Biography
Orquesta Revé, formerly billed as El Charangón de Elito Revé, ranks among the most consequential ensembles in the annals of Cuban music. Timbalero, composer and arranger Elio Revé Matos (1930-1997), widely revered as the Father of Salsa, established the ensemble during the mid-1950s; over the ensuing decades it functioned as an academy for seven successive generations of players, among them pianist Chucho Valdes and singer Ibrahim Ferrer. Ritmo Oriental, Los Van Van, Los Dan Den and Los 440 all trace their origins to musicians who had previously performed in Revé’s ensembles. The group’s distinctive style fused the urban son that flourished before the revolution with the rural changüí traditions of eastern Cuba, deploying hand drums, additional percussion, violins, horns, guitars, tres, flutes and voices in an innovative framework for dance repertoire. Dozens of albums followed, beginning with the 1968 release De Habana a Lima Con la Orquesta Revé. Real World, Peter Gabriel’s imprint, subsequently licensed 1987’s La Explosion Del Momento for worldwide distribution. The musicians undertook repeated international tours. Although Elio Revé perished in a 1997 automobile collision, leadership passed to his son, and Elito Revé Jr. y Su Charangón issued successive recordings that upheld the ensemble’s legacy while incorporating contemporary touches, as heard on the 2022 album Evolucion 6.5.
Elio Revé Matos entered the world in the rural hamlet of Baracoa within Cuba’s eastern Guantánamo province. He took up the timbales while still a child and, as a teenager, turned professional, performing with changüí ensembles even as he developed an intense fascination with the urban son styles broadcast from Havana. At twenty-five he relocated to the capital and began embedding himself in its musical circles. In 1956 he founded Elio Revé y Su Ritmo Changüí, the earliest iteration of Orquesta Revé. Club and festival engagements materialized promptly, and the band issued the 1958 singles Como Pita El Camión and Se Va Pa’l Monte, both of which received radio exposure. Later that same year the entire group departed en masse to establish Ritmo Oriental.
Revé was compelled to reconstitute the outfit from scratch. Concentrating on extending changüí’s reach and fusing it with son, the now-seasoned ensemble secured a contract with Egrem. Juan Formell, later a founding member of Los Van Van, joined in 1968 as musical director. He promptly introduced an orchestrated, electric pop aesthetic reminiscent of Anglo productions by Petula Clark and Lulu. Singles from this period elevated the band’s profile. The four-track Changüí 68 EP, composed entirely by Formell, yielded the radio successes El Martes and Qué Bolá Qué Bolón. A second EP released the same year, Tu Amor y El Sol, produced the hit Fifí, Teté Y Popó.
Formell exited in 1970, prompting a return to a more conventional charanga palette on several 45s. The proper debut long-player, De Habana a Lima Con la Orquesta Revé, appeared in 1971 and earned widespread acclaim throughout Latin America on the strength of the couplings La Batea b/w Dominga and Todo Es Nuevo b/w La Ultima Canción. Charanga Con Funky dominated Cuban airwaves in 1973 and found favor across the Caribbean with its soul-inflected pop charanga. The band concluded its initial pop-oriented phase with the 1974 album Orquesta Revé as its leader began exploring fresh textures and instrumentation.
Elito Revé y Su Ritmo Changüí, issued in 1980, first illustrated the timeless synthesis of modern and traditional, rural and urban elements that would define Orquesta Revé; bongos, tres and three trombones augmented the standard charanga configuration, prompting critics to coin the term charangón. Largely arranged by pianist Manolo Coipel, who also contributed several compositions, the set delivered energetic dance numbers such as Negra Con Pelo, Matingo and Mi Changüí while scoring a hit with the ballad A Mí. Extensive touring ensued over the following years, accompanied by further personnel shifts. Rumberos Latinoamericanos surfaced in 1985; under the direction of pianist and arranger Juan Carlos Alfonso, more than half its tracks were issued as singles, among them the propulsive Ruñidera and Sé Que Tú Sabes Que Yo Sé.
A 1986 world tour carried the group through Europe and the Americas. The following year they released their best-known album, La Explosión Del Momento, which Real World Records licensed and distributed internationally. The musicians traveled to England for the Real World Festival, where they performed and recorded alongside artists from numerous countries. De Nuevo, a 1988 collection of re-recordings, included an eight-song medley composed by Cuban vice president Juan Almeida. ¡Que Cuento Es Ese!, issued in 1989, marked the final album directed and arranged by Alfonso before his departure to form Los Dan Den; its tracks La Gente No Se Puede Aguantar, Más Viejo Que Ayer Má Joven Que Mañana, the title cut and ¡Que Te Importa A Tí all received airplay in Cuba and the Caribbean.
