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