Fernando Arbello (May 30, 1906 in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

– July 26, 1970) was a Puerto Rican

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

trombonist and composer who spent most of his career in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Biography

Fernando Arbello (also spelled Arbelo) was born May 30, 1906 in Ponce, Puerto Rico to Eladio Arbelo and Raimunda Cruz. He was the second oldest born of seven children. Arbello first started on trombone at the age of 12. He later attended the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music in Ponce to further his musical training where he not only learned to play, but composed music as well. He played locally in high-school bands and

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

s, then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the middle of the 1920s. There he played with Earle Howard, Wilbur De Paris,

June Clark June Clark may refer to: * June Clark (nurse) (born 1941), British nurse, educator, and academic * June Clark (artist) (born 1941), Canadian artist * June Clark (musician) (1900–1963), American jazz trumpeter and cornetist * June Clark (bowls) (b ...

, and Bingie Madison before the close of the decade. Early in the 1930s he played intermittently with

Claude Hopkins Claude Driskett Hopkins (August 24, 1903 – February 19, 1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader. Biography Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his ...

for several years, then worked with

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. ...

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...

, Billy Hicks, and

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

, before returning to play under Hopkins again near the end of the 1930s. In 1940, Arbello worked for a few months with

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

, then led his own, unsuccessful, band briefly in 1940-41. Later in 1941 he played again in Henderson's ensemble, then with Marty Marsala (1941) and

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mis ...

(1942–46). He led his own band again late in the 1940s, maintaining it for several years, though he never recorded with this outfit. In 1953 he played with

Rex Stewart Rex William Stewart Jr. (February 22, 1907 – September 7, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Career As a boy he studied piano and violin; most of his career was spent on cornet. Stewart drop ...

and played in a reunion band with Henderson once more; in 1960 he was a sideman for

Machito Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. Ginell, Richard S. ''Biography''. Allmusic, 2011/ref> He wa ...

. Fernando Arbello continued to enjoy playing and composing music while residing in the Bronx with his family. He returned to Puerto Rico later in life, but regularly visited New York. In 1970, while on vacation visiting family in the Bronx, he fell ill and was rushed to the hospital where he subsequently died of a heart attack. Arbello is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery located at 280 Secor Rd. Hartsdale, NY. He was survived by his wife, Isabel Vasquez Torres Arbelo, six children (Ferdinand, Isabel, Evelyn, Hector, Albert and Carmen) and grandchildren leaving behind a legacy of great music to be echoed throughout time. on

References

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twel ...

, Fernando Arbelloat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbello, Fernando 1906 births 1970 deaths Puerto Rican jazz musicians American jazz trombonists Male trombonists 20th-century trombonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians