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Notes on bordonúa tuning & stringing

Notes on the tunings and stringing of the bordonúa

The shape, stringing and tuning of the bordonúa have changed over the last two centuries, and they way it is made today varies according to who is making it and what use they intend for it. Historically, the bordonúa variants and their tuning/stringing have fallen into the following categories:

The early bordonúas: From early bibliographic references, from interviews with elders and interviews with the descendants of bordonúa players and makers of the past, we learned that the bordonúa of the 19th century had either five or six single strings, described as "a guitar of large dimensions" with a "deep voice." Emanuel Dufrasne said his parents in Ponce made them, and they were larger than the "usual" guitars. If indeed it originally was a locally-devised variant of the guitar , we can presume that it was shaped and tuned like a guitar, with its single strings tuned in the guitar intervals of 4-4-4-3-4, and likely to be hollowed out of a single large block of wood in the traditional enterizo fashion. It is important to note that for much of the nineteenth century, guitars were notably smaller than modern guitars, so something called "a large guitar" at the time may not be much larger than a guitar of present times.

The bordonúas of Yuyo, Cando and Cundi: During the thirties, a regional bordonúa appears in the hands of two maestros: "Yuyo" Velázquez, and Candelario "Candó" Vázquez, tuned and shaped alike. But their stringing was truly different, even strange, consisting of light-gauge strings arranged in five courses: two single-string courses and three double-string courses. Interestingly, these were tuned in the same intervals as the small Canary Island timple, that is, in intervals of 4-3-4-4. There were significant early migrations to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands. This form of bordonúa was not used as an accompanist's instrument, like we believe the early bordonúa was, but instead as a lead melody instrument, itself accompanied by a guitar or cuatro. It was tuned, from low to high,  A d f# b e' (la re fa# si mi). In Aguas Buenas, don Segundo "Cundi" Merced played a large, pear-shaped  bordonúa tuned to the same intervals but to G c e a d' (sol do mi la re). Unfortunately, when you place light-gauged strings on a large instrument, it can only produce a quiet, muffled and short-lived sound. Don Candó himself described is as "a hard to play instrument". The instrument apparently had few other promoters and was also difficult to make. This may explain why it fell into disuse before mid-century. That is, until...

Francisco López Cruz' midcentury bordonúa revival: Around 1955, Dr. Francisco López Cruz, the famed musician/folklorist, under the aegis of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico), undertakes the first "rescue" of the bordonúa. He commissions several artisans to make bordonúas of refined form, including a change of its silhouette and stringing for use in his Cuatro and Bordonúa Orchestra (which is still active today under the direction of Myrna Pérez). López Cruz recommends that the same string set be used as those used on modern cuatros, arranged in five double-string course but tuned to the bordonúas earlier interval scheme of  4-3-4-4 but in the form A d f# b e' (la re fa# si mi). This configuration places the instrument in a musical range that is similar to that of the cuatro--in other words, López Cruz recreation did not return the instrument to its earliest musical function as a deep-voiced instrument. The august reputation and influence of the late, great maestro López Cruz has been enough to keep the tuning and stringing of the instrument that he rescued midcentury as the standard of the present day.

The Cuatro Project's bordonúa tuning proposal:  The Cuatro Project, propelled by its findings about the instrument's earliest musical function, and by its interest in returning the instrument to the function described in the 19th century as being the deep voice of the traditional jíbaro orchestra (the "orquesta jíbara," that is, playing in concert with the tiple and cuatro).  commissioned several artisans to recreate a modern "bordonúa grave." It is strung in intervals of 4-4-4-4 --facilitating in this way its use by modern cuatro players---but tuned to the scheme E A d g c' (mi la re sol do). This scheme places it at a sufficient distance from the cuatro and the tiple enabling a greater contrast between all the instruments of the traditional orchestra. The Cuatro Project is actively promoting this restored usaget in its live presentations of jíbaro orchestras during public musical events and workshops.

At present, builders such as Aurelio Cruz Pagán and Vicente Valentín, among others, offer bordonúas tuned and strung to the requirements of their individual customers, usually in one or more of the ways described above. Recently we were made aware that Modesto Nieves recorded his recent important CD Orquesta Jíbara, with a bordonúa strung and tuned like a cuatro, that is, in intervals of 4-4-4-4.

Efraín Vidal: seis samples

36 Different Seis and Aguinaldo samples

(And a few other things) offered to the Cuatro Project by the marvelous cuatrista Efraín Vidal before he passed away.

 vidal.jpg (5608 bytes)

Clic on the speakers to hear the samples

You can hear some wind noise behind the first two cuts. Sorry!

 
Seis Mapeyé

"I'm going to give you a little demonstration of some seis genres. Let's start with the Seis Mapeyé. Its a genre that the troubadours use a lot when they want to improvise..because it's a slow genre..."
[See an article in Spanish about the
Mapeye by Dr. Cirilio Toro]

Seis con Décima

"...as well as the Seis con Décima. This is another genre the troubadour uses a lot."

Seis de Andino

"There's the Seis de Andino too."

[In his book, Folklore Puertorriqueño, Paquito López Cruz affirms that "This seis carries the name of Julián Andino, notable violinist, composer and ochestra leader."]

Seis Fajardeño

"The Seis Fajardeño was used in the Cantatas de Rondas in the old days. ¡And that's where they'd stay till dawn, indeed!"

[The notable folklorist José Enrique Ayoroa Santaliz informed us that the name of the Seis Fajardeño didn't come from the name of the town of Fajardo, but rather from a notable personage with the last name Fajardo.]

