Arsenio's bassist and close friend Alfonso "El Panameno" Joseph as well as other band members - Julian Lianos, who performed with Arsenio at the Palladium Ballroom in New York during the 1960s, have had their legacies documented in La Epoca-a national television production released in theaters across the US in September 2008 and in Latin America in 2009.
Trivia:
He wrote close to 200 songs and got to be known as "El Ciego Maravilloso" (the Marvelous Blind Man).
Well known for his works on the Son, Boleros, Latin Jazz and the Mambo rhythm.
Discography:
1946 Dame un Cachito Pa Huelle
1946 Semilla de Cana Brava
1947 Los Dicen Todos: La Vida Es un Sueño
1947 Serenede
1948 El Cerro, Tiene la Llave, No Vuelvo a Moron
1948 Esa China Tiene Coimbre
1948 Rumba Palo Cucuye, Tintoere Ya Llego
1948 Yo No Engaño a Las Nenas, Tecoloro
1949 El Palo Tiene Curey
1950 Anabacoa
1951 Caminante y Labori, Mira Que Soy Chambelon
1952 Pa Que Gocen, Jaguey
1956 Mambo en la Cueva
1957 Buenavista en Guaguancó, Carraguao Alante
1958 Tribilin Cantore
1962 Son Pachanga
1963 La Pachanga
1968 Arsenio Dice
By Lourd Vijay
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About the Author: Lourd Vijay is the principal Promoter of Latin culture, music and dance in the Asian Region. He recently stood 10th at the “most Popular Entrepreneur of the year 2009” amongst 180 nominees from across the country. An innovative choreographer and a very able instructor, he is the director of the Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studios (www.lvds.in) in India.
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