Died On This Date (March 22, 2013) Bebo Valdés / Cuban Pianist & Bandleader
themusicsover Bebo Valdés (Born Ramon Amaro)
October 9, 1918 – March 22, 2013
Bebo Valdés was a highly regarded Latin jazz musician, composer and bandleader whose name is synonymous with the golden age of Cuban music. Making his name in Havana during the ’40s, Valdés went on to become the pianist and house arranger at the city’s legendary Tropicana Club from 1948 to 1957. It was there during the ’50s that he became a key figure in the development of mambo. In 1960, Valdés defected to Mexico and then moved to the United States and later settled in Sweden. In 2000, he was featured in the acclaimed Latin jazz documentary, Calle 54, which brought his career a well-deserved second chapter in which he was able to entertain a whole new generation of young fans. Throughout his career, he was awarded with seven Grammys, his most recent two in 2010. Bebo Valdés was 94 when he passed away on March 22, 2013.
Thanks to Henk de Bruin for the assist.
What You Should Own
Jenni Rivera was a highly regarded Mexican American singer who, over a career that began in the early ’90s, earned the moniker of “La Diva de la Banda.” Born into a musical family in Long Beach, California, Rivera began singing at an early age. In 1996, she signed with EMI/Latin Records and went on to sell over 20 million albums worldwide. Popular on both sides of the US/Mexican border, Rivera became the first female Banda artist – a genre strongly dominated by men – to sell out the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She could also easily fill larger theaters for multiple nights throughout many US and Mexican cities. Throughout her career, Rivera was nominated for a Latin Grammy three times – in 2003, 2008, and 2010. In the early morning hours of December 9, 2012, the Learjet which was taking Rivera from Monterrey, Mexico to the Mexico City area for a concert, fell off the radar. The plane vanished about ten minutes into the 3:15 a.m. flight and never reached its destination, so a search was launched at daybreak. The wreckage of the plane, which was carrying two pilots and five passengers was reportedly found several hours later with no survivors. Jenni Rivera was 43.
Chavela Vargas was a Costa Rico-born singer who grew up to be one of the most respected singer of Mexican Rancheras the world has ever known. When she was just 14, Vargas moved to Mexico to pursue her dream of singing, but it wasn’t until 1961 that she recorded her first album, Noche de Bohemia. She spent the next 50 years making up for lost time with the release of more than 80 albums. She was immensely popular during the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, keeping company with the likes of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Augustin Lara. Vargas more or less retired during the late ’70s, but came back to the stage strong in 1991. In 2003 – at the age of 83 – Vargas made her Carnegie Hall debut. Chavela Vargas was 93 when she passed away on August 5, 2012.
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