By Carlos Flores
CHICAGO - On November 9, 2001, the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance hosted the Third Puerto Rican Cuatro Festival, held in the city of Chicago's prestigious institution, the Field Museum. The sold-out performance at the James Simpson Theater left audience enchanted with the musical presentation they had just witnessed. This event held special meaning for all parties present as it was a dedication to the memory of the late Puerto Rican Cuatro Master, Tomas "Maso" Rivera, who passed away in February, 2001.
The evening festivities opened with the performance of Chicago's own First Chicago Cuatro & Guitar Orchestra. This orchestra was formed over three years ago, and this year the group has expanded to over 25 musicians, including the addition of three female vocalist and additional guitar and Cuatro players. Some of the new orchestra members are products of the music program which offers Cuatro and guitar lessons free of charge to community residents at the Humboldt Park Fieldhouse. The music program is sponsor by the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, who is also responsible for presenting the Puerto Rican Cuatro Festival.
This year the orchestra's conductor, Orlando Rivera, challenged the group to perform a series of compositions to be performed in a medley format, which highlighted different musical styles like the Mazurka, Aguinaldo, Danza Puertorriqueña, Mapeye, Seis Choreao, and others. The orchestra executed this task to perfection. Jorge Rodriguez, the orchestra's troubadour, delighted the audience with his rendition of various Decimas (a song with a ten-line verse with eight syllables per line), and the addition of the three female singers added an entire new dimension to the orchestra. At the conclusion of their performance the orchestra received a well-deserved standing ovation from the capacity crowd.
The evening program continued with the presentation of a video featuring an interview with Tomas "Maso" Rivera, recorded by John Sotomayor, Wilfredo Echeveria, and William Cumpiano, of the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project. This organization is dedicated to the research, dissemination and promotion of the Cuatro instrument. (www.cuatro-pr.org). The video provided a personal insight about Maso Rivera that revealed his philosophy about life, his motivation for creating the music on his Cuatro, and most importantly his love for his island, Puerto Rico.
The main event of the evening featured two of the world's great Cuatro players, Edwin Colon Zayas and Prodigio Claudio, and special guest Jose "El Pollo de Naranjito" Ortiz, who sang and recorded with Maso Rivera for several years. These musicians were accompany by Ruben Figueroa on Guitar, Diomedes "Pucho" Matos on Bass, and Chicago's own Miguel Olavarria on Bongos, and his brother Benny Olavarria on Guiro. Edwin Colon Zayas was a last minute replacement for one of the other feature artist, Yomo Toro, who cancelled at the last minute due to some scheduling conflict.
Colon Zayas group, Taller Campesino, was featured in last year's Cuatro Festival and they electrified the audience with a remarkable performance. Edwin pays homage to Maso Rivera by taking center stage and performing some of Maso's brilliant compositions. He also accompanied troubadour Jose "El Pollo de Naranjito" Ortiz, who provided the audience with insights as to his relationship with Maso when they performed together. Mr. Ortiz recordings with Maso Rivera date back to the late 1950's. He also delighted the audience singing various compositions that reflected Puerto Rican traditional Jibaro music.
Prodigio Claudio concluded the evening's program by providing an excellent performance and showing the audience his versatility on the Cuatro instrument. He delighted the audience by skillfully playing traditional Puerto Rican music and then interjecting more popular musical themes like that of the Pink Panther and the Flintstones. Prodigio was a student of Maso Rivera and played with the master for several years.
The biggest surprise of the evening came in the middle of Edwin Colon Zayas' performance, when Yomo Toro strolled onto the stage. It was a wonderful surprise for the spectators since prior to the concert it had been announced that Yomo would not be performing in the evening's program. In the evening's finale, the musicians gave a spectacular performance that included Yomo Toro, Edwin Colon Zayas and Prodigio. The intensity of this collective performance left everyone present in awe. After seating for over two hours without an intermission there was not an empty seat remaining in the theater, and the audience was treated to a historical performance by these three great giants performing on the same stage.
It was symbolic to observe Yomo Toro, the King of the Cuatro, sitting in his throne accompanied by Edwin Colon Zayas to his left, and Prodigio to his right, and the banner with Tomas "Maso" Rivera photo above their heads. This historical performance electrified the audience and sent them home looking forward to next year's festival. The organizers for next year's event will have their hands full trying to upstage this year's great musical presentation. After giving the performers a well deserve standing ovation the audience was so mesmerized by the performance that many of them showed their appreciation by waiting in the parking lot to meet the artist and purchase their compact disc and cassettes. Each one of the featured artists sold all their music stock and returned home without one compact disc or cassette.
There was a touching moment after the concert when the Maso Rivera videotape, (shown earlier in the program) was replayed for Yomo Toro. Yomo had not only performed with Maso for many years; they were also very close friends. Yomo, however, had never seen this videotape. At the end of the videotape, Maso tells everyone to give his regards to Yomo. Upon seeing this footage, Yomo began to weep because he never a chance to say good bye to his beloved friend Maso before passing away. Moments like these are rare, and being a part of the history-in-the-making, especially when it involves the Puerto Rican heritage, are to be cherished for a long time to come.
This festival was culminated by a Cuatro presentation on Thursday November 8, at the Roberto Clemente High School. Over 1,200 grammar and high school students from various schools in the Westtown/Humboldt Park area were treated to a Cuatro performance by Prodigio, accompany by John Sotomayor on Guitar, Miguel Olavarria on Bongos, and Benny Olavarria on Guiro.
The success of this year's festival is credited to the many volunteers and co-sponsors of the event, and the members of the board of directors of the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance. They include Carlos Flores, Lucy Gomez, Carlos R. Hernandez. Eduardo Maldonado, Miguel Palacio, Heriberto Ruiz, Angelo Sanchez, Lydia Sarpy, Bibiana Suarez, and Antonio Curet.
Great job gang and start getting ready for next year's event because you have a challenge on your hands to try and duplicate or top this year's event.