Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz

Compay Segundo was the oldest and most famous trovador in the world. Guitarist, clarinetist and composer. A musician with a long career and composer with more than one hundred musical creations among which stand out the sones Sarandonga, La Calabaza, Chan Chan and Saludo Compay.

He was also the inventor of the armónico (a hybrid of seven strings between the Spanish guitar and the Cuban tres) and has been recognized with Grammy Awards and entered the Guinness Book of Records after becoming the longest-lived artist to sell more than one million records around the world.

He had the dry and pleasant aroma of the ancient. He inherited the know-how of traditional trovadores from Santiago de Cuba, the birthplace of son and bolero. He possessed the gaze of a young man in the midst of puberty, but with the wisdom of one who had lived through life.

He was born on one of the most beautiful beaches in Cuba, Siboney, near Santiago de Cuba. In the bosom of a humble peasant family. From his grandmother, a freed slave who lived one hundred fifteen years, he inherited the habit of smoking and surely his own longevity.

In 1916, at the age of five, he moved with his family to the city of Santiago de Cuba, when his father was fired from the railroad. Although there he began to make his living as a barber, he, like four of his seven brothers, knew that music was his calling.

There he learned the trade of cigar roller and began working at the Montecristo cigar factory to help support his family. At the same time he was giving music lessons with a young woman who introduced him to the secrets of musical notation, Noemí Toro, a young mandolinist and violinist daughter of the director of the primary school he attended.

When she told him that he could now play an instrument, he chose the clarinet, which he bought from an enthusiast whom he paid by rolling tobacco in a workshop on his property, although he was not yet Compay or Segundo. This did not prevent him from beginning to play the guitar and the Cuban tres and from both instruments invent a new one, the armónico, a seven-string guitar, one of which repeats the G note.

He died in the Miramar neighborhood, Havana, at the age of 95.

Playing the tres he made his first trip to Havana in 1929, with the Municipal Band of Music, on the occasion of the inauguration of the National Capitol.

Later, in 1935, with the fabulous guarachero Ñico Saquito and his Cuban Star, he traveled again to the Cuban capital; and this was to stay permanently.

In the 1940s he joined the Matamoros ensemble as a clarinetist and had the opportunity to work with the important musician Benny Moré.

Then came his first trip to Mexico, where he joined another young man from his native region, Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, with whom he founded the Duo Los Compadres in 1942. Lorenzo Hierrezuelo was the prima voice, that is, Compay Primo; and Repilado, the segunda voice, this is the origin of Compay Segundo, with that pseudonym his artistic existence was forever marked. No one in the world knows him by any other name.

He was a member of the sextet Los Seis Ases, the Cuarteto Cubanacán, and was clarinetist of the Municipal Band of Santiago de Cuba. Performer of the tres, guitar and clarinet. The way he performed son adjusted to the model of the eastern zone of Cuba, to which he incorporated current elements in his lyrics. He was a genuine musician representative of Cubanness.

In the 1980s he formed the musical group Compay Segundo y sus muchachos, which performed in the capital of the island and traveled to Guadeloupe and Trinidad and Tobago, achieving great popularity then.

In the 1980s the festival Tras la semilla was held in Seville, dedicated to son and flamenco. There Compay met some artists, among them Lolita, who later sang and recorded some of his songs. From then on the group Compay Segundo y sus muchachos became known in Europe, the United States, various Caribbean islands, Spain, England, Switzerland, Italy and France.

He performed in cities in the United States such as Miami and Washington DC, places to which he traveled as a special guest to the Festival of American Traditional Cultures, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

His sones, guarachas, boleros and songs, with rich Caribbean nuances. His voice, deep and round, accompanied celebrated singers of worldwide fame; and in his group, with his boys, he was able to make multitudes from all continents dance. He toured Latin America and Europe, particularly Spain, where he recorded his last albums. Among his works are Sarandonga, Chan Chan, Saludos Compay. His son Chan Chan is irresistible; and it has been heard even in the Vatican. For this, and for many other reasons, Compay Segundo was a symbol and calling card for Cuban music.

In 1998 he actively participated in the recording of the album Buena Vista Social Club which won the Grammy for Music. In April 2002, he shared the stage of the Palacio de los Congresos in Paris, France, with the also noted sonero Adalberto Alvarez in a tribute concert to Cuba's son contribution on the 20th anniversary of the founding of Radio Latina. That same year he was declared an Illustrious Son of the city of Nice, Italy.

He composed more than 100 songs, including the famous Chan Chan, and sold more than 10 million records.

New York, French and Spanish theaters competed for his performances.

Recognition

Among various awards and recognitions he received the Crystal Eagle, which is awarded in France to personalities.

Salvador Repilado obtained the Seal of Laureate, the highest decoration granted by the National Union of Workers of Culture for lifetime achievement.

He received the Grammy Award in the late 1990s, and holds other trophies and distinctions such as the Félix Valera Order and the Medal for the Struggle Against Bandits.

Discography

1942-1955
"Sentimiento Guajiro" "Cantando en el Llano" "Compay Segundo y Compay Primo" "Mi Son Oriental" "Los Reyes del Son" "Los Compadres"

1956-1995
"Balcón de Santiago" "Balcón de Santiago - Reedición" "Saludo, Compay"

1996-2002
"Cien Años de Son" "Son del Monte" "Buena Vista Social Club" "Antologia" (1997) "Lo Mejor de la Vida" "Calle Salud" (1999) "Yo Soy del Norte" "Antologia" (2001) "Las Flores de la Vida" "Duets" (2002)

2007
"Cien Años. 100th Birthday Celebration" (3CD+DVD)

Compay in Cinema

Compay Segundo also appeared in the film of the same name later made by Wim Wenders. In recent years he performed before millions of spectators and recorded nine albums. He was unable to fulfill his dream of reaching the age his grandmother reached, who was a slave who died free at the age of 115.

Recognition

Among various awards and recognitions he received the Crystal Eagle, which is awarded in France to personalities.

Salvador Repilado obtained the Seal of Laureate, the highest decoration granted by the National Union of Workers of Culture for lifetime achievement.

He received the Grammy Award in the late 1990s, and holds other trophies and distinctions such as the Félix Valera Order and the Medal for the Struggle Against Bandits.

He passed away in Havana due to kidney failure at the age of 95.