Compay Segundo
Cuba's Finest
by David Oancia Prieto

Dressed in an impeccable worsted wool jacket, a spanking new Panama hat, and with an aromatic example of Cuba's finest dangling from his lips, Don Francisco Repilado, a.k.a. Compay Segundo, has the world at his feet. His latest disc, Calle Salud, has been riding the Spanish charts for quite some time. At the festivities to celebrate Tenerife's patron saint, 200,000 people waited until 4:30 a.m. to hear him play – not bad for a 92-year-old youngster. In the following day's press conference, Repilado proved to be an extremely ingratiating host, the picture of Cuban grace and charm. With a plethora of stories, anecdotes and crowd-pleasing banter spilling forth, he played out his seductive techniques.

Equally enticing was the concert he gave a few months ago in Madrid's Colegio de Medicos, one of the most beautiful 17th-century venues this Iberian city has to offer. He filled the hall with an overflowing passion and an energy that most 20-somethings would have a hard time keeping up with. Lasting over two hours, he zigzagged between his newer material and old-time hits, driving home his love of the stage. It was a wonderful, if not downright touching, experience to witness the power this man exudes.

During the followup interview, though, the showman aspect is kept to a minimum. He arrives with two shot glasses and a bottle of Havana Club (an exquisite Cuban rum) and proceeds to pour two tragos. Reclining in the nondescript conference room of his Spanish record label, he fields questions with aplomb, humor, and generosity, but it is all imbued with something missing from the press conference: thoughtfulness. Slightly hard of hearing in his left ear ("A speaker deafened me in a show a few years back," he explains.), his love of music shines through. When he talks of his beloved Cuban music, the instrument he developed, the armonico, and the voice that he gives it, it becomes obvious why he's considered one of the genre's intellectuals. For even though he plays up the traditional music aspect, most Cubans will remember him for his innovations. "I started out playing music on the streets," said Repilado. "But I also became a music teacher. I studied classical music; I learned to play clarinet. I played it for the Municipal Band of Santiago de Cuba. This means that my music doesn't have the usual folk sound because it also contains classical elements."

Calle Salud, with the surprising addition of clarinet arrangements harkening back to his school days, resounds with the same qualities that made the concert such an event. First, how beautifully peaceful the son can be in his hands; the sly romanticism and picaresque humor of the songs are perfectly captured by his downright sensual voice. It exudes the kind of grace, easy charm, and sexiness without ever resorting to crassness. "I'm from the romantic period," he said with a mischievous grin. "You know what it's like to fall in love with a woman. Well, in the old days men used to serenade the women. It used to happen at midnight. At first the family wouldn't open the door or turn on the light; they would wait for the bolero. When they heard it, not only the house, but the entire neighborhood would turn on the lights, because everybody knew somebody was being serenaded. Then the family would open the door and invite you into the house. Those are the experiences that have really influenced me, they were such beautiful events."

This is an excerpt. Read the full article in Dirty Linen #86 (Feb/Mar '00).