Pianist and arranger Antonio Gómez assumed Alfonso’s role for 1990’s Suave Suave, which achieved success in South America and Canada through the title track and Anda y Recógela. The band toured extensively outside the United States in support. Papá Eleguá, released in 1993, was the last album to feature Revé himself; his son Elio Revé, Jr. contributed piano while Reyner Ardiles handled arrangements, and the hits Changui Maria and Pupú Chan Chan quickly became performance staples. The 1994 single Suave, Suavito addressed circulating Havana rumors of the bandleader’s impending death. On 23 July 1997, however, he died in a sudden accident while on tour.
His son perpetuated the ensemble’s history under the name Elito Revé Jr y Su Charangón. Changüí en la Casa de Nora appeared in 1999, and the group embarked on global jazz-festival circuits. The traditional title track, the incendiary Soy Revé and Muévete Pa’ Qui demonstrated the continued strength of their writing and arranging. Changüí Homenaje 45 Años presented updated, up-tempo renditions of catalog standards framed in contemporary charts and production values, selling briskly in South America and Europe. In 2005 the band issued both the studio album Se Sigue Comentando and the live recording Con la Mano en la Masa. With new bassist and musical director Aisar Hernández they released two further albums in 2007: Fresquecito became an international success after its title-track single, Hernández’s La Viuda and a fresh version of the forty-year-old El Martes all reached the charts. En Concierto followed on DVD at year’s end.
¿De Qué Estamos Hablando?, issued in 2010, juxtaposed revisited classics such as Ya Sé Cantar, Ya Sé Bailar and La Boda En Bicicleta with new compositions including Elegia a Elio Revé Matos, a tribute to the founder, and featured guest appearances by pianist and former member Chucho Valdés together with vocalist Kola Loka. La Aplanadora De Cuba, containing both new and reinterpreted material, surfaced in 2014 yet registered only inside Cuba’s Top Ten. Elito Revé Jr. y Su Charangón maintained an active schedule across Latin America and Europe while continuing to perform throughout Cuba. The 2016 release La Salsa Tiene Mi Son, widely praised for its kinetic energy, secured airplay and touring opportunities in the continental United States, Canada and Mexico and charted throughout the Caribbean. Its title-track single Yo Me Muero en La Habana garnered global attention in 2018 and was succeeded by the star-studded Uea! in 2019, which included guest vocalists El Micha, El Nene and Ronald Gonzalez and reached number three on Cuban charts. In February 2022 the ensemble issued Evolucion 6.5 to commemorate sixty-five years of uninterrupted activity; the album adopted a modern sonic palette of lush trombones, layered percussion, multi-tracked tres and choral vocals rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions. El Domino and Maria Belen charted owing to their intricate rhythmic shifts, while the reworking of 1989’s Mas Viejo Que Hier evoked the band’s storied past.
Elio Revé Matos entered the world in the rural hamlet of Baracoa within Cuba’s eastern Guantánamo province. He took up the timbales while still a child and, as a teenager, turned professional, performing with changüí ensembles even as he developed an intense fascination with the urban son styles broadcast from Havana. At twenty-five he relocated to the capital and began embedding himself in its musical circles. In 1956 he founded Elio Revé y Su Ritmo Changüí, the earliest iteration of Orquesta Revé. Club and festival engagements materialized promptly, and the band issued the 1958 singles Como Pita El Camión and Se Va Pa’l Monte, both of which received radio exposure. Later that same year the entire group departed en masse to establish Ritmo Oriental.
Revé was compelled to reconstitute the outfit from scratch. Concentrating on extending changüí’s reach and fusing it with son, the now-seasoned ensemble secured a contract with Egrem. Juan Formell, later a founding member of Los Van Van, joined in 1968 as musical director. He promptly introduced an orchestrated, electric pop aesthetic reminiscent of Anglo productions by Petula Clark and Lulu. Singles from this period elevated the band’s profile. The four-track Changüí 68 EP, composed entirely by Formell, yielded the radio successes El Martes and Qué Bolá Qué Bolón. A second EP released the same year, Tu Amor y El Sol, produced the hit Fifí, Teté Y Popó.
Formell exited in 1970, prompting a return to a more conventional charanga palette on several 45s. The proper debut long-player, De Habana a Lima Con la Orquesta Revé, appeared in 1971 and earned widespread acclaim throughout Latin America on the strength of the couplings La Batea b/w Dominga and Todo Es Nuevo b/w La Ultima Canción. Charanga Con Funky dominated Cuban airwaves in 1973 and found favor across the Caribbean with its soul-inflected pop charanga. The band concluded its initial pop-oriented phase with the 1974 album Orquesta Revé as its leader began exploring fresh textures and instrumentation.
