Guillermo Portabales - Biography
By J Poet
Cuban singer, guitarist and songwriter Guillermo Portabales who helped transform the guajira, a folkloric rhythm associated with poor working class farmers and peasants into a high art form. His melancholy, but highly poetic lyrics and splendid guitar work made him a favorite throughout Latin America and Africa. His style, la guajira de salon, was as European as it was Cuban, with a great level of musical and lyrical sophistication. His music is still popular especially in West Africa; bands like Africando, Etoile 2000 and Orchestra Baobab have all covered his famous composition “El Carretero.”
José Guillermo Quesada del Castillo was born in 1911. When his father died, his mother married Andrés Portabales who gave José Guillermo his name. He was already singing and playing guitar at 11, and working as a printer’s apprentice, which was his lifelong vocation. When he was 17, he made an appearance on radio station CMHI, and from then on he divided his time between printing books and singing.
He started as a singer of Cuban folkloric music - canción, tango, bolero, and son, as well as guajira – but his listeners loved his singing of guajira best. He began composing his own guajiras, with an emphasis on melody, lyrical finesse and his emotional singing. He was a local favorite throughout eastern Cuba and in 1936 was hired by the Tapia Theatre in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of the songs he sang there, “Compay Gallo” by Nico Saquito, was a huge hit. He recorded it in Cuba during his first session for Egrem, Cuba’s national record company. It’s included on the reissue Original Egrem Studio Session (2001 Sonodisc France.)
Portabales stayed in Puerto Rico for two years performing in theatres, clubs and on radio. He married Arah Mina López, a reporter for the magazine Somos in 1939 and toured in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and the US. “El Carretero” homage to the hard working Cuban peasants is also on Original Egrem Studio Session.
Portabales returned to Havana in 1940 appearing on stage, radio and record with the Trio Matamoros. In 1950 he toured Mexico with Luis Carbonell and Rita Montaner. Rey de La Guajira de Salon (1999 Sonodisc France) collects some of their sessions. He also recorded songs with Los Guaracheros de Oriente. Songs from those sessions are included on El Carretero (1996 World Circuit.)
Portabales moved to Puerto Rico in 1953; sang in clubs and theatres, made records and until he was hit by a car after a gig at La Palma restaurant in 1970. His music is featured on the compilations Al vaiven de mi carreta 1937 – 1943 (2004 Tumbao Cuban Classics UK), Promesas de un Campesino (2004 Tumbao Cuban Classics UK), Aquellas Lindas Melodias (1999 Sonodisc France), Rey de La Guajira de Salon (1999 Sonodisc France), Viva Portabales (1999 Gema Puerto Rico) Habana Rumba (2000 International Music), recordings with Trio Matamoros, and Amorosa Guajira (2000 International Music), cut with his own Cunjunto Typico Alburada.
