José Pablo Valenzuela García (2 March 1859 – 25 December 1926) was a leading Cuban
cornetist
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
.
García was born in
San Antonio de los Baños
San Antonio de los Baños is a municipality and town in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. It is located 26 km from the city of Havana, and the Ariguanabo River runs through it. It was founded in 1802.
History
There are 39 schools in the town, e ...
. After taking his first lessons in music under his father Lucas, he moved to Havana. There he first joined the orchestra of Manuel Espinosa, before joining '' La Flor de Cuba'', the leading band of the day. This had come under the direction of his brother Raimundo after the death of its founder, and at some stage the name was changed to ''Orquesta Valenzuela''.
Raimundo died in his fifties in 1905, after which the band was under Pablo's direction. Now it was possible for Cuban bands to record their music, and the ''Orquesta Valenzuela'' was one of the earliest to take advantage of the opportunity: they recorded about 120 numbers. In 1906 there were 40 recordings on Edison cylinders; in 1909 23 numbers for
Victor Records
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...
.Arhoolie/Folklyric CD 7032 ''The Cuban danzón: before there was jazz: 1905–1929'' offers one more number on Edison cylinders, 1906, and two more on Columbia, 1909. The last recordings were in 1919; there were about 120 numbers in all, most of which were danzones. Of his compositions, some became lasting hits: ''Coco seco'', ''El congo libre'', ''La frita'', ''La niña'', ''La Patti negra'', ''María Teresa'', ''El garrotín''.
The band dispersed after Pablo died, aged 67, in