Seis Tango

"The jíbaro, well, he as created...even from other countries, inspired from their music...we have the Seis Tango. And from that point the troubadour takes off, as far as he can, all the way to the end. Until the muse leaves him!"

Seis Araucano

"We also have a Seis Araucano, which our Victoria Sanabria often sings. Moralito recorded it a lot. And Luz Celenia [Tirado] besides". [then he says the following about the Seis Araucano:] "I've also heard this called the Seis Veracruzano".

Aguinaldo Cagueño

"The Aguinaldo Cagueño the aguinaldos. [DM: But there's another style to the Cagueño ¿right? (he sings a fragment)]  Yes, but that is in a scale that falls withing the Seis de Andino. And since it fits into the same aguinaldo, those inspirations occur from the mind of the musician, right? But at least that's the root of the music itself, the musical component that the troubadour hangs on to to create his décima".

Aguin. Orocoveño

"The most traditional aguinaldo we've got. We know it as the Orocoveño. It's the one everyone knows.í"

Aguinaldo Isabelino

"You've got the Isabelino, that everyone sings all over like during a parranda, which it's perfect for."

Seis de Montebello

"Another one we created was the Seis Montebello. That's the idea. And from there, sure, well you can create many inspirations. But it is basic to the troubadours song."

Seis de El Dorado

"The El Dorado. It's actually comes to be a Seis Chorreao, but iin a minor key."

Seis Pampero

"Then we have the Pampero. This is the famous Pampero tango-style.".

Seis Gaucho

"We have the Seis Gaucho too. And you can start to sing from that point on. And so you see, we have seises derived from other genres."

Seis del Llano  
Seis de Enramada

"Not to many people sing this one, which is the Seis Enramada, which goes like this...[plays] ...it one genre that few people sing to it. A beautiful genre."

Seis Mariandá

"This one, people have to have a lot of breath and phrasing to sing ...yes, yes, because they are genres that go on and on, and you have to have good lungs to..."

Seis Celinés

"We haven't done this one yet. The Celinés is...[plays] ...and it goes on like that from there too."

Seis Chorreao (1)

"[WC: Are there more that one Seis Chorreao, ¿or several?] ..the Seis Chorreao as it is, is the traditional one, as its widely known, because it is a fast genre. You can take a slower genre and speed it up and do it Seis Chorrao style. That is, you can give it that feeling.  [DM: Well, there are different styles like the del Dorado] ... Sure, the Seis del Dorado can be a Seis Chorreao, except that it's in minor key. [DM: Can you show us theChorreao?] ... Yes [plays] ...Note how I did it in minor key? Then the del Dorado is like this...[plays] ...which has the same structure.

Seis Chorreao (2)

"[WC: Can you do another Chorreao?]... Those little frills, well you make them up. There are times you shouldn't use them, because the singer some times gets thrown off beat, he can't...you shouldn't use them if you want everyone to sound their best".

Seis Viequense (1)

"Yes. The Seis Viequense. It's the Cante Hondo de Vieques".

Seis Viequense (2)

"Here's another viequense that Nereida Maldonado recorded with Paquito's group, Paquito López Cruz. Let's see if I remember the melody...[plays] ...[DM:¿Isn't that the Seis Villarán?] ...It's like it, but what changes sometimes is the same rhythm that's given to the vocal part and...it's recorded this way as Paquito's viequense [We  think Vidal was actually referring to the recording that Maria Esther Acevedo did with Claudio Ferrer's group. DM]

Seis Villarán  
Seis Bayamonés

" ...[DM: It ends up been another style of the Chorreao, no?]  Yes, as they're both fast...because the melody is done by the troubadour". 

Seis Marumba

"... it's like they've just created this Seis Marumba, that if the troubadour carries the melody, the instruments keep playing this all the time... [plays] ...and the troubadour is really in charge, because the instruments just keep doing the same thing over and over."

Seis Milonguero

"The Milonguero... [plays] ...and there you have the Milonguero. Buit then, the Milonga..."

Seis Milonga

"That the Seis Milonga. There some genres that many singers are confused about. Right now I playing it in the key of E, but now anybody says, "no, that one's in G!" It's supposed to be in any key that you can sing it in. It doesn't have to be in G!."

Aguinaldo Jíbaro

"This is one of the most traditional Christmas tunes."

La Llanera

"This one reminds me of the late Priscila Flores, who loved this genre, and Priscila is the one who sang it the best."

Seis Guaracha

"...and from there we go on. As one can remember them. There is a wide variety to please any audience, without ever having to repeat a single one. But many learn a décima in just one genre, and they record it and they don't want to get out of that one. And then, what are you going to do? My job is to accompany them. His job is to interpret and ask for a genre and you got to comply. And this is the way with the Puerto Rican cuatro. But the true traditional orchestra is cuatro, guitar and güiro. The bongó was added to it later, since, do you know that the bongo is a Cuban instrument? But it was made to fit into our music. But the true traditional orchestra is cuatro, guitar and güiro."

Seis Tumbao

[DM: That was the one Nieves did.] I think it's the real Seis Tumbao".

Seis de Ceiba

"That's the original Seis de Ceiba that has a lot of derivates out there."

Seis Yumac

"This is a precious genre, and many people don't play it in the key its supposed to be in: to many sharps and flats. Some people, if it has to many flats, it makes it hard for them."

[WRC: The Seis Yumac is closely linked to the great troubadour Germán Rosario, known as the Jíbaro de Yumac. Yumac is the name of the town of Camuy backwards.]

Seis Mayagüezano

"The Mayagüezano, at least I got to record it with the late Priscila Flores...[plays]...Its on an LP that someone borrowed without asking me and it never returned to my hands..."

