Last blow of the chekeré for Don Pancho Terry

July 24, 2018

From today on, the King of the Chekeré falls silent forever, but the gift of his music is more alive than ever. Cuban music bids a profound farewell to musician and great Cuban percussionist Eladio Severino Terry González, better known as Don Pancho Terry. Victim of acute renal failure, this art genius passed away in Havana this Tuesday at the age of 78.

Terry was born in Florida, Camagüey, on January 8, 1940 with a natural talent for music that, despite his humble origins, led him through a life of success. Premonition or not, he was soon baptized as Don Pancho Terry and his masterful foray into percussion instruments was self-taught.

His academic training came much later through studies of flute and violin. His career from then on would move upward and by the end of the 1950s, Don Pancho joined the charanga Las maravillas de Florida. Without interrupting his performances with this ensemble, he continued his studies at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory.

He remained with Las Maravillas for almost three decades, which he directed between 1970 and 1979. With them he recorded the albums Viene la Maravilla and Orquesta Maravilla de Florida and toured several African countries, where he was able to deepen his knowledge of the percussion of that continent, which once influenced the Cuban rhythmic spectrum.

Later, Terry's career consolidated in the Camagüey Symphony Orchestra and in the Orquesta Sensación. The latter took him to Havana and gave him another chance to prove himself as a director in the 1990s. From then on, it is likely that younger people remember him as the King of the Chekeré, but the truth is that his superb interpretation of the instrument had already consecrated him. This was, however, the starting point for his eternal connection with jazz.

From then on, he changed the way of conceiving the chekeré, which would no longer be a simple accompanying instrument, but rather an axis of percussion, especially in Latin jazz, with possibilities for virtuosity and solo execution.

His efforts in this direction also had a chapter in the art schools and were very well accompanied by Cuban showman Bobby Carcassés. From this facet, his participation in the albums Jazz timbero and Cubanísimo, by Bobby himself, stands out.

During his career he recorded with renowned groups and artists such as: Los Van Van, the Matanzas Symphony Orchestra, Manolito Simonet y su trabuco, Sergio Vitier; and in the albums La rumba soy yo, and Lágrimas negras, both Latin Grammy award winners.