Rafael Muñoz Medina (1900 – 1961) was a Puerto Rican

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

ist and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

director. His repertoire consistent mainly of guarachas,

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

and boleros. He was a prolific bandleader from 1929 until his retirement in the 1950s. His hits include " Sandunguera", "El hueso de María", "La conga del 39" and "Ojos malvados". The primary lead vocalists of his orchestra were José Luis Moneró, Félix Castrillón and his son Raffi Muñoz. Other singers that performed with his band were Tony Sánchez and Irma Morillo.

Life and career

Born in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico in 1911, Muñoz was chosen to replace Don Rivero as the band leader of the ''Orquesta del Escambrón Beach Club'' in 1934, after which it became known as the ''Rafael Muñoz Orchestra''. Its members included among others the pianist Noro Morales and vocalist José Luis Moneró. Muñoz was the director in charge of the musical score of the film ''Romance Tropical'', the first Puerto Rican movie with sound and the second Spanish movie with sound in the world. It was filmed in 1934. The story of the movie was written by

Luis Pales Matos Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

and filmed and produced by

Juan Emilio Viguié Juan Emilio Viguié Cajas (July 11, 1891 – September 1966), was a movie and documentary producer. A pioneer in the film industry of Puerto Rico, he was the first People of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican to produce commercially successful films in th ...

. Rafael Muñoz died on September 1, 1961 at age 60. He was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

References

1900 births 1961 deaths People from Quebradillas, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni {{Caribbean-musician-stub