Manuel "El Guajiro" Mirabal Dies, One of Cuba's Great Trumpets

November 1, 2024

One of the stars of Cuban music, trumpeter Luis Manuel Mirabal Vázquez (El Guajiro Mirabal) passed away this Monday in Havana at the age of 91.

El Guajiro de Cuba, as Venezuelan singer Oscar de León christened him (other versions attribute the nickname to Cuban singer Tito Gómez) was born on May 5, 1933 in the town of Melena del Sur, now in Mayabeque province.

"Mirabal is considered one of the most magnificent trumpeters of Cuba and the world, simple and humble, but with a long and fruitful artistic career of more than 70 years," stated a statement from the Institute of Music.

From childhood he showed an inclination toward music, so his father, professor and director of the municipal band Luis Mirabal taught him music classes and at 12 years old he was already a member of the band, in which he defined his vocation for the trumpet.

In 1951, at 18 years old he began his professional life in the Conjunto Universal, a group from Melena. In that decade he was also seen as a trumpeter in the jazz band directed by Rafael Sorí and in the Rumbahabana ensemble.

In 1959 he obtained a position in the Marianao Band of Music and in 1960 he began playing in the Riverside orchestra, in which his vocalist, Tito Gómez, christened him with the nickname Guajiro Mirabal.

Recognized as a great trumpet master, he was a member of the Conjunto Rumbahabana; the Tropicana Orchestra, of which he was a founder; the Casino Orchestra, the Parisian Cabaret Orchestra, the National Hotel Orchestra, the ICRT Orchestra, the Ceremonial Band of the Revolutionary National Militia and the Army Band.

The year 1967 marks an important milestone in his artistic life, when he founded, along with other great musicians of the country, the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music (OCMM) in which he remained until its dissolution.

In parallel with his work in the OCMM he toured abroad with the jazz group Opus 13 and shared performances with Arturo Sandoval, José Feliciano and others.

The perfect sound of his trumpet appears in countless record releases, while his career includes collaboration with important Cuban and world musicians such as Oscar de León during his performances in Cuba in 1983.

Likewise, he was part of the Afrocuban All Stars orchestras and the renowned Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC), with which he obtained the Grammy Award in 1998.

In 2004 the World Circuit record label released the CD Buena Vista Social Club Presents Manuel Guajiro Mirabal, which was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards in 2005 and in 2006 for the Billboard Latin Music Awards in the United States.

He starred alongside other founders of the BVSC in the successful film directed by renowned German director Win Wenders, nominated for the Academy Awards in the documentary category in 1999.

For his artistic contributions he received, among other decorations, the distinction for National Culture and the Alejo Carpentier medal.