Seis Español

"..and from there the troubadour develops it."

Punto Cubano

"There's the Punto Cubano also ...[plays]...and from there the troubadour does his quartet, the cuatro returns and repeats that little part, and the troubadour finishes of with the last six stanzas...[DM: Germán Rosario sang some beautiful Puntos ]...Yes, that was his specialty."

Seis Antillano  
Seis Chacarera  
Seis Joropo

"And the Seis Joropo which I just remembered...[plays]...and from there the troubadour continues on down the line."

Seis Cuesta Abajo

"This is the one I've always known as the Seis Cuesta Abajo".

Vals

"There's a number I've always like, a waltz by Jose Antonio Monroseaux. It's called El Sueño de una Princesa "[A princesses' dream].

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Yomo Toro: seis samples

Yomo Toro talks about the Seis

...a small talk by the great cuatro master   

Yomo and wrc.jpg (16555 bytes)
Yomo Toro in 1998 at the Smithsonian Instituto in Washington DC with the Cuatro Project coordinator

Listen to Yomo demonstrating other Puerto Rican seises:

"The Seis Fajardeño can accompany the Décima too..." 

"Thes are décimas in Mapeyé style, like this..." 

"These are also Décimas but in Enramada Típica style, another kind of Mapeyé..."

"Then the singer's melody for the Enramada Típica goes..."

"Then there are two kinds of Seis Milonga: one me and Ramito recorded, with an intro that I used to do, that was like this..."
  

"The singer's melody [while the played the Seis Milonga] was like this...this is what I used to play behind Ramito."
    
"Then there was another way I did it with Ramito.  I'ts a Seis Milonga played in a minor key. The other one was in a major keiy. It's the same thing. "

"Then there's another seis that's like from  Argentina, another Milonguero that goes like this..."

"The singer's melody is like this...and the troubadour continues this way. The main part is...the coda...and then the ending..."


 

Listen to Yomo talk about the Seis con Décima
(English trascription of Spanish audio follows)

"Diferent décimas: in aguinaldo style and in seis style. Seises. You know what seises are? When you say "seis con décima" it's like: [he demonstrates on the cuatro and sings the lead].  This is the usual seis con  décima, plain, without a special name. Okay? But those are décimas, its a Seis and you sing a Décima to it, that's why its called 'Seis con Décimas", the genre that you play--plus the décima--they are décimas. This seis con décima is used a lot when the troubadours improvise décimas, that's the seis they use."

"Then what happens is that the groups, that accompany those décimas, they begin to play: [plays a slow sample] but eventually they end up: [plays it faster]. They speed up. But the  decimas, the seis con décimas when used for improvising, they have to be played slow to give the troubadour the opportunity to think, to improvise. But the little groups they start at ten miles per hour and they end up at ninety miles per hour! Groups do that a lot. But not me. When I'm backing them...well, Ramito once told me : "don't speed up the music, if you speed up the music, I can't improvise."


Listen to Yomo demonstrating the Seis Chorreao:

How are the Seis Chorreaos played in a Minor key?

"The seis chorreaos?"

"But they usually do it in a Major key... Then there are others who vary it in different songs when a woman and a man are singing they do...and then they do..."

 

 

 

Marcelino Quiñones' cuatro


Marcelino Quiñones and his cuatro

The pianist/composer Luciano Quiñones has sent us this beautiful photograph of his grandfather,  Marcelino Quiñones, after having seen a small copy of the same on our website. For us it is a great achievement to be able to add to our archives an original and pristing copy of this photograph. The cuatro we see in don Marcelino's hands is a magnificent and rare example of the cuatros that were made along Puerto Rico's southern coastal towns during the first half of the twentieth century. With its vase or tulip-shaped silhouette, we have named it the Southern cuatro or cuatro yaucano, [Yauco cuatro]. Cuatros made like this usually had eight metal strings arranged in four unison pairs that were tuned like the early cuatros they were made to replace: A D A E.

This instrument exists to this day, property of one of Luciano Quiñones' uncles, son of don Marcelino. His name is Eleuterio Quiñones from San Germán, who we visited and interviewed around 1996. The interview follows.

Nonagenarian Eleuterio Quiñones of San Germán with the cuatro of his father (seen above this photo). His interview follows immediately below, where he mentions that the instrument orginally was built for eight strings and was later "modernizes" to carry ten. Photograph taken c. 1996 by Juan Sotomayor

 

Eleuterio Quiñones, cuatrista
Interviewed by Juan Sotomayor in 1996
Transcribed, edited and translated by William Cumpiano

I was born in 1910, October 9th of 1910. Here in San Germán. My parent’s names were José Marcelino Quiñones and Ramona Quiñones Camacho. My father played string bass, saxophone, cuatro, mandolin. He was a teacher of the cuatro and guitar; of both kinds of bases, metal bass and string bass. He was a music director, he knew about music. He learned from Julio Espada of San Germán.

My father played the early cuatro, the one with the squarish shape on top and round on the bottom. The ancient shape. It had wooden tuning pegs. As the instrument evolved, he himself added tuning pegs for ten strings. That is, the instrument was originally four double strings and he added the rest. The makers of that cuatro were the Franquiz family from Cabo Rojo. The neck is mango wood. I believe the soundboox was cedro, a kind that you used to be able to get. The fingerboard was an East Indian wood, I think, Indian [ed.: probably Indian Rosewood, Dalbergia sissoo, often used for fingerboards on fine instruments]. The soundboard—I don’t remember, I don’t know if—cypress. I don’t know what it was called [ed. probably spruce]. It was an aged wood. Not yagrumo. Some ofther kind of wood. That cuatro had eight doubled strings, he put on the fifth around 1916 or 17. When those five [double] string cuatros began to show up around here, he made it into a five [double] string. The Franquiz made different kinds of instrumentos. They made basses, they made guitars, they made mandolins, they made cuatros…wonderful guitars, they made. Many instruments. I think they were of Italian origin, yes.

