The powerful voice of Israel Berrier, rumbero of los muñequitos de Matanzas, goes silent

December 22, 2020

The musician Israel Berrier González, who was part of the famous group Muñequitos de Matanzas for more than five decades, died on December 18 due to a cardiovascular accident, according to an announcement from the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).

Born on September 21, 1937 in the Matanzas municipality of Jovellanos, Berriel marked the work of the Muñequitos with the power of his voice, standing out for his ability to champion cultural expressions such as orishas chants, bríkamo and columbia.

"He not only imposed his tone as a lead columbian singer, but also contributed greatly as a composer to the discography of Los Muñequitos," the ICM publication noted.

"A man from a humble family, he knew from childhood the hardship of the lives of the poor and racial discrimination: he was a shoeshine boy and thanks to the revolutionary process he became a welder and later was able, with his voice and his determination, to travel to many countries representing Cuban culture. He obtained with his group the highest professional honors and is highly valued by many musicians and admirers of rumba throughout the world," the statement indicated.

Approaching 70 years since its founding, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas is a senior rumba group in Cuba, a genre that in 2016 was recognized by the Organization of Cuban Nations for Education, Science and Culture (Unesco) as Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

The group has performed on the most prestigious stages in the world with a repertoire that champions the most rooted aspects of Cuban cultural traditions, present on albums such as La rumba soy yo, an essential album in the history of rumba in Cuba derived from the multiple expressions of African heritage on the Island.

His hometown of Matanzas paid him honors and by his express wish, he was buried in Jovellanos.