07 Sep
Today we share a short biography of Héctor Lavoe and the song “El Cantante” Great work composed by Rubén Blades and Willie Colón that, thanks to this song, Héctor began to be known as “the singer of the singers”. The lyrics summarize like few others the life of the Puerto Rican artist.
About Hector Lavoe
The singer-songwriter and music producer, Héctor Lavoe was born into a humble family on September 30, 1946, in Puerto Rico, at the age of three he lost his mother; it would be the first of many emotional blows in the singer's life. His father, who played guitar with local trios and orchestras, gave musical instruction to Héctor, who at a very young age enrolled in the Juan Morel Campos School of Music, where he studied solfeggio and saxophone, but soon felt that singing was for him.
Trip to New York and beginnings in music (1963-1966)
Hector had a dream of singing in New York, Hector left for New York where he arrived on May 3, 1963 at the age of 16, where he went to live with his older sister Priscilla.
Stage with Willie Colón y su orquesta (1967-1974)
Since his beginnings in music, Héctor Lavoe recorded a total of eleven albums alongside Willie Colón, including the last two albums, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1975) and Vigilante (1983).
By 1988, Lavoe continued to give concerts despite his personal problems, in order to promote his album Strikes Back, which was nominated for a Grammy Award, although months later he was unable to win it.
Voice characteristics
Characteristic of Lavoe's voice was his natural nasality, which he did not fake when singing. Another aspect was the brightness in his voice and how clean it was: it did not sound raspy or dull. In addition, he possessed great singing strength, which gave a strong character to his interpretations. He also had a very efficient handling of his vocal register, which ranged from A2 (as can be appreciated in some live versions of «La Murga de Panamá», while playing the melody of the trombones), to A4 (which can be appreciated in the bolero «Tanto como ayer» and «La retirada») He had a common baritone register, of two octaves, between “A2” and “A4”, with a tessitura that made it easy for him to play his high notes. He also possessed a diction that gave him the quality of singing long and fast phrasing with great clarity and good emission, which allowed the listener to understand what he was singing.
The Singer (1978)
Here we share the song “El Cantante” Great work composed by Rubén Blades and Willie Colón, thanks to this song Héctor began to be known as “the singer of the singers”. The lyrics summarize like few others the life of the Puerto Rican artist.