El cuatro, yo empecé a tocarlo cuando yo tenía por lo menos veintitrés años. Porque yo tocaba primero, yo empecé con mi papá por los campos a tocar güiro, y yo lo acompañaba con güiro y guitarra. Después, que a papá le de por enseñarme el cuatro, y entonces por ahí, por el '22 empecé a tocar el cuatro. El cuatro con cinco cuerdas dobles. Habían otras personas que tocaban el cuatro de cuatro cuerdas: Vicente Padilla usaba cuatro cuerdas, que era en esa misma forma pero un cuatro hecho acá ya, mas pequeño.
Mi papá tocaba toda clase de música. Porque el, cuando venían aquí los españoles con la ópera y zarzuelas, entonces ellos preguntaban si aquí habían músicos que podían leer esa música, y acompañarlos a ellos. Porque entonces en los teatros no habían esos que hay ahora... entonces, había un pianista, violinista, clarinetista, y preguntaban si aquí los había. Y aquí los había. Entre ellos estaban Francisquito Espada, estaba Francisco Nazario Acevedo, estaba papá, estaba Don Nico Zanabria, estaba Mario Milán que era pianista y Pachica tocaba el clarinete muy bien. Entonces estaba, yo creo que era un Moreno que tocaba batería. Don Nico, Don Nicolás tocaba flauta, Mario Milán tocaba piano. Papá el bajo. Entonces Moreno tocaba la batería. Eran como cinco o seis músicos que tocaban. Le daban la música, ellos lo ensayaban por la tarde, y por la noche, eso era... un éxito [rie], la función.
[Yo recuerdo cuando joven entre los mejores cuatristas de por aquí, estaba] Norberto Cales. Conocí también Vicente Padilla. Conocí a Neco Vásquez que era buen cuatrista. Esos mayormente tocaba de oído, pero tocaban tremendo, fenómeno. Neco Vásquez usaba el cuatro de cinco cuerdas dobles, y Vicente Padilla el de cuatro cuerdas. En Ponce estaba este señor que daba clases de bordonúa y cuatro y eso, y un grupo que tenía, se llamaba... Paco López Cruz, el sabía tocar bordonúa. Era un maestro de música y eso. De Ponce. Y de aquí iban a estudiar allá a Ponce. Iban tres, iban unos cuantos. Pero pa' tras no recuerdo [gente que tocaba tiple o bordonúa].
Antes, la música que se tocaba era el One Step americano, bolero, pero de los boleros antiguos esos. Se tocaban mazurcas. Se tocaban pasillos, valses; entre cuando y cuando para esa época estaban también el Fox Trot americano, se tocaba eso desde hace tiempo. Yo tengo los papeles viejos de to' esa música. Estaban la guaracha, estaba la plena: eso es oriundo de aquí porque eso se bailaba, y la bomba y to' eso...
Mi papá afinaba el cuatro, en la primera era Sol, Re, La, Mi. Y después Sol, Re, La, Mi, Qui [?] Tenía tres o cuatro músicos con el cuando tocaba. Estaba Don Juan Olivera que lo acompañaba en la guitarra. Estaba Emilio Gallardo que era otro cuatrista bueno. Estaba otro, el que tocaba guiro con el, Jesús Jaffet. Era francés. Yo tocaba güiro con el cuando era pichoncito. Yo empecé a estudiar música con Francisquito Espada, con mi papá primero. Después Francisquito Espada me empezó a enseñar las notas, mas avanzado que mi papá, porque mi papá sabía de música también, pero como era trombón lo que iba a aprender primero, pues Francisquito Espada me enseñó. Y después, cuando estaba un poquito adelantado, Francisquito Espada dejó de... porque yo empecé en la banda con el, entonces Francisquito Espada se renunció, y se fue, entonces siguió Francisco Nazario Quevedo, y con el terminé de estudiar la música, que me hice profesional con el, porque el tenía una orquesta. Entonces me incorporé en la orquesta con el, que se llamaba Orquesta Euterpe. Y de ahí seguí. Y entonces el se retiró.
Entonces el machinero [?] González hizo un movimiento para hacer una orquesta. Entonces me incorporó en la orquesta, que se llama la Orquesta Happy Hills. Yo estuve tocando en la Happy Hills hasta el 1976, y tuve que jubilarme porque tuve que sacarme los dientes. Y como yo tocaba trombón en esa orquesta, primero toqué primera trompeta y luego toque trombón, pues tuve que dejarla. Entonces como ya yo tuve una edad bastante avanzada decidí retirarme de no tocar mas bailes. Entonces, antes de eso yo trabaje veintidós, veintitrés años en la Escuela de Música en Mayagüez, de maestro de música. Porque yo cogí el examen para maestro de música y lo pasé y entonces me hice maestro de música en la Escuela de Música en Mayagüez. Entonces, pues seguí trabajando en la música, seguí en la escuela, y después de jubilado, ahora trabajo en una academia ahí "part time." Y todavía toco el cuatro. Por música. La música que prefiero tocar es la de nosotros, la danza [ríe]. Yo tengo dos danzas grabadas, ¿quieres que las toque? [las pone a tocar]
Este cuatro [es de los Franquiz]. Si señor, eso es cierto [que la familia Franquiz hacían los mejores cuatros de esta área]. Los cuatros de antes venían con cuerdas de cuero. La primera, segunda y tercera era de cuero, y las otras eran cuerdas entorchadas. Yo, imitando las cuerdas de cuero, para imitar el sonido del cuatro de antes, le tengo cuerdas de nilón. Y es el sonido que oirás.[toca el cuatro]
[El cuatro tiene diecisiete trastes] ¿Los trastes originales? No porque éste cuatro, cuando se hizo, venía con unos trastes de cuero, enlazados, tu sabes, que venían con cuerdas de cuero en forma de trastes. Como de un cuero, de algún animal era eso... español. Después [mi papá] cuando empezó a tocar en la orquesta, entonces los cambió a trastes de metal. El se los cambió, porque el era ebanista también. El diapasón lo trajo. El diapasón es el mismo. Ahora los trastes, el le quitó los de cuero, y le puso de metal. El puente es el mismo. No se de la tapa [parece de pino], hay una madera alemana que se parece a esta, que se hacían los violines. Pero ahora, yo no se de que... El clavijero original era de madera, tenía boquetes y tenía clavijas de madera, entonces ahí papá lo rellenó por dentro, y le puso clavijeros de metal.

