Charles Abreu

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Pianist, composer, singer, teacher, arranger, concert performer.

He was born in Marianao. He studied piano, music theory, and solfège at the Municipal Conservatory of La Habana.

He began his career as an accompanist pianist for singers in radio programs and nightclubs, but also sang in choral groups. In 1948 he performed a tour as a singer, accompanying his songs on piano through Haiti, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Aruba, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico. He subsequently visited Spain, France and Italy.

He emigrated permanently from Cuba in 1962. In the United States he formed his musical group. His songs were performed by the best artists such as the Orquesta Hermanos Castro "Lo leí en tus ojos"; the Orquesta Aragón with the cha-cha-cha "Hoy quiero amarte más"; as well as "Te necesito", "Cariño mío", "Serán tus manos", "No me importa lo que pienses", "Me añoras", "Ven pa`ca", etc.

Charles Abreu was the one who perfected the Nicaraguan troubadour Sergio Tapia, who studied with him vocalization and solfège classes and led him to joint performances on stages that were almost unreachable for Hispanics about 4 decades ago, such as El Hudson Hall, Carnegie Hall or even at the Central Park Auditorium itself.

The great Puerto Rican singer Tito Lara began recording compositions by Cuban authors among which stands out the production: "Un nuevo ídolo para América" (Gema/Rumba, LPR-5553), recorded in La Habana in 1959, which had the Cuban music producer: Eulogio «Yoyo» Casteleiro. This LP generated four hits: "Mi versión", by Sylvia Rexach; "Vivo sin ti", by Mario Fernández Porta; "Imágenes", by Frank Domínguez, and the waltz-song "La vida mía" by Charles Abreu (all Cuban).