Cuban musician Adalberto Álvarez dies of Covid-19
Havana, September 1 (RHC)-- Cubans woke up today to the sad news that maestro Adalberto Álvarez, one of the most loved and respected Cuban musicians passed away in the early morning hours of Wednesday, September 1st, due to complications associated with Covid-19. He was 72. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel lamented his death.
‘We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of this excellent musician Adalberto Álvarez, also to his friends and to the entire Cuban people,’ wrote the Cuban leader on his Twitter account.
He noted that the National Music Prize laureate was a revered musician and artist. ‘His music and his tireless defense and promotion of Son Cubano will forever remain. Cuban culture mourns his death,’ wrote president Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Adalberto was an accomplished composer, arranger and band leader. His vast work, spanning 48 years, included the release of more than 30 albums and several all-time hit songs.
One the greatest promoters, defenders and exponents of one of the most authentic Cuban rhythms: ‘son cubano’, he was one of the main promoters of the campaign that ended with the designation of May 8th as Cuban Son Day, which was celebrated for the first time this year with activities all across the country.
In his faithful defense of son and Cuban popular music, Adalberto combined passion and elegance.
Also fondly called ‘El caballero del son’ (The Gentleman of Son Music), Adalberto founded two of the most popular Cuban dance music bands: Son 14 and Adalberto Álvarez y su Son.
As a composer, he began writing hit songs in the early 1970s. His first hit was ‘Con un besito’, popularized by the band Conjunto Rumbavana in 1971.
In 1978, at the initiative of Cuban composer Rodulfo Vaillant, he founded the band Son 14, whose debut concert was on November 11th, that same year, 1978.
Some years later, he founded Adalberto Álvarez y su Son, whose debut concert was on February 25th, 1984, in Santiago de Las Vegas, here in the Cuban capital.
Aside from being a great musician, Adalberto was also a producer and tireless cultural promoter. He worked as a literature professor at the Provincial Arts School in Camagüey province, from 1973 through 1978.
He was also instrumental in recovering and promoting the casino dance by creating the national casino dance contest.