 

 

 

Young lions

Phenomenal talent on the horizon ...
Young lions (and lionesses) of the cuatro

Listed in alphabetic order

Héctor "Pucho" Alamo

Pucho brings his bright young talent and laid-back, confident style to match some of the most best cuatristas of the Big Apple. He currently backs the hot New York City jíbaro-fusion group Yerbabuena, who gives him ample berth and frequent solos.

Pucho Alamo started studying his instrument at a very early age with none less than Maso Rivera in Puerto Rico. After moving to New York and studying with Quique Ayala and others, he eventually underwent an intensive apprenticeship with the late Edgardo Miranda and was taken under Yomo Toro's wing. Out of appreciation, Yomo gave him his most recognized cuatro (which bears Yomo's name) and even refers to him as "Yomito." Pucho deserves a spot among his generation's most notable players.

Watch Pucho playing with Yerbabuena here 

 

Emma Colón Zayas

Winner of numerous awards for her talent on the cuatro, as well as her amazing ability on the guiro, Emma began her artistic career at a young age, playing with her father and brothers Edwin and William in the group the Colón Zayas Family. Currently she is touring the world playing solo and together with her brothers in the group Taller Boricua.

Go to our page dedicated to Emma Colón Zayas here.

Communicate with Emma via e-mail 

Maribel Delgado

Maribel Delgado was born in Camuy, Puerto Rico. She became interested in music at the age of nine, inspired by her grand father Toño Ramos and her father Jose Delgado. At age eleven, she became a member of the Rondalla Municipal de Hatillo, Puerto Rico and remained a member for a period of seven years.
She has entered a won numerous competitions in the Cuatro winning first prize in at least seven of them. Maribel was the first Puerto Rican women to record a CD as a Cuatro instrumental soloist when she produced “El Cuatro en Manos de Una Mujer” (The Cuatro in the Hands of a Woman).
She was a guest solo artist at the 50th anniversary of the Sonora Ponceña and a guest artist with the Mayaguez Symphony Orchestra. On May 28th of 2008, she made her debut performance with the Symphonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico, performing “Landscapes for Cuatro and Orchestra,” by Sonia Ivette Morales.
See our page dedicated to Maribel Delgado here
Contact Maribel Delgado here.

Quique Domenech

The ingenious cuatrista Quique Domenech is distinguished not only among the young stars of the day, but is known to the world of music as a recording engineer, television producer and musical arranger. Born in 1974, Quique Domenech began playing cuatro when he was six years old. Along with hundreds of other young Puerto Ricans he attended cuatro lessons at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He recorded his first solo album in 1997. He has participated in numerous other recordings with great musicians of world class, as well as live presentations at festivals around the island and in the United States. Read the brief biography by the Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular here. (Spanish only)

Follow Quique on Facebook and Twitter here.

Josean Feliberty

A very skilled cuatrista from Ciales who has recorded with the likes of the great singer and trovador Odilio González. We are currently looking for more data on this young player.

 

Listen to Josean backing up the great singer Odilio González

Mariano Jurado
Juradito

A marvelous Puerto Rican cuatrista that has performed to enthusiastic audiences in Spain, United States, Latin America and Puerto Rico puertorriqueño. He is musical director of his own group, "Juradito y su Jíbaro Son".

Alvin Medina
El Jibarito

Alvin Medina is undoubtedly the most exciting cuatrista of this new generation living in the United States today. Enjoy a sampling of his most recent work:

   Alvin plays Bach in salsa!

See our page dedicated to Alvin Medina here ...
and visit Alvin Medina homepage
here.

Javier Méndez 

A marvelous cuatro player with a long history in the Chicago musical scene. Javier is the cuatro player always selected by the great traditional singer Odilio González whenever he does shows in the great city. Javier has shared the stage with the great cuatristas Maso Rivera and Nieves Quintero, and has backed the venerable troubadour Luis Miranda and the Bacardi-prize winning troubadour Hiram Martínez.

 

Javier's group, Uniendo Raíces, offers us a great version of Odilio González' tune, Un Jíbaro en Apuros [A Jíbaro in Trouble].

 
Visit Gabriel Muñoz' website
here

Gabriel Muñoz

The exciting and innovating cuatrista Gabriel Muñoz was born in Utuado, Puerto Rico, but his family moved to Trenton, New Jersey at an early age. His interest in the cuatro began at fifteen when he heard Alvin Medina play, who later mentored him for a full year towards his musical goals. He continued his practice until reaching the festival circuit, sharing stages with Iluminado Davila, Edwin Colon Zayas, Javier Alicea, Josean Filiberty, and Charlie Rodriguez, among others. With Trenton NJ as his home base, he keeps up his musical career in the northeast USA recording, composing and teaching the cuatro. The Cuatro Project congratulates Gabriel for his search for new horizons for the cuatro, and for creating ties between our traditional national genres and new and youthful modalities such as rap and hip hop. It is extremely hard to find a balance between the traditional and pop genres in a way that can please a wide audience. We feel Gabriel has succeeded. Listen:

Seis Villaran, fusion by Gabriel Muñoz

Deseo Verte, guaracha written by Gabriel Muñoz

Que Bonita Bandera, fusion by Gabriel Muñoz

Cristian Nieves

Heir to an extraordinary talent, descending from the master cuatrista Modesto Nieves, who led his son Cristian towards the instrument from the first days that he could hold it in his arms. He appears frequently with his very talented singer-guitarist sister Monica Nieves and as well with his famous father. But he has also launched his solo career featured in firecracker bands such as Rumba Caribe y backing international pop stars such as Ricky Martin. One of the first to bring the cuatro into Rock (and Rock into the cuatro), repeatedly being awarded prizes in that genre. His astounding skill and dexterity has taken him to far-off lands, where he invariably leaves behind a mesmerizing impression of not only his skill, but of the versatility of our national instrument.

  Click here  to Listen to Cris Nieves, during a presentation at the Field Museum in Chicago in 2000, accompanied by his father, Modesto Nieves.

Charlie Rodriguez
Charlie Rodriguez is an outstanding cuatrista who began his musical training in 1986 under the tutelage of the King of the Cuatro, Maso Rivera. Charlie demonstrated, from his first lessons with Maso, that he was born to play the Puerto Rican cuatro. Along with Maso, Charlie traveled to different towns in the island to teach the art of the cuatro and because of this Maso distinguished him as his star pupil. In his musical career has been involved with some of the best groups in Puerto Rico and has brought the cuatro to different locations around the world including Alaska in 1998. That same year he began producing and directing the radio program The Cuatro Without Frontiers achieving extraordinary success for the cuatro and our music.

His CD El Cuatro Sin Fronteras can be found here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Manny Trinidad
Angel M. Trinidad (Manny), an exciting young instrumentalist was born in 1974 in Rio Piedras. His interest in Puerto Rican music began in 1981 when at 7 years of age, his father gave him his first guitar, soon to be replaced by the Puerto Rican cuatro.
     In 1982 he studied with Nieves Quintero and in 1987 he enrolled in the Escuela Libre de Música where, in 1992, he received a Music Studies Diploma and the Medalla del Cuatro. (the Cuatro Medal)
    Currently he is collaborating with his father, the Puerto Rican troubadour Miguel Trinidad, on the radio program "Añoranzas Borinqueña” (Longings Borinqueña. It was on this program that he began his career as a cuatrista, accompanying troubadours Luis Miranda, Victor Manuel Reyes, The Sanabria Brothers, Jose Miguel Villanueva, Juan Rodriguez Castro, Mariano Cotto and others at festivals and troubadour competitions.
    He has performed with the Puerto Rican Folkloric Ballet in Japan, Spain, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the United States. He released his first album "Mi Primer Regalo” (My First Gift), dedicated to Puerto Rican Christmas music.

  Manny recorded this piece Siempre Alegre, (Always Joyful)
        just for us!

  …and he gives us this selection, Triste Navidad, (Sad Christmas) from his CD, Mi Primer Regalo (My First Gift)

 

 

Tuto's home recordings

 

Selections from Tuto Feliciano's private home recordings

Digitized by the Cuatro Project
Notes by William Cumpiano with sources from the the
Home of the Danza website. Can you help us to identify the names of unidentified selections?
Send your contribution by clicking 
here.                     

El Vigoroso
Pedro Hilario's Fox Trot. Compare that to the 1932 original version played by Heriberto Torres, and  Pedro Padilla's version.

Impromptu
Danza by Luis R. Miranda (1875-1949), renowned for its beautiful bombardino section, similar to the one in the Danza, Sara.

El Gallo, la Gallina y la Guinea
Two-step (Pasodoble) composed by Maestro Ladi (Ladislao Martínez)

Bajo la Sombra de un Pino
Nobody plays it better. Danza written in 1936 by Juan F. Acosta (1890-1968) allegedly under an old pine tree in the plaza of the town of Hatillo.

Complicación
Tuto Feliciano’s original composition. As he describes “it’s named complication because in it I have a series of notes that stretch and shrink and this series of notes are not coupled to a single key, but to different keys, and therefore the name "Complicación".

No Me Toques
Danza of Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896). The lyrics says, "No, no, Don’t touch me or I’ll light up with delight."

Recordando a Noro Morales
    
(Remembering Noro Morales)

Tuto offers us this wonderful
seven-minute improvised composition inspired by Noro Morales' Maria Cervantes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

En Mi Niñez Joropo (a Venezuelan ballroom dance in quick triple meter)
Tuto tells us: "This joropo, which despite the fact that it was recorded by Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, still keeps a taste of Venezuela."

The reader and cuatrista Rafael Rodriguez identified the piece from his home in Texas. He says he found the same piece on the CD "Tierra Tierra y Otros Cantares" ("Land, Land and Other Songs") of Haciendo Punto en Otro Son, performed on the cuatro by Silverio Perez and José "Paché" Cruz and identified as the song "En Mi Niñez" ("In My Childhood") written by Rafael Hernandez. Others have identified this piece as composed by Master Ladi. Who can verify where it came from?

