Jaime Prats Estrada

He was a Cuban flautist, composer, and orchestra conductor. He also played clarinet, violin, double bass, and piano. He began studying music at age seven, and in 1893 he went to Cienfuegos, where he continued his music studies, as well as completing first-grade coursework, graduating at age 17.

In 1899 he became known in Havana playing flute in the orchestra of the Opera Azzali company, with which he toured several countries in America. He later became director of the Municipal Band of Sagua la Grande. He graduated from the Peyrellade Conservatory in 1904, and from 1906 he conducted orchestras for theater companies, touring again with them throughout Central America. In 1913 he graduated as a Doctor of Pharmacy. He worked as musical director of the Arquímedes Pous Company when it went to New York.

In 1922 he founded the Cuban Jazz Band in Havana, one of the first of its kind in Cuba. The personnel, all Cuban, included his son Rodrigo Prats on violin, the great flautist/saxophonist Alberto Socarrás, who later emigrated to New York, and Pucho Jiménez on trombone.

He dedicated his last years to teaching the history of music at the Iranzo Conservatory, and gave classes in harmony and composition at the Ramona Sicardó Conservatory. He composed the bolero Ausencia, and other pieces.

He was born in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, Cuba; on March 29, 1883. In 1890 he began learning music with José Márquez, director of the Army Band of Sagua la Grande; he studied flute, violin, clarinet, and double bass. In 1897 he moved to Cienfuegos, and there he studied piano. In 1899 he arrived in Havana, where he worked as a flautist for the Azzali Opera Company, with which he toured several countries in Latin America.

In 1902 he returned to Sagua la Grande, and was appointed director of the Municipal Music Band. Subsequently, and after a brief stay in Havana, he moved to Santa Clara; in this city he was named director of the Music Academy, which was incorporated into the Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana.

Later he would be hired as director of the Operetta Company of Esperanza Iris, in which he worked alongside José Mauri Esteve. From then on he dedicated himself to theater, and with various companies he traveled throughout Central America and Mexico, until in 1917 he returned to Havana and settled permanently. In 1922 he founded the Cuban Jazz Band, which is why he is considered a pioneer of this type of orchestra in Cuba. He worked as director and composer for the Bufo Theater Company of Arquímedes Pous, with which he traveled to New York.

He was a professor of Music History at the Iranzo Conservatory, and of Harmony and Composition at the Ramona Sicardó Conservatory.

He died in Havana, Cuba; on January 3, 1946.

Works
Ausencia
El planeta Marte
El vuelo de Franco
Estela
Fiesta de la raza
La reclamación francesa
La perla del Golfo
Las muletas de Bombay
Locuras europeas
Magazine de fantasía
Noche de amor
¡Oh mister Pous! Petite revue
Ruiseñor.