November 18, 2008

Original de Manzanillo

The Orquesta Original de Manzanillo started just over 45 years in the town of Manzanillo in the Granma province of Cuba*. The first performances were in December 1963 under the name of "Orquesta Tipica", which a few years later evolved to the present name of "Orquesta Tipica Original de Manzanillo".
The most famous member of the orchestra was Candido Fabre, although he was only with the orchestra for ten years (1983-1993).

Of the original orchestra only four remain, and the most famous of those is the leader, pianist and arranger Wilfredo 'Pachi' Naranjo. The 'Original' is very popular in Cuba and have been allowed to tour the world. Nevertheless they have remained very modest and very very Cuban.
Here is a great video from Cuban television from 2006. The track is "Mi Sombrero de Yarey".


*one can't be too explicit nowadays, after hearing the president-elect of the US talking about releasing prisoners in Guantanamo.

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