Descarga
A pastiche of themes, genres, styles - including guaracha, jazz, rock, Jíbaro and so on. Nearly seven minutes, and still leaves us wanting more.

  Guaracha-Seis name unknown
Tuto begins with a theme, perhaps of his own composition, and then he weaves a tapestry of variations in the form of a long impromptu medley, full of changes and technical sparkle. If you recognize the piece on which it is based, let us know.

El Zorzal pasodoble
Eric Lamboy of Miamisburg, OH, identified this Pasodoble (Two-Step) as the Zorzal (Thrush -a medium-sized songbird) written by A. Anselm. The melody was closely identified with the singer Jose Miguel Class, "El Gallito de Manati." The lyrics in Spanish and mp3 can be found
here We noticed that El Zorzal is played as a two-step, but in reality the author a colombian, originally composed it as an Argentine corrido.

Unibón
A Danzón by Maestro Ladí. Arturito Avilés informs us that it was named in honor of the section in the town of Morovis named Unibón.

El Sesenta Foxtrot
What is it with this Foxtrot? It sounds much like "De Mi Tierra" by Ladi, but Eric Lamboy identifies it as the Ladi's
foxtrot El Sesenta (The Sixty).

Vals #3 name unknown
Tuto touches us with another beautiful, slow waltz, Possibly of his own composition. But, what is its title?

Sueño de una Princesa,
The anonymous reader has identified this beautiful waltz written by Jose Antonio Monrozeau.

A Lares foxtrot, identified by visitor
The cuatrista Narciso Gomez identified the author as Maso Rivera and our correspondent Eric Lamboy wrote to us to provide the correct name. Thanks to both.

Lissi
Another delicate danza by Maestro Ladi, performed to perfection by Tuto Feliciano. We learned the name of this piece by listening to the version that Arturito Avilés gave us. Compare the version of Lissi by Tuto with the one by Arturito Avilés

 

Mi Bohío pasodoble, identified
I thought it was a foxtrot, but our correspondent Ruben Flores suggested that it was the pasodoble Barrio Nuevo with the arrangement originally done by Maso Rivera. However, our correspondent Blas Colón believes that it’s the pasodoble Mi Bohío as composed by the same Maso Rivera. Eric Lamboy confirms that indeed, it is My Bohio by Maso Rivera. Thank you all.


Guaracha, unidentified.
IDENTIFIED! Visitor Blas Colón writes: I had heard this tune often because it is used as an intro for the program, Atardecer Borincano heard on Radio Mia 1070am in Arecibo, but I never knew what it was called until I heard it covered by the North American mandolinista John Reischman. The tune is called La Arboleda [the forest] composed by the cuatrista Pedro Padilla.

Melancolía,
We did not know the name of this beautiful waltz until the correspondent Ruben Flores identified it. He even sent us the written music in PDF.

Insaciable, bolero, identified
The correspondent and cuatrista Narciso Gomez has identified this beautiful Bolero by Felipe Rodriguez

Send your suggestion here

 

Tuto Feliciano

Agustín (Tuto) Feliciano

Celebrated performer, consummate professional

"Tuto's playing was revolutionary. He was bold..." Yomo Toro

Tuto Feliciano was one of the best performers of the Puerto Rican Cuatro of modern times, often reaching the same musical plane and technical level of Ladi, Nieves Quintero Neri Orta, Francisco Ortiz Pineiro and Yomo Toro. He was also an expert player of the Puerto Rican tres.
        In 2005, David Morales and William Cumpiano, members of the Cuatro Project, visited don Tuto in his home in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The maestro agreed to several lengthy taped interviews, during which he discussed his life and his music. Throughout the years, Tuto
generously gave his time to the Cuatro Project, providing numerous interviews and answering our phone calls requesting information from him on his recollections of the four-and eight-string cuatros he played as a youth in Yauco, Puerto Rico.
       During the most recent visits we began to notice the cumulative effects and ravages of his battle against Parkinson's disease, during which he slowly lost his ability to be understood clearly and  to play his beloved cuatro. We recall one visit when upon arriving at his home, we were surprised to see him tenaciously practicing his cuatro.He told us it was because he wanted to show us, despite his neurological shortcomings, a beautiful piece without pauses or errors.

On this special page dedicated to Tuto Feliciano, we  provide photos, footage and interviews with this distinguished Puerto Rican artist.

Here is a wonderful piece that demonstrates the ingenuity and facility of two great heroes of our culture: Tuto playing lead cuatro for Ramito in a playful mix of a seis chorreao and danza. How delicious! Recorded in 1964, it’s called Que Se Rían  (Let them laugh)

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT:
Tuto backed-up and recorded with Ramito on numerous occasions. Tuto was particularly proud of his contributions to the development of the sies llanero. He felt a bit ignored because all the credit for this historic arrangement was given to Ramito. In the first recording of this Seis Llanera, made at Ansonia Records, (Ramito: El Cantor de la Montaña (The Mountain Singer), Volume I) we can hear Tuto playing on the cuatro in his style the introduction and accompanyiment of the llanera
Quererte Como Te Quiero.  (To Love You As I Love You)
      Tuto explained that, because the pace is distinctly that of a Venezuelan Llanera, he tried to imitate, with his cuatro, the sound of the Venezuelan harp, the Venezuelan folk instrument that gives the Llanera it’s flavor. If you hear this selection carefully you will hear the repeated arpeggios of a harp, made with special expertise by Tuto Feliciano on his cuatro.

