Vicente Carattini (November 11, 1939 – November 7, 2005), was a singer and composer of Puerto Rican Christmas-related songs.

Early years

Carattini (birth name:Ernesto Vicente Carattini) was born and raised in the town of

Cidra, Puerto Rico Cidra () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, north of Cayey; south of Comerío and Aguas Buenas; east of Aibonito and Barranquitas; and west of Caguas. Cidra is spread over 12 barrios and ...

where he received his primary and secondary education. His father realized that the young Carattini was fascinated with Puerto Rican folk music and presented him with a

Puerto Rican cuatro The Puerto Rican cuatro (Spanish: cuatro puertorriqueño) is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. It belongs to the lute family of string instruments, and is guitar-like in function, but with a shape closer to that of the violin. The word ...

. A cuatro is a Puerto Rican stringed instrument somewhat similar to a guitar but smaller in size. The Puerto Rican cuatro has five pairs of strings for a total of ten, and is different from the cuatro in other Latin American countries (for example, the Venezuelan cuatro actually has four strings). At the age of nine, Carattini learned how to play the cuatro by asking those in town who knew how to play the instrument to teach him. In 1950, his father gave him a better quality cuatro and a guitar. In 1956, when Carattini was 15 years old, he formed the "Trío Los Juglares", which dedicated itself to singing

boleros Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

. The trio included the vocals of Felito Félix and performed basically in Cidra. However, Felito Félix left the following year and the trio was dissolved. Carattini continued to go to school and graduated from the Jesus T. Piñero high school of Cidra. In 1958, he enrolled in the

Catholic University of Puerto Rico The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Doct ...

in Ponce and after one year transferred to the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

in Río Piedras. In 1960, he earned his teacher's certificate and in 1961 his Bachelor of Science degree. He returned to his hometown and became a teacher.

La Tuna de Cayey

On one occasion Carattini heard a group called "La Tuna de

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sal ...

" sing Puerto Rican Christmas songs and was very impressed. In Puerto Rico "Tunas" are a group of singers and musicians who sing Christmas related songs. One of the songs sung by Tuna de Cayey was ''"Estas Navidades van a ser Candela"'' (roughly, "This Christmas season will be a firestorm"), a composition by Herminio de Jesús Figueroa that became part of the Tuna de Cayey's LP production "Candela con la Tuna de Cayey". In 1964, Carattini spoke with a friend, Víctor Cotto, who was the director of another "Tuna" and asked him if he could join. Carattini became a member of Cotto's "Tuna Taurina de Cayey" and participated in the recording of ''La Fabulosa Tuna Taurina''. He remained with the group until 1969. In 1970, he quit his low paying teaching job and became an insurance salesman. He went on to create a new "Tuna" which included 23 members and with $3,000 recorded a "demo". After the recording, they decided that they as a group had a good chance of competing against the "Tunas" already established and adopted the name "Los Cantores de San Juan". In January 1971, they recorded their first Christmas album, however they had to wait almost a year until the Christmas holidays at the end of the year to release it. Finally, the album was released and became a big hit after being played on the radio by the then DJ Alfred D. Herger. The album included ''Si no me dan de beber, lloro'' (If you don't give me a drink, I'll cry), ''Asomante a los cantores'' and ''Porque era Católico''. The song has been interpreted by such singers as

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 ye ...

and

Marco Antonio Muñiz Marco Antonio Muñiz (born 3 March 1933) is a Mexican singer from Jalisco, Mexico. Known all over Latin America, he also acted in the 1965 film '' Sinful'' ( Spanish: El Pecador). He belongs to the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Early life and car ...

. Another song which became a Puerto Rican Christmas classic was ''Dame la Mano Paloma'' (Give me your Hand, Dove) in 1979. From then on Carattini and Los Cantores de San Juan performed sold out functions during every Christmas season up to 2005. In 2005, Carattini made his last public appearance on ''Así es la Navidad'', a

Gilberto Santa Rosa Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortés, nicknamed "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa) (born August 21, 1962), is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero. He is a six time Grammy Award winner and has sold over three million ...

production.

Discography

Among Carattini's recordings are the following: * Si no me dan de beber, lloro – 1971 * El caracol – 1972 * Motivos navideños con... Los Cantores de San Juan – 1972 * Éxitos de siempre con Los Cantores de San Juan – 1972 * La puerca voladora – 1972 * De fiesta con Los Cantores de San Juan – 1973 * ¡Es más bueno...! – 1973 * Caminan las nubes / El patatú – 1974 * Idem – 1975 * Idem – 1977 * Dame la mano, paloma – 1979 * Éxitos de siempre con Los Cantores de San Juan, Vol. 2" 1979 * De rolimpín / Pidiendo posada – 1980 *¡Se prendió la Navidad! – 1987 with Felito Félix *

Controversia A ''controversia'' is an exercise in rhetoric; a form of declamation in which the student speaks for one side in a notional legal case such as treason or poisoning. The facts of the matter and relevant law are presented in a persuasive manner, ...

– 1985 with Danny Rivera and Alpha IV * Trullando con... Vicente Carattini,

Chucho Avellanet Chucho Avellanet, nicknamed "Chucho", is a Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor of Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spa ...

y... Los Cantores −1986 * De trulla en trulla – 1988 * 25 años de Navidad – 1996

Later years

Carattini suffered from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

and died on November 7, 2005. Vicente Carattini is buried in the Jardín del Edén Cemetery of Cidra. The government named a school in his honor. The school is called which is located at 782 km 6 2 Barrio Ceiba, in the town of Cidra.Escuela Ernesto Vicente Carattini
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References

External links