Lilí Martínez

Life and career Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez ca. 1949. Martínez is the first from the right, crouching. Conjunto Chappottín in the 1950s. Martínez is the first from the left, standing. Martínez was born to a Cuban mother and a Spanish father in Guantánamo on 18 August 1915. In 1937 he formed his own band, Los Champions de Lilí Martínez, which worked for the CMKS radio. In 1943 he founded La Rareza del 43. He joined Arsenio Rodríguez's conjunto in 1945 after the departure of Rubén González. In 1960, he married Coralia Camiño. In the early 1960s, he played with the conjunto Estrellas de Chocolate founded by Félix "Chocolate" Alfonso. He then directed a band called Los Diablos Rojos in Holguín before officially retiring in 1967. The three pianists played together to a pre-recorded backing track featuring Niño Rivera on tres, Orlando "Cachaíto" López on bass and Enrique Pla on drums; this performance is the only film documenting Martínez's playing. He died on 26 August 1990 in Havana and his remains were transferred to Guantánamo in 1995. Other traditional genres that influenced his music are changüí, kiribá and regina.

Despite being rooted in son traditions, Martínez's compositions also incorporated classical and jazz influences, giving rise a very innovative approach. The resulting album, Son inconcluso, featured a full band including bassist Orlando "Cachaíto" López and tresero Arturo "Alambre Dulce" Harvey (ex-Conjunto Chappottín), among others, and was released in 1999 by EGREM.

In 2002, Manolito Simonet, the leader of the popular timba group Manolito y su Trabuco, organized a series of recordings to honour the work of Lilí Martínez. Among the artists that recorded Martínez's compositions as part of the project were Pedro Lugo "El Nene", Mayito Rivera, Issac Delgado and Paulito FG. The resulting album, titled Esto sí se llama querer, was released through Cuban label Unicornio in 2002, receiving favourable reviews.

Discography

With Conjunto Chappottín 1957: Alto Songo (Panart) 1957: Chappottín (Puchito) 1958: Chappottín y sus Estrellas (Puchito) 1958: Musicalidad en sepia (Maype)

With Miguelito Cuní 1958: Sones del ayer (Gema)