Elito Revé y Su Ritmo Changüí, issued in 1980, first illustrated the timeless synthesis of modern and traditional, rural and urban elements that would define Orquesta Revé; bongos, tres and three trombones augmented the standard charanga configuration, prompting critics to coin the term charangón. Largely arranged by pianist Manolo Coipel, who also contributed several compositions, the set delivered energetic dance numbers such as Negra Con Pelo, Matingo and Mi Changüí while scoring a hit with the ballad A Mí. Extensive touring ensued over the following years, accompanied by further personnel shifts. Rumberos Latinoamericanos surfaced in 1985; under the direction of pianist and arranger Juan Carlos Alfonso, more than half its tracks were issued as singles, among them the propulsive Ruñidera and Sé Que Tú Sabes Que Yo Sé.
A 1986 world tour carried the group through Europe and the Americas. The following year they released their best-known album, La Explosión Del Momento, which Real World Records licensed and distributed internationally. The musicians traveled to England for the Real World Festival, where they performed and recorded alongside artists from numerous countries. De Nuevo, a 1988 collection of re-recordings, included an eight-song medley composed by Cuban vice president Juan Almeida. ¡Que Cuento Es Ese!, issued in 1989, marked the final album directed and arranged by Alfonso before his departure to form Los Dan Den; its tracks La Gente No Se Puede Aguantar, Más Viejo Que Ayer Má Joven Que Mañana, the title cut and ¡Que Te Importa A Tí all received airplay in Cuba and the Caribbean.
Pianist and arranger Antonio Gómez assumed Alfonso’s role for 1990’s Suave Suave, which achieved success in South America and Canada through the title track and Anda y Recógela. The band toured extensively outside the United States in support. Papá Eleguá, released in 1993, was the last album to feature Revé himself; his son Elio Revé, Jr. contributed piano while Reyner Ardiles handled arrangements, and the hits Changui Maria and Pupú Chan Chan quickly became performance staples. The 1994 single Suave, Suavito addressed circulating Havana rumors of the bandleader’s impending death. On 23 July 1997, however, he died in a sudden accident while on tour.
His son perpetuated the ensemble’s history under the name Elito Revé Jr y Su Charangón. Changüí en la Casa de Nora appeared in 1999, and the group embarked on global jazz-festival circuits. The traditional title track, the incendiary Soy Revé and Muévete Pa’ Qui demonstrated the continued strength of their writing and arranging. Changüí Homenaje 45 Años presented updated, up-tempo renditions of catalog standards framed in contemporary charts and production values, selling briskly in South America and Europe. In 2005 the band issued both the studio album Se Sigue Comentando and the live recording Con la Mano en la Masa. With new bassist and musical director Aisar Hernández they released two further albums in 2007: Fresquecito became an international success after its title-track single, Hernández’s La Viuda and a fresh version of the forty-year-old El Martes all reached the charts. En Concierto followed on DVD at year’s end.
¿De Qué Estamos Hablando?, issued in 2010, juxtaposed revisited classics such as Ya Sé Cantar, Ya Sé Bailar and La Boda En Bicicleta with new compositions including Elegia a Elio Revé Matos, a tribute to the founder, and featured guest appearances by pianist and former member Chucho Valdés together with vocalist Kola Loka. La Aplanadora De Cuba, containing both new and reinterpreted material, surfaced in 2014 yet registered only inside Cuba’s Top Ten. Elito Revé Jr. y Su Charangón maintained an active schedule across Latin America and Europe while continuing to perform throughout Cuba. The 2016 release La Salsa Tiene Mi Son, widely praised for its kinetic energy, secured airplay and touring opportunities in the continental United States, Canada and Mexico and charted throughout the Caribbean. Its title-track single Yo Me Muero en La Habana garnered global attention in 2018 and was succeeded by the star-studded Uea! in 2019, which included guest vocalists El Micha, El Nene and Ronald Gonzalez and reached number three on Cuban charts. In February 2022 the ensemble issued Evolucion 6.5 to commemorate sixty-five years of uninterrupted activity; the album adopted a modern sonic palette of lush trombones, layered percussion, multi-tracked tres and choral vocals rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions. El Domino and Maria Belen charted owing to their intricate rhythmic shifts, while the reworking of 1989’s Mas Viejo Que Hier evoked the band’s storied past.
Albums
