Gregorio Hernández Ríos (17 November 1936 – 8 January 2012), known as El Goyo, was a Cuban

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

singer, dancer and percussionist. A founding member of the

Conjunto The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...

Folklórico Nacional, he was also the leader of a

Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional ...

music ensemble, Grupo Oba-Ilú. He toured Europe and Latin America with various ensembles and recorded with

Tata Güines Federico Arístides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos "Patato" Valdés, in ...

, Alfredo Rodríguez and

Jane Bunnett Mary Jane Bunnett, (born October 22, 1956) is a Canadian musician and educator. A soprano saxophonist, flautist and bandleader, she is especially known for performing Afro-Cuban jazz. She travels regularly to Cuba to perform with Cuban musicians. ...

, among others. For the collaborative album ''La rumba soy yo'' he received the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

in 2001. His album ''La rumba es cubana'' was nominated to the 2003 ''Premio Cubadisco'' in the Best Folk Album and Best Design categories, winning the latter. He has been described as one of the most important ''rumberos'' of contemporary Havana. El Goyo was also a teacher at the

Instituto Superior de Arte The University of Arts of Cuba / Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) was established on 1 September 1976, by the Cuban government as a school for the arts. Its original structure had three schools: Music, Visual Arts, and Performing Arts. History T ...

, where he taught Afro-Cuban music. He was the director of the Cuban Society of Percussionists (PERCUBA) for fifteen years. Despite his academic commitments, he still performed as a street musician in the ''solares'' of Havana until his death.

Biography

Born in the

Pinar del Río Province The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. The capital and largest city is Pinar del Río (191,081 pop. in 2022). Geography The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost p ...

, but registered in the Havana census, on 17 November 1936, ''El Goyo''—as he was always known—began his career as a singer and dancer from a very young age. He accompanied his father as ''pregonero'' and later joined various dance ensembles. His big break came in 1962, when he was accepted into the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional, a new ensemble organised by the government to preserve Cuba's cultural traditions and to present them abroad. He also became an educator at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. By the 1990s, el Goyo was one of Havana's most prominent ''rumberos'' and he began to collaborate on numerous recordings with artists such as

, Alfredo Rodríguez (in Paris) and

. In 2000, he recorded an album dedicated to the history of

entitled ''La rumba es cubana'', which was nominated to the Cubadisco awards two years later. Also in 2000, he organised the recording ''La rumba soy yo'', a similarly themed album featuring a different lineup on each song. The success of the album, which won the 2001 Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album, spurred the recording of a sequel. El Goyo continued to work as an educator at the Instituto Superior de Arte until his death in 2012.

Discography

Solo albums *2000: ''La rumba es cubana'' (Unicornio) Collaborative albums *1995: ''Rapsodia rumbera'' (

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 ...

) *2000: ''La rumba soy yo'' (Bis) *2004: ''La rumba soy yo II'' (Bis) With Grupo Obá-Ilú *1998: ''Santería'' (

Soul Jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...

) As guest vocalist *1995:

– ''Aniversario'' (EGREM) *1996:

– ''Chamalongo'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) *1997: Alfredo Rodríguez – ''Cuba linda'' (

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

) *1998: Pedro Luis Martínez – ''Havana Jam'' (PM) *2006: Conjunto Biankomeko – ''Antología de la música afrocubana Vol. X: Abakuá'' (EGREM)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Rios, Gregorio 1936 births 2012 deaths Rumba singers Rumba dancers 20th-century Cuban male singers 21st-century Cuban male singers Musicians from Havana