Alfredo Bojalil Gil (August 5, 1915 in Teziutlán, Puebla – October 10, 1999 in Mexico City), also known by his nickname El güero, was a singer and the creator and principal founding member of the musical trio,

Trio Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos are a '' trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exponents of the bolero and the romantic ballad in Latin America. I ...

. As a member of

Los Panchos Originally, Trio Los Panchos are a ''trío romántico'' formed in New York City in 1944 by Alfredo Gil, Chucho Navarro, and Hernando Avilés. The trio became one of the leading exponents of the bolero and the romantic ballad in Latin America. ...

, he was the third voice and player of the ''

requinto The term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are ''requinto'' guitars, drums, and several wind instruments. Wind instruments ''Requinto'' was 19th-century S ...

'', a small guitar which he invented, and is now a staple instrument.

Biography

He was born in Teziutlan, Puebla, the son of a Lebanese immigrant Felipe Julián Bojalil and Carmen Gil. He had five siblings, two boys and three girls, all with a love of music, and as the surname Bojalil was unsuitable for the show, they adopted their mother's surname. Since he was a child he loved music; at the request of his father he learned the hairdressing trade and it was there that he received his first music lessons with the mandolin. Then he discovered his love for the guitar, which he learned to play in his spare time. But it was his first love, the mandolin, on which he molded his inspiration as a composer. In 1940 his brother Felipe Gil , who was by then beginning to be as popular as ''El Charro Gil and his Caporales'', called him to join him on a tour of New York. There he met Jesús ''Chucho'' Navarro Moreno, another Mexican, who since 1936 was part of the Caporales. After his brother Felipe "Charro" Gil's return to Mexico, Alfredo and Chucho Navarro remained in New York until they achieved fame in 1944, and with the Puerto Rican Hernando Avilés they founded the Trio Los Panchos , in which he remained in the period 1944-1981. Third voice of the group, he is particularly remembered for his extreme mastery with the requinto, a small high register guitar, created by himself to reinforce the introductions and voiceless passages of the songs. Tuned a

perfect fourth A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...

higher than the full-sized guitar, it is a smaller guitar with a higher pitched tone, very characteristic of the Los Panchos Trio. As a composer, many of his boleros are famous, such as ''Caminemos'' , ''Sin un amor'', ''Hija de la mala vida'', ''Basura'', ''Tu ausencia'', ''Solo'', ''Cien mujeres'', ''Me puniga Dios'', ''No trates de mentir'', ''Ni que sí, ni quizá ni que no'', ''Un siglo de ausencia'', ''Ya es muy tarde'', ''Loco'', ''Mi último fracaso'', ''No te vayas sin mí'' and ''Lodo'' also known as ''Si tu me dices ven'' , among many others.

References

External links

Biography Page of Alfredo Gil at the Trio Los Panchos' Official Website. In Spanish
1915 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Mexican male singers Mexican people of Lebanese descent Singers from Puebla People from Teziutlán {{Mexico-singer-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links