Pedro Celestino Depestre González (June 1945 – 8 April 2001) was a Cuban violinist, arranger and musical director. He was one of Cuba's most prolific charanga violinists, playing with

Orquesta Aragón Orquesta Aragón is a Cuban musical band formed on 30 September 1939, by Orestes Aragón Cantero in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The band originally had the name ''Ritmica 39'', then ''Ritmica Aragón'' before settling on its final form. Though they did not ...

, Orquesta Maravillas de Florida, Orquesta Típica Juventud and

Estrellas de Areito Estrellas de Areito (The Stars of Areito) was an ensemble involving over thirty of Cuba's musicians, including Rubén González, Richard Egües, Nino Rivera, Félix Chappotín, Miguelito Cuní, Pío Leyva, Arturo Sandoval, Tata Güines and Paqu ...

, among others. In the late 1990s, he recorded with the

Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club is an ensemble of Cuban musicians established in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and directed by Juan de Marcos González. They named the gr ...

ensemble and toured with

Orlando "Cachaíto" López Candelario Orlando López Vergara (February 2, 1933 – February 9, 2009), better known as Cachaíto, was a Cuban bassist and composer, who gained international fame after his involvement in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings. He was nick ...

in 2001, but died on stage during the first concert of the tour.

Life and career

He joined

in 1958, at age thirteen, replacing his father, Filiberto Depestre Méndez. In 1963, he became director of Orquesta Maravillas de Florida, another charanga similar to the Aragón, again replacing his father. He later directed the Orquesta Típica Juventud, based in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

, for many years, releasing several albums. Depestre also worked for Orquesta ICRT and

EGREM EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales, Spanish for ''Enterprise of Recordings and Musical Editions'') is the national record label of Cuba. It is headquartered in Centro Habana, where its main record studios (''Estudios Areito'' 101 & ...

, Cuba's national record label. In 1979, he took part in the

recordings, improvised jam sessions featuring the most prominent musicians residing in Cuba at the time. He was later first violinist and music director of the

Tropicana Club El Tropicana Night Club in Havana, Cuba located in a lush, six-acre (24,000 m²) estate tropical garden opened on December 30, 1939 at the Villa Mina in Marianao. It is located next door to the old Colegio de Belen, presently, the Instituto Técn ...

orchestra. In the late 1990s, Depestre played in several studio recordings by the

project, which were released on albums by

Ibrahim Ferrer Ibrahim Ferrer (February 20, 1927 – August 6, 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental and Mario Patterson. After his retirement in ...

and

Omara Portuondo Omara Portuondo Peláez (born 29 October 1930) is a Cuban singer and dancer. A founding member of the popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, Portuondo has collaborated with many important Cuban musicians during her long career, including Julio Gu ...

. He did not tour with the band until 2001, when he joined bassist

for his European tour. On the first show of the tour, in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland, Depestre died on stage after playing a solo. He was 55 years old.

Discography

As leader *1999: ''Son charangas y pasiones'' (Latin World) With Orquesta Típica Juventud *1975: ''XI Festival Mundial de la Juventud y los Estudiantes, Habana, Cuba, 1978'' (Areito) *1983: ''Mi orquesta sigue igual'' (Siboney) *1985: ''Se va pegando'' (Siboney) *1996: ''Lo mismo bailo un son'' (live, recorded 1972) As sideman *1980:

– ''Vol. 3'' (

) *1999:

– ''

Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer ''Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer'' is the first studio album by Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer. It was released on June 8, 1999, through World Circuit, and was one of the top ten selling Latin albums in the US in that year. Record ...

'' (World Circuit) *2000:

– ''Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo'' (World Circuit) *2001:

– ''Cachaíto'' (World Circuit) *2015:

–

Lost and Found A lost and found (American English) or lost property (British English), or lost articles (also Canadian English) is an office in a public building or area where people can go to retrieve lost articles that may have been found by others. Frequen ...

(World Circuit, recorded 1996–2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depestre, Pedro Cuban violinists Cuban charanga musicians 1945 births 2001 deaths Musicians who died on stage People from Cienfuegos