By Carlos Flores

Kalinda! Newsletter, Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago, Fall 1997

CHICAGO - May 13th, 1997, marked the first decade since the death of Ismael Rivera, "El Sonero Mayor" (The Greatest Sonero). A sonero is a lead singer who improvises rhythmically, melodically, and verbally against the refrain of the coro (chorus). This style of singing is associated with the Afro-Cuban son.

Ismael Rivera was born on October 5, 1931, in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was raised "in a happy home…poor but happy" by his parents Margarita Rivera Garcia and Luis Rivera Esquilin, and shared the household with three sisters and a brother. When Ismael was fifteen, his parents divorced, and he began working as a mason to help support his family. At age seven Maelo, as he is known by many of his fans, began singing with groups of youngsters from the neighborhoods of Santurce. In one of his last interview, he stated that he "would spend time in the jam-sessions [rumbones], because on Calma Street [in Santurce] there was always lots of Bomba and Plena. That is where I developed" (Brenes 1991).

Maelo began his professional career by joining the Conjunto Monterrey de Moncho Muley as a percussionist (bongoes); he was unable to sing with the group because Moncho Muley was the director of the band and its only singer. After serving a short time in the armed forces, Maelo returned to Puerto Rico where his boyhood friend, Rafael Cortijo, found him a job singing with La Orquesta Panamericana. With this band Ismael began his recording career with the tunes "El Bombon de Elena," "El Charlatan," "La Vieja en Camisa," and "La Sazon de mi Abuela." In 1954, Rafael Cortijo formed his own band, Cortijo y su Combo, and a short time later Ismael Rivera became the lead singer.

The band became a success in the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America, and the United States. This success came at the time when Cuban-influenced music dominated the musical landscape throughout the world. In addition, Puerto Rico's radio stations were providing a lot of airtime to foreign music, i.e., the music of Elvis Presley and Paul Anka. Ismael Rivera and Rafael Cortijo were successful because they knew, performed, and respected the son cubano. They also interpreted the bomba and plena with such a devastating swing that the band became a bigger hit with every performance.

"Maelo" was dubbed "El Sonero Mayor" by Beny Moret, a popular Cuban singer, bandleader, and composer of the 1950's. During a 1956 visit to Puerto Rico, Moret heard Maelo perform and was impressed with his improvisational style and the way he utilized the rhythm of the clave in his musical improvisations.

Cortijo y su Combo holds the distinction of being the first local Puerto Rican band to succeed on the island. Prior to their emergence, Puerto Rican entertainers would often leave the island, become successful in other countries, and then return to the island. Cortijo y su Combo was the first black group to actually perform at the prestigious Hotel Condado in San Juan. However, one of the most significant achievements of Ismael Rivera and Rafael Cortijo was to take the bomba and plena from the neighborhoods and into major venues around the world. Because of their enormous success, they also created opportunities and improved conditions for other Puerto Rican musicians through more recording and performance contracts as well as increased salaries.

In 1962, at the height of his career, Maelo was convinced of a drug-related offense and sentenced to three years in prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Cortijo y su Combo continued to perform without Maelo but performances were not the same, and shortly after, many of the members left the combo and formed the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. (1)

In 1965, Maelo returned to Puerto Rico after completing his prison term and received a hero's welcome at the airport by many of his fans. Ismael and Cortijo joined forces again to record two LP's, Aqui estoy, ya yo llegue and La Soledad, which were very successful. In the late 1960's, Maelo left the group and moved to New York.

In 1971, he released an album with percussionist Kako entitled Lo Ultimo en la Avenida. On this album Maelo demonstrates his great singing ability by interpreting the Rafael Hernandez tune, "El Cumbachero." A short time later Maelo formed his own group, Los Cachimbos. With Los Cachimbos, he maintained the same instrumentation that had brought him success with Cortijo y su Combo; he utilized music derived from the Cuban son as a vehicle to provide some of his best improvisation as a sonero. Rafael Figueroa Hernandez, author of the book Ismael Rivera: El Sonero Mayor, indicates that the 1972 album Esto Fue Lo Que Trajo El Barco is one of Maelo's most important works because it left an impact on the music and society.(2) It also changes Maelo's public image from singing idol to philosopher; he became a spiritual voice to an entire generation of Puerto Ricans and Latin Americans. Through his music and improvisations Maelo has addressed social issues and his Afro-Puerto Rican heritage. For example, in a song entitled "Witinila" (Traigo de Todo album), he sings about the ordeal of an esclavo cimarron (runaway slave). With a song entitled "Colobo" on the same album, he pays tribute to the town of Loíza, the first township founded by former slaves in Puerto Rico, and the beauty of its people. In "El Incomprendido" he sings about being misunderstood and not loved; in "Las Tumbas" he relates the prison experience in New York's prison system.

In my opinion, one of Maelo's most significant songs was "Las Caras Lindas" (The Beautiful Faces). Composed by Tite Curret Alonso, it was released on the 1978 album Esto es lo Mio. The theme song deals with the beauty of black people throughout the world, and it raises consciousness about negative perceptions about black people around the world, particularly Latin America.

Throughout his musical career, Ismael Rivera composed and recorded more than fourteen compositions. His mother, Rivera Garcia, contributed to his success by composing several of his hit songs, including "Maquinolandera," "Las Ingratitudes," "Doña Chana," and "Bombon de Canela". He has been described as the vocalist's vocalist. It is said that his timing, phrasing, and inspiration have influenced every vocalist who has heard him. In his definition of sonero, Ismael Rivera provides a description based on his own personal experience. He states:

the sonero is like a poet of the common people/masses. A sonero must make a history of the chorus [coro] presented, without loosing the theme. You must know the language of the populace, because you have to interweave things from our daily life. You have to be part of the common people, so that you may reach the people. You have to use the words that are being used in the street corners (Brenes 1991).

Ismael Rivera made enormous contributions to the development of popular music genres of Afro-Latino and Afro-Caribbean origins. His music also contributed to the development of salsa music during the late 1960s and 1970s. Musicians, scholars, and the common people have described him as a true phenomenon of this century.

Maelo, thank you for the great music you created and we will never forget you. "Ecuaje."

***

FOOTNOTES
1. This year the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary.

This renowned group is considered a strong musical institution throughout the world in the development of Afro-Latino-Caribbean music.

2. For a listing of available Rivera recordings, see Descarga Catalog 1996/97, no. 48, 133-134.

REFERENCES
- Brenes, Ramon Luis. 1991. A Puerta Cerrada con Ismael
Rivera. Centro 3, no.2:56-61.
- Descarga Catalog 1996/97.n.d. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Descarga.
- Hernandez, Rafael Figueroa, 1992. Ismael Rivera: El Sonero
Mayor. San Juan, Puerto Rico:
Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña.
- Lopez, Nilda M. 1996. Sonero del Mundo, Inmortal, Claridad
May 17-23:29.
- Mauleon, Rebeca. 1993. Salsa guidebook for piano and
ensemble. Petaluma, Calif.: Sher Music.
- Roberts, John Storm. 1976. Salsa, the Latin dimensions in
popular music. Broadcast Music 3:25-32.

DISCOGRAPHY
Ismael Rivera with Cortijo y su Combo. Baile con Cortijo y su Combo, Seeco Records (9130)
____. Bienvenidos /Welcome, Tico Records (1140), 1966.
____. Bueno y Que, Rumba Records (55534).
____. Con todos los Hieros, Tico Records (LP 1158).
____. Cortijo en New York, Rumba Records.
____. Cortijo y su Combo, Seeco Records (TRLP 5130).
____. Danger do not Trespass (with Rolando La Serie), Rumba Records (55552).
____. El alma de un Pueblo, Seeco/Polydor Records0 (52146, 1957.
____. Fiestas Boricuas, Rumba Records (55519).
____. Invites you to Dance, Seeco Records.
____. Junto otra vez, Coco Records, 1974
____. Los Internacionales, Disco Hit (DHMV) 1993.
____. Quitate de la Via, Perico, Rumba Records (55548).

Ismael Rivera with the Cachimbos.
Controversia, Tico Records (1196), 1971.
____. De Colores, Tico Records (1174), 1968.
____. De todas Maneras Rosas, Tico Records (1415), 1977.
____. Eclipse Total, Tico Records (1400), 1975.
____. Esto fue lo que trajo el Barco, Tico Records (1305), 1972.
____. Esto si es lo Mio, Tico Records (1428), 1978.
____. Feliz Navida, Tico Records (1404). 1975.
____. Maelo, El Sonero Mayor, Tico Records (1437), 1980.
____. Soy Feliz, Vaya Records,(V 35). 1975.
____. Traigo de Todo, Tico Records (1319), 1974.
____. Vengo por la Maceta, Tico Records (1311), 1973.

Ismael Rivera with Orquesta Panamericana.
Orquesta Panamericana, Ansonia Records (1290).

Copyright, Columbia College, 1997. Originally published in Kalinda! Newsletter, (Fall) 1997, published by the Center for Black Music Research. Reproduced by permission.

Note: The Ismael Rivera Foundation has been established by family members and friends of the late singer. One of the foundation's goal is to estblish a museum at the site of the home where Ismael Rivera died, located on Calle Alma (right across the the street from his birthplace) in Santurce, Puerto Rico. For more information, contact:

La Fundacion Ismael Rivera
Evelisse Rivera, Presidenta
Calle 81, Bloque 109 #7
3ma Ext. Villa Carolina
Carolina, Puerto Rico 00985
(787)762-9772