Francisco Fellove Valdéz

A composer and singer naturalized Mexican, he is contemporary with personalities from the world of Cuban music such as El Niño Rivera, Tito Puente, Chico O´Farrill, Celia Cruz, Olga Guillot and Omara Portuondo, among others, precursor of the Cuban filin movement, composer and crooner, who covered an important era in the development of dance genres and to whom is owed the introduction of jazz scat into son and salsa, as well as the popularity of countless pieces of island music.

Born in the Colón neighborhood of Havana and naturalized Mexican, Francisco Fellove is an essential figure when speaking of Afro-Caribbean music. His joy and audacity, combined with an interpretive style in which he linked onomatopoetic sounds with rhythmic phrases, were his signs of artistic identity.

A jeweler by profession, he entered the musical world thanks to the rumba and son environment that permeated the Havana neighborhood of Colón, a place where he lived since childhood with drummers of the caliber of the great Chano Pozo; his cousin Patato Valdés; the tres player Niño Rivera, who accompanied him in his first compositions, and pianist Bebo Valdés, with whom he participated as vocalist of his orchestra and contributed to the creation of the batanga rhythm, until reaching the bohemian group of the Muchachos del Filin, with whom he contributed to the development of that style of making and singing Cuban bolero.

At just 17 years old he composed Mango, mangüé, and regarding this Fellove recalls: "That was the number that people liked the most, well, it was inspired by an experience from my homeland. In Cuba there was a thing where fruit vendors had their carts and went out with mango, papaya, pineapple and they would call out 'the mango man arrived...' and I had a little guitar and I started to joke around and seeing that guy calling out, it occurred to me to say 'mango, mango, mango, mango, mango, mangüé' ah, I'm getting out of here! And I started to write and catch the vibe and the number came out; so, the first one to record it for me was Miguelito Valdés and then Celia Cruz, shortly after Pacheco did it, and several artists in Europe also made their own versions, as well as many people in different countries".

Fellove continues telling us: "In fact, Mango, mangüé is my trademark, I have to put that number in always and sometimes I have to repeat it, it's not for nothing, but every time I repeat it I like it more because I do more things with it!, I add more material, listen, I put the bionic man, the cybernetic man, the nuclear man, that number motivated me in such a strong way and it was what gave me triumph here in Mexico".

He recalls with nostalgia that his arrival in Mexico was very beautiful, "I arrived from Cuba on an Italian ship, I entered through Veracruz in the year 1955, on the fourth of December, the person who brought me was José Antonio Méndez, composer and friend of mine author of La gloria eres tú, and so, well imagine! that scene, when I arrived... I loved Mexico!"

"Look, what I wanted was to leave Cuba, do something!, since Master Méndez was a composer and worked his music here in Mexico and gave it to the trios, so I told him I want to leave now, I'm going with you!, I left the jewelry business, which was what I worked in, well, I left everything! It was then when he introduced me to Mr. Mariano Rivera Conde, he was the best Artistic Director there was in Mexico, he was the one who made people of the caliber of Toña La Negra and Benny Moré, among others, so the gentleman heard me sing and told me: 'come to the office and find yourself a group to accompany you because I'm going to record you', and it just so happened that I knew a group that we played with; I spoke with the director and we came to an agreement and Mango, mangüé and El Jamaiquino were recorded, really, there wasn't much problem because right away people started calling me and I started working".

From 1955 he settled in Mexico City, where he met his wife Melba, with whom he had his daughter, Toñita, and where he made many friends and solidified his musical career.

Fellove recalls in an anecdotal way how his stage name arose: "Mariano Rivera Conde, husband of Consuelito Velázquez, baptizes me as El Gran Fellove, frankly I didn't like it and he would tell me: hey, shut your mouth because I'll name you however I please!".

Already in the 1960s, Fellove participates in several television programs while at the same time singing in most of Mexico's cabarets. After having been one of the initiators of scat in Cuba; it being the legendary Louis Armstrong who made it famous in the United States. It should be noted that Fellove popularized in Mexico one of its variants, the chua-chua. Of this musical genre, he records with drummer Tino Contreras and with Venezuelan percussionist Batamba, in addition to other rhythms such as: Rumba and Salsa, Son, Jazz and El Guaguancó, etc.

Later, and with a musical career enriched vertiginously, Francisco Fellove takes advantage of a trip to the United States and sings at the Palladium in New York and Los Angeles with the Nuevo Ritmo de Cuba Orchestra; he also sings with the orchestras of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez and Machito. It is precisely at the Palladium in New York where Fellove sings for the first time the Spanish version of Volare. It was at that place where the recognized musician Winton Marsalis expressed his admiration by introducing him in New York on the occasion of Chucho Valdés' concert in 1996.

Furthermore, back in Mexico he records the album El Puntillita for RCA.

Already in the 1980s he tours much of the Americas, visiting Panama, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the United States. In 1999, El Gran Fellove records a new album with trumpeter Chocolate Armenteros and young Cuban pianist Osmany Paredes. It is not until 2002 that a new stage in his career begins, Fellove records a tropical version of the famous Sting theme Walking on the Moon.

A characteristic trademark of El Gran Fellove is his splendid character and optimism, which make him very sociable on and off stage, because of this he has made countless friendships, both in the artistic world and in his daily life, so we can mention personalities from Celia Cruz, with whom he lived since childhood, to Miguelito Valdés, Tito Puente, Machito, the extraordinary Graciela, the master of masters Arturo Chico O´farrill, Charles Aznavour, Chilo Morán, Roberto Morales and Tino Contreras. This list is endless. Likewise, he has met people who frequent the same places that he has frequented since his arrival in Mexico, such as the now traditional Café de San José, the surroundings of the legendary XEW and countless cabarets and dance halls.

The admiration and recognition for Fellove remain latent, the proof being that to date, the general public and those knowledgeable about the scene in Miami, France, Europe, in Cuba itself and even Japan, as well as all of Latin America, recognize his musical transcendence.

His restlessness never ceased, and that's why he liked to stay in contact with youth, because as he says: "I learned from the old-timers and now I want to teach and give my experience to young people, and transmit my feeling". His way of singing led him to the creation of a son phrasing called chúa. The discussion, somewhat Byzantine by the way, of whether the aforementioned style is his or not, was already clarified by Fellove himself on many occasions, the most recent before the cameras of Canal 22 and the program Salsajazzeando, by Deborah Holtz: "I am the creator of chúa-chúa... I am the father of this creation".

In October 2008, the Society of Authors and Composers of Mexico awarded El Gran Fellove the 50-Year Career Recognition, at an emotional gala that he shared with other great authors and composers such as Armando Manzanero, Ema Elena Valdelamar, Rubén Fuentes, Alex Lora, Jorge Massías, Napoleón and many others.

Repertoire

ANOTA MI CAMION FLORA
APRENDA CONMIGO EL TWIST
AY NO ME AGITES MAS
BAILA MI GUAPACHA
BAILA MI RUMBA
BAILA MI SALSA
BAILAME ESTE MAMBO
BURURUN BOOGALOO
CALIFORNIA JAM SESSION
CHA CHA CHA CHICA
CIMARRON COMPONTE
BOOGALOO
CUALQUIERA BAILA BATANGA
CUMBIALU
DOS CAMINOS
EL JAMAIQUINO
GUAPACHEANDO
LA BATICOLA
LA CIRCUNSTANCIA
LINDO OMELENKO

The so-called Gran Fellove died in a hospital in Mexico City at the age of 89.