Julio Gutiérrez (January 12, 1918 – December 15, 1990) was a Cuban
music director
A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
, pianist, composer and arranger. He was one of the main figures in the music scene of
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.descarga (Cuban
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
). As a songwriter, he is remembered for his 1944 bolero " Inolvidable", which has been performed by numerous artists.
Biography
Born in Manzanillo (in the current Granma Province) on January 12, 1918, Julio Gutiérrez learned to play the violin and to sing at a very young age. He was six years old when he learned the piano, and fourteen when he founded a local band and became its director.Dalmace, Patrick Julio Gutiérrez ''Montuno Cubano''. In 1940, Orquesta Casino de la Playa was touring the east of Cuba and Miguelito Valdés suggested him to go to Havana where he could thrive as a musician. Months later he moved to the capital, where he became the pianist of Casino de la Playa and composed several hit songs such as the bolero " Inolvidable".
In 1948, he formed his own big band with which he toured Latin America and Spain. This group which was RHC-Cadena Azul's resident band, included prominent musicians such as Alejandro "El Negro" Vivar, Edilberto Escrich, Nilo Argudín, Emilio Peñalver, Rogelio Darias, and Óscar Valdés Sr. After returning to Cuba from his long tour in 1950, Gutiérrez began composing ''bolero-mambos'' and cha-cha-chas. He was appointed musical director of the Channel 4 television, and he accompanied vocal acts such as Rita Montaner, Rosita Fornés, Lucy Fabery, Olga Rivero, Cuarteto Faxas, Dúo Cabrisas-Farach 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 G ...
.
In 1956,
Panart
Panart was one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Cuba, founded in 1944 by engineer Ramón Sabat. In 1961, its studios were seized by Fidel Castro's communist regime and the label was nationalized, becoming "Panart Naci ...
commissioned him the recording of a "descarga", a
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
of Cuban popular music. Despite being conceived as a very commercial project, Panart's ''Cuban Jam Sessions'' under the direction of Julio Gutiérrez, featuring Peruchín on piano and other well-known Cuban musicians, have received widespread critical acclaim. Following his success, artists such as Chico O'Farrill,
Cachao
Israel López Valdés (September 14, 1918 – March 22, 2008), better known as Cachao ( ), was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo (music), mambo and a master of the descarga (improvised ...
and Niño Rivera recorded their own descargas.
In 1960, Julio Gutiérrez fled to México and shortly after he moved to
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, where he recorded a few LPs for labels such as Sirena and Montilla as a leader; he also backed singer Blanca Rosa Gil. He then spent over 20 years in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, recording numerous sessions as a leader, orchestral director and/or pianist. He also founded his own label, J&G. He traveled several times to
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, where he played in hotels and nightclubs. He died in New York on December 15, 1990. Gutiérrez was posthumously inducted into the
International Latin Music Hall of Fame
The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre.
In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the a ...
in 2000.
Discography
*1956: ''Este es el ritmo del cha cha chá'' (Panart) - with Cuarteto Faxas
*1956: ''Cha Cha Cha for Moderns (Fiesta del cha cha cha)'' (Panart; reissued as ''This Is The Rhythm'') - with Cuarteto Faxas
*1956: ''Serenata en cha cha chá'' (Panart) - with Cuarteto Faxas
*1956: ''Cuban Jam Session Vol. 1'' (Panart)
*1957: ''Cuban Jam Session Vol. 2'' (Panart)
*1957: ''Luna de miel en Venecia'' (Panart) - with Pino Baratti
*1959: ''Así es La Habana!'' (Panart)
*1960: ''Una noche inolvidable'' (Panart)
*1964: ''Julio Gutiérrez Play the Exciting Sound of Havana B.C.'' (Sirena)
*1965: ''Get to Know Mr. J.G.'' (Montilla)
*1968: ''Instrumentales para ti'' (Gema)
*1970: ''Progressive Latin'' (Gema)
*1971: ''Julio Gutiérrez and Los Guajiros'' (Gema)
*1978: ''Close Encounters of the Latin Kind'' (Neon)
*1982: ''Viva América Latina'' (Toboga)