WOMAD

Eliades Ochoa

From Cuba

His trademark cowboy hat and penchant for wearing black have led some to dub him 'Cuba's Johnny Cash'. Eliades Ochoa is considered one of the most important Cuban 'soneros' of all time and guardian of traditional Cuban music. His trademark cowboy hat belies the fact that he is a 'Guajiro' (from the countryside), and his musical interests run along this traditional line. His repertoire includes 'son', 'guararcha', 'bolero', 'changüi', and 'Afro-Cuban' music. Eliades has added D and G-strings to his tres (Cuban guitar), to get his distinctive paired-string chime.

He was born in June 1946, in the rural mountain village of Songo La Maya in the Santiago de Cuba Province. Eliades was from a musical family where both his mother and father sang and played tres. Eliades first picked up the tres at the tender age of six. Around the age of eight Eliades moved with his family to Santiago de Cuba, it was then he started singing on the street. Money was scarce and in addition to odd jobs such as selling lottery tickets and cleaning shoes, he helped support his family playing in the cafes and brothels around Santiago.

"I worked as a shoeshine boy by day, and in the night I would play in the ghetto, in the barrio, for tips. I know that in America, the barrio is thought of as a dangerous place, but I was always very happy in the barrio. In Cuba, barrios are just different parts of the city, and every one has its own feel, its own neighbourhood identity." Eliades had no formal education except from the streets of Santiago, "When I pass those places today it all comes back to me vividly. That keeps me going, I get emotional about it still."

In 1963, he was hired by a Santiago radio station as a professional musician. There, he and Raul Valvalru started the Trinchera Agraria band for a radio show of the same name dedicated to the Cuban farmers. The Trinchera Agraria played the 'son', the 'guaracha', and the 'guajira'. It became a family affair with his sister Maria and one of his brothers eventually joining. The show consisted of listeners' letters, requests, details of the revolution's agrarian reform, and specially written décimas. Eliades earned the nickname 'La Voz de Sentimiento' (The Emotional Voice). In 1970, he left the radio station for Troba where he started the Quinteto de la Trova of Miguel Garcia. He went on to play with Quinteto Oriente and the Septeto Típico.
Eliades had become, despite his youth, an experienced singer and musician. His unique harmonic-guitar, which could sound like a tres or like an orthodox guitar, was a trademark. He contributed to the Trova Cubano (a movement of traditional Cuban music), and he became a regular at Santiago's 'Casa de la Trova', "The revolution gave us our own space, a real place for music and I went to sing there. I had a perfect guitar duo with Roberto Rosel, we did a lot of instrumentals as we both loved fast picking."

In 1939, Francisco Coba La O founded his traditional 'son' and 'bolero' group, the Cuarteto Patria. In 1978, Emilia García and founder 'Pancho' Cobas handed it over to Eliades' direction. It was through Eliades that the group modernised its sound, first by adding percussion then later brass.

A degree of international success was achieved at the start of the 1980s when the group toured as part of a Ministry of Culture exchange programme visiting the rest of the Caribbean, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Holland, Nicaragua, Mexico and even the USA. Cuarteto Patria recorded two albums for the Mexican Corason Discos label (run by World Circuit co-founder Mary Farquharson), it was these discs 'A una Coqueta' and 'Se Saltó un León' that were sent to journalists across Europe that helped expose the group to a wider audience.

In 1986 Pancho Cobas introduced Eliades to the veteran singer Compay Segundo, who at that point had pretty much stopped playing and performing, "Compay gave me this cassette of his songs, old and new, and said that if we liked any of them maybe Patria could perform them. That was the first time I heard 'Chan Chan'. What a song! I could see that although he was really rusty, he was still very strong and at the time still had this great voice."

Compay joined Cuarteto Patria seeing a revival in his career; they recorded the album 'Chanchaneando' which featured the original version of 'Chan Chan'. In 1989 they toured the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, and travelled to the US to play at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, joining musicians from around the world in challenging the US cultural blockade on Cuba.

Eliades would be reunited with Compay, when in 1996 World Circuit made their now legendary trip to Havana's Egrem Studios. Indeed, the group that came together was in essence an accident, the original intention had been to make an experimental hybrid record bringing together African and Cuban musicians including Eliades, but the African musicians failed to turn up because of visa problems. Since the Africans were unavailable World Circuit's Nick Gold, American producer Ry Cooder and the bandleader Juan de Marcos González were forced to improvise. Taking musicians from Marcos' Afro Cuban All Stars (whose debut album 'A Toda Cuba le Gusta' was recorded the previous week), and coaxing a number of retired performers back into the studio, the resulting 'Buena Vista Social Club' proved to be an unexpected phenomena changing the lives of everybody involved, "Buena Vista Social Club brought me fame as it sold so many copies so quickly."

In addition to 'Chan Chan', Eliades' contribution to the Buena Vista Social Club sessions included his distinctive guitar playing and his lead vocals on 'El Cuarto de Tula', and his own guajira showcase on 'El Carretero'. The album won a Grammy and has sold over 8 million copies, making it the most successful world music album of all time.

The original line up of the Buena Vista Social Club made only three concert appearances, two at Amsterdam's 'Carré Theatre' and the final legendary show at New York's 'Carnegie Hall'. The latter was filmed by Wim Wenders as the climax of his successful documentary also named "Buena Vista Social Club", and the concert recording was released ten years later as Buena Vista Social Club 'At Carnegie Hall'.

Away from the Buena Vista connection, Eliades recorded the album 'Cubafrica' in 1998 with the great Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango. His 1999 album 'Sublime Ilusión' featured Ry Cooder, David Helgado of 'Los Lobos' and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite. The album was nominated for a Grammy. In 2000 the album 'Tributo a Cuarteto Patria' was also nominated for a Grammy. Eliades' last major release was 'Estoy Como Nunca' in 2002.

Eliades still heads the Cuarteto Patria and continues to tour regularly around the world. He currently lives in Havana where he is preparing a new album.
(Biography supplied by Artist management 2009)

Click here to see Eliades in concert

Eliades Ochoa's » Myspace Page

Eliades Ochoa on