Rosendo Ruiz Suárez (1 March 1885 – 1 January 1983) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer, considered one of the founders of the

trova ''Trova'' is a style of Music of Cuba, Cuban popular music originating in the 19th century. Trova was created by itinerant musicians known as ''trovadores'' who travelled around Cuba's Oriente Province, Oriente province, especially Santiago de Cu ...

. He wrote over 200 songs in a variety of styles ranging from

canción ''Canción'' ("song") is a popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. p42 Its roots lie in Spanish popular song forms, including tiranas, P ...

and

bolero 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 h ...

to guajira and

bambuco Bambuco is a traditional music genre from Colombia. Its metric structure is similar to the European waltz or polska (not to be confused with the polka). Typically a bambuco piece is accompanied by a stylized group dance in either a or meter. ...

. Although he was a popular performer, founding several successful groups, he made very few recordings. He lived for almost a century, having a great influence on the music of his country.

Career

Rosendo Ruiz Suárez was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

on 1 March 1885. He became a tailor, but soon became interested in music. Like

Sindo Garay Sindo Garay (born Antonio Gumersindo Garay García; Santiago de Cuba, 12 April 1867 – Havana, 17 July 1968) was a Cuban trova musician. He was taught by Pepe Sánchez. Garay was one of the ''four greats of the trova''. He was of Spanish a ...

, Ruiz had a humble background and he taught himself the guitar. Pepe Sánchez gave him lessons to improve his guitar technique and took him into a group of musicians who were brightening up ''fiestas'' for wealthy whites in the environs of Santiago de Cuba. Short of money, he moved first to

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

, then to

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.Teatro Martí in his first professional performance. The first recording of a composition by Ruiz was Maria Teresa Vera's and

Rafael Zequeira Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

's 1914 rendition of "Tere y Gela". The duo would go on to record many of Ruiz's songs, sometimes accompanied by Manuel Corona on guitar: "Rosina y Virginia" (also known as "Dos lindas rosas"), "Confesión", "Naturaleza", "Encanto de Estela", "Patria y honor", "Violeta", "Mi Cuba bella", "Llanto del corazón" and "Cuba aliada". In 1917 he composed his socialist anthem, "Redención", which premiered on 1 May 1919 (

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

) at the

Teatro Payret Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band membe ...

in Havana. In 1918, José Castillo and Manuel Luna recorded one of his most famous songs, "Falso juramento". In 1926 he founded the Cuarteto Cuba with Vitaliano Matas (lead guitar), Eusebio Corzo (vocals) and Rafael Ruiz (lead vocals). In 1929 he founded the Trío Habana with Emilio Betancourt and Enrique Hernández, making several recordings for

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History 1916–1929 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing ...

the same year. In 1929 he was bestowed an honorary award at

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Ibero-American Exposition The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (; ) was a world's fair held in Seville, Spain, from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930. Countries in attendance of the exposition included: Portugal, the United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, C ...

. In 1932, the

Cuarteto Machín Cuarteto (), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a musical genre born in Córdoba, Argentina. The roots of the cuarteto ensemble are in Italian and Spanish dance ensembles. The name was coined because the early dance-hall numbers were invariably ...

recorded 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 ...

his famous guajira "Junto a un cañaveral", and

Julio Cueva Julio Cueva ( Trinidad, Cuba, 12 April 1897 – Havana, 25 December 1975) was a Cuban trumpeter, composer and band leader. He was an important figure in the spread of Cuban popular music in the 1930s. Life and career Cueva played cornet in the l ...

's orchestra recorded his

pregón Pregón, a Spanish word meaning ''announcement'' or ''street-seller's cry'', has a particular meaning in both Music of Cuba, Cuban music and Latin American music in general. It can be translated as ''a song based on a street-seller's cry'' or '' ...

"Se va el dulcerito" in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1936 he formed the Trío Azul in Havana with Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe and Enrique Valls, who came as a duo from Santiago. They had a hit with "Bilongo" (also known as "La negra Tomasa"), a composition by Rodríguez Fiffe. In 1937 they recorded a single for Victor: "La comparsa Malaco" / "Solavaya". He wrote a guitar manual which ran into several editions, and was a president of the ''Forum de la Trova'' (1967). His son, Rosendo Ruiz Quevedo, known as Rosendo Ruiz Jr., also became a musician and one of Cuba's most prolific composers. Ruiz died on 1 January 1983 in Havana, Cuba aged 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Rosendo 1885 births 1983 deaths Cuban male guitarists Cuban composers Cuban male composers 20th-century Cuban guitarists 20th-century Cuban male singers Cuban male musicians