Cortijo

Rafael Cortijo, born Rafael Cortijo Verdejo, elevated the bomba and plena styles rooted in Puerto Rico’s slums to wider acclaim. After bandleader Mario Román retired in 1954, Cortijo inherited the ensemble, renamed it Cortijo y su Combo, and emerged as one of the Caribbean’s most prominent artists throughout the 1950s and ’60s. Among the group’s numerous successes were the tracks “El Bombon de Elena,” “Quitate de la Via,” “Pedro,” “Maquinolandera,” “El Negrito Bembon,” “En un Solo Pie,” “Tuntuneco,” “Con la Punta del Pie,” “Yo No Quiero Piedras en Mi Camino,” and “Saoco.”

Cortijo’s musical path started at age nine when he played bongos fashioned by a cousin from milk tins. Already a master percussionist in his teens, he backed the Matamorsa Trio on broadcasts from radio station WNEL. A working musician since 1942, he honed his craft in groups directed by Monchito Miranda, Coricua Sonant, Miguelito Miranda, Frank Wood, and the Sustache Sisters, while also supporting vocalists Myrta Silva and Miguelito Valdés on radio. He belonged to the Mario Román Combo in the early 1950s and, after assuming leadership in 1954, made decisive personnel shifts: pianist Rafael Ithier replaced the previous keyboardist, and, after initially keeping vocalist Sammy Ayala, Cortijo brought in childhood friend Ismael Rivera the following year.

Guided by Cortijo, the band ascended to the forefront of Puerto Rican music. Beyond dances and festivals, the musicians appeared daily on a popular radio program and in several films, among them the Harry Belafonte vehicle Calypso. At the height of his success in 1962, Cortijo faced arrest on drug charges. During his imprisonment, several band members departed to establish their own ensemble, El Gran Combo. Cortijo and Rivera reunited for the 1967 album Con Todos Los Hierros, yet the eleven original members did not reconvene until the June 25, 1974 concert at San Juan’s Roberto Clemente Coliseum. The resulting live recording, first issued as Juntos Otra Vez, was later reissued as Ismael Rivera Sonero Numero Uno. Although Cortijo accompanied Rivera to New York in an attempt to break into the Latin music market, he soon returned to Puerto Rico.

Cortijo sought to restore his earlier momentum through fresh ventures. He assembled a new group that featured his daughter Fe on vocals and collaborated with Puerto Rican bandleader and percussionist Kako to refresh his classic repertoire. Progress accelerated once trumpet player Elías Lopes and percussionist Roberto Roena joined the lineup in 1969. Despite Motown’s interest in signing the act, talks stalled, prompting Cortijo to create his own imprint, EGC. That choice proved advantageous when his 1974 single “Time Machine” became his last hit.

A defining element of Cortijo’s 1970s band was the dynamic interplay among vocalists Charlie Aponte, Andy Montañez, and Jerry Rivetted. After Montañez departed for Latin Dimension in 1977, Cortijo’s most influential period had ended. He succumbed to cancer of the liver and pancreas in October 1982. Venezuela’s National Film Library documented his funeral, which also inspired Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá’s book Cortijo’s Wake.