Phenomenal talent on the horizon ...
Young lions (and lionesses) of the cuatro
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Listed in alphabetic order |
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Héctor "Pucho" Alamo Pucho brings his bright young talent and laid-back, confident style to match some of the most best cuatristas of the Big Apple. He currently backs the hot New York City jíbaro-fusion group Yerbabuena, who gives him ample berth and frequent solos. Pucho Alamo started studying his instrument at a very early age with none less than Maso Rivera in Puerto Rico. After moving to New York and studying with Quique Ayala and others, he eventually underwent an intensive apprenticeship with the late Edgardo Miranda and was taken under Yomo Toro's wing. Out of appreciation, Yomo gave him his most recognized cuatro (which bears Yomo's name) and even refers to him as "Yomito." Pucho deserves a spot among his generation's most notable players. Watch Pucho playing with Yerbabuena here
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Emma Colón Zayas Winner of numerous awards for her talent on the cuatro, as well as her amazing ability on the guiro, Emma began her artistic career at a young age, playing with her father and brothers Edwin and William in the group the Colón Zayas Family. Currently she is touring the world playing solo and together with her brothers in the group Taller Boricua. Go to our page dedicated to Emma Colón Zayas here. Communicate with Emma via e-mail |
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Maribel Delgado Maribel Delgado was born in Camuy, Puerto Rico. She became interested in music at the age of nine, inspired by her grand father Toño Ramos and her father Jose Delgado. At age eleven, she became a member of the Rondalla Municipal de Hatillo, Puerto Rico and remained a member for a period of seven years. |
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Quique Domenech The ingenious cuatrista Quique Domenech is distinguished not only among the young stars of the day, but is known to the world of music as a recording engineer, television producer and musical arranger. Born in 1974, Quique Domenech began playing cuatro when he was six years old. Along with hundreds of other young Puerto Ricans he attended cuatro lessons at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He recorded his first solo album in 1997. He has participated in numerous other recordings with great musicians of world class, as well as live presentations at festivals around the island and in the United States. Read the brief biography by the Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular here. (Spanish only) Follow Quique on Facebook and Twitter here. |
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Josean Feliberty A very skilled cuatrista from Ciales who has recorded with the likes of the great singer and trovador Odilio González. We are currently looking for more data on this young player.
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Mariano Jurado A marvelous Puerto Rican cuatrista that has performed to enthusiastic audiences in Spain, United States, Latin America and Puerto Rico puertorriqueño. He is musical director of his own group, "Juradito y su Jíbaro Son". |
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Alvin Medina Alvin Medina is undoubtedly the most exciting cuatrista of this new generation living in the United States today. Enjoy a sampling of his most recent work: See our page dedicated to Alvin Medina here ... |
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Javier Méndez A marvelous cuatro player with a long history in the Chicago musical scene. Javier is the cuatro player always selected by the great traditional singer Odilio González whenever he does shows in the great city. Javier has shared the stage with the great cuatristas Maso Rivera and Nieves Quintero, and has backed the venerable troubadour Luis Miranda and the Bacardi-prize winning troubadour Hiram Martínez.
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Gabriel Muñoz The exciting and innovating cuatrista Gabriel Muñoz was born in Utuado, Puerto Rico, but his family moved to Trenton, New Jersey at an early age. His interest in the cuatro began at fifteen when he heard Alvin Medina play, who later mentored him for a full year towards his musical goals. He continued his practice until reaching the festival circuit, sharing stages with Iluminado Davila, Edwin Colon Zayas, Javier Alicea, Josean Filiberty, and Charlie Rodriguez, among others. With Trenton NJ as his home base, he keeps up his musical career in the northeast USA recording, composing and teaching the cuatro. The Cuatro Project congratulates Gabriel for his search for new horizons for the cuatro, and for creating ties between our traditional national genres and new and youthful modalities such as rap and hip hop. It is extremely hard to find a balance between the traditional and pop genres in a way that can please a wide audience. We feel Gabriel has succeeded. Listen:
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Cristian Nieves Heir to an extraordinary talent, descending from the master cuatrista Modesto Nieves, who led his son Cristian towards the instrument from the first days that he could hold it in his arms. He appears frequently with his very talented singer-guitarist sister Monica Nieves and as well with his famous father. But he has also launched his solo career featured in firecracker bands such as Rumba Caribe y backing international pop stars such as Ricky Martin. One of the first to bring the cuatro into Rock (and Rock into the cuatro), repeatedly being awarded prizes in that genre. His astounding skill and dexterity has taken him to far-off lands, where he invariably leaves behind a mesmerizing impression of not only his skill, but of the versatility of our national instrument.
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Charlie Rodriguez His CD El Cuatro Sin Fronteras can be found here. |
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Manny Trinidad
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