 

Click here to hear Tuto Feliciano’s private tape recordings.
Digitized by the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch Tuto in a video from the Cuatro Project's DVD Nuestro Cuatro Vol. 2. recorded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1998.

Photos from Tuto Feliciano's personal album


Tuto was also an expert tresista. Above we see him at age 20
in his hometown of Yauco, with its own rustic tres.
Photo Tuto Feliciano collection



Tuto was for many years principal accompanist for the
legendary
singer Flor Morales Ramos, "Ramito". Above we see
them together in the mid 1950s on stage at WKAQ-TV in San Juan.
Photo Tuto Feliciano collection

During the 60s and 70s Tuto appeared
frequently on television in New York and New Jersey,
at one time even hosting his own show.

Photo Tuto Feliciano collection

 


Photo of Tuto Feliciano by Juan Sotomayor
                                                                                     
         After the news that our distinguished friend Tuto Feliciano had suffered a heart attack on October 2005, the folklorist John "Kacho" Montalvo wrote to us:
     "Tuto Feliciano was a cuatrista
of great talent from Yauco, Puerto Rico. At the age of seventy-odd years he could still play Edwin Colon Zayas’ difficult pieces, and enjoyed playing them at the same speed as Colon Zayas could.
In the 1990s, when I was producing the field recordings of tiple players (Aguinaldo Viejo and Adoradores del Fuego) I shared time with him at his friend Puntilla’s house in Mayagüez, where always stayed when he was in Puerto Rico.     

     He also played the Cuban tres. He loved to play for orchestras and was hired by merengue orchestras in New York and Florida, where he also occasionally recorded. He was a virtuoso cuatrista who accompanied Ramito on the radio in Mayaguez on the program Fiesta en el Batey during the 50s.
     It is important to know and recognize that the introduction of the Seis Llanera was Tuto's creation. The story arose that while waiting for Ramito to arrive in Esteban Romero’s (brother of the great troubadour Toñín Romero's) home--which was near the Ponce quarry, and birthplace of Cheo Feliciano, Pete Conde, etc., Esteban played some records of Venezuelan llaneras. The troubadours quickly began to adapt the melody to the decíma, which was quite similar. Tuto cleverly composed an intro that had the cadence, if you listen sharply, of the Venezuelan harp sound heard on llanera. Ramito, a very good businessman, later incorporated them with slight variations into his productions. That introduction (from Tuto’s Cuatro) became a standard that everyone plays today. "

Maso Rivera

Tomás Rivera Morales,    Maso!
"..the cuatro lives in me. And I live in the cuatro."


Maso Rivera and his group circa 1950    Photo courtesy www.masorivera.com

One of our favorite compositions of Maso's: a aguinaldo in the form of a Quinto al Aire, Isla de Encanto [Isle of Enchantment] by Maso, accompanied by the voice of Cholo Rosario

 

Fragments from an interview with
Juan Sotomayor circa 1995
Edited by William Cumpiano

My name is Tomás Rivera Morales. Maso. Maso Rivera. I was born in the Alatea neighborhood of Toa Alta. On the 13th of November of 1927. My father's name, Ramón Rivera Nieves; my mother, Secundina Morales Rolón. There are about ten or twelve siblings. I can't remember them all. They're too many. And all funny-looking.

I began to play the cuatro at the age of five. The cuatro then was square-shaped. It had four strings. I took up the cuatro because that's all there was, there was nothing else to do. Besides, things were such, I used to take a string and tie it to a hook on the shed, over there, and [plucked] the string...and not a real string. Do you know what it was? A cord...made of leather. Before, strings were made of leather. Yes, of leather.

My motivation was...everybody's playing the cuatro except me. So what's my excuse? Get it? Right. When one starts coming of age, leaving childhood behind, one starts wising up, and starts to see that he who has talents gets paid. So then one tries to get paid, too. Get it? Even though the dances that I use to play didn't pay more than ten bucks. Nowadays, it's a gold mine. Indeed, an egg then cost a penny. But you had to lay an egg to get that penny. How about that?

If those moments could come back, back-- when I played in the velorios, that music: cuatro, guitar, and güiro. There was nothing else, not even trumpets, or flutes. And there were those who said that the cuatro would fade away because trumpets showed off better. But for the jÌbaro: never, never, never... The décima without a cuatro just doesn't make it, no matter if you got twenty trumpets or twenty flutes, or whatever. No offense intended to anyone. But each day that goes by my cuatro feels even more Puerto Rican.

Ah, I wish all that would return, but it won't. I can't go back and retrieve what I've left behind, 'cause I don't what happened to it...and spoiled it. So I just go on with what's mine. Puerto Rican as the coquÌ; wherever that leads me. I keep on being The Puerto Rican Maso of the Cuatro. The cuatro lives in me and I live in the cuatro. Understand?

 

     Sello de Maso

For many years, a number of distinguished cuatro maker made a series of cuatros that were sold anonymously with a Maso Rivera label inside as shown above. Maso told us that he would receive the instruments, which were made to his specifications, and make all the final adjustments in their action and tone before selling them.


Maso(1995)                                 photo: Juan Sotomayor

Maso circa 1965
Maso (1970)      photo courtesy of German Velazquez

Young Maso.jpg (47759 bytes)
Maso (1955)
film, Div. Educacion de la Comunidad, Gov. PR

 
Maso Rivera, circa 1965 playing a gourd cuatro, made from gourds (higueras) such as the ones being carried by his countrymen. The photo appeared on the cover of the LP album "Maso Rivera y su Cuatro Higüera"                        photo courtesy Artilleria records

 

A segment of the Cuatro Project's video documentary Nuestro Cuatro Vol. 2