Richie Blondet
Son Montuno
This THURSDAY morning at 10am, History will be made as the corner of Dawson St. and Intervale will be re-named after ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ.
The most important figure in Afro Cuban Music history of the 20th Century had been forgotten and erased by new story tellers and revisionists who were quick to give credit to others for creating the Mambo. But the true creator of 'Mambo', the Son Montuno and the Guaguanco-Son is ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ.
A sleeping giant has awakened. Que Viva Arsenio!!!
Date: Thursday June 6th 2013
Time: 10:00am until 12:30pm.
Location: Dawson Street & Intervale Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
The City of New York, the Bronx Community Board #2, and the South Bronx Culture Trail Celebrate the Naming of a Street in the South Bronx to Honor the Musical Legacy of Arsenio Rodriguez
Ceremony includes messages by Hon. Maria del Carmen Arroyo; NYC Councilwoman; Arsenio Rodriguez’s family members; Sarah Calderon, Executive Director, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education; Larry Harlow and Bobby Sanabria, Grammy Award Nominees; Albert Luis Quinones, Founder and Chair of 52 People For Progress, Inc.; Henry Medina, Music Collector; José Rafael Mendez Jr., Project Organizer; and other guests.
(Bronx, NY, May 29, 2013) The City of New York, the Bronx Community Board #2, and the South Bronx Culture Trail will celebrate the street dedication and unveiling of the Arsenio Rodriguez Way on Thursday, June 6, at 10:00 am at Dawson Street, between Intervale and Longwood avenues in the South Bronx. Following the street dedication ceremony, a reception will take place at Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, located at 928 Simpson Street, Bronx. This event is free and open to everyone.
“If Arsenio Rodriguez - affectionately known as “El Ciego Maravilloso (“The Blind Marvel”)- had lived to see the day that a street in the Bronx was named after him, he would have probably written a song about it as he did when he wrote the lyrics and music to his song “La Gente del Bronx” (“The People of the Bronx”)”, explained Jose Rafael Mendez, organizer of the Arsenio Rodriguez street dedication ceremony..
Arsenio Rodriguez (Aug. 30, 1911 – Dec. 30, 1970) was a Cuban musician of Congolese ancestry who became a trans-formative figure for Salsa Music. Born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull, he is recognized and credited by music historians as a revolutionary figure in Salsa music. He was one of the founders of the conjunto style of Cuban music by adding keyboards, harmonized brass and the conga drums (which at the time where controversially forbidden) into the Latin music lineup in the 1940s.
Accidentally blinded in his youth, he established his fame in his native Cuba prior to immigrating to The Bronx in the 1950’s. He inspired generations of musicians and dancers with his musical innovations and compositions in local night clubs like The Tropicana, The Hunts Point Palace and Club Cubano Inter-Americano, as well as the Palladium and Park Plaza/Palace in Manhattan.
The street dedication ceremony serves as the culmination of a series of collaborative programs and events that started in 2012 to pay tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez was buried on January 6, 1971 in Hartsdale, N.Y. his gravesite remained without a tombstone until last spring. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of a group of dedicated New York fans of Puerto Rican ancestry and in particular to the generosity of Larry Harlow, “El Judio Maravilloso” (“The Marvelous Jew”), Rodriguez now has a bronze memorial.
On August 29, 2012, as part of the South Bronx Culture Trail, Casita Maria and Dancing in the Streets collaborated with 52 People For Progress, Inc. to present a concert in honor of Rodriguez at 52 Park. This concert was part of the long running 52 Latin Jazz Concert Series. The event reunited Rodriguez’s daughter and granddaughter, Regla Maria Travieso Montesino and Nizta Jacinta Crucet Travieso, (from Cuba) with their cousins Xiomara and Lazaro Travieso (from The Bronx). Hon. Carmen E. Arroyo, New York State Assemblywoman, and Hon. Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, New York City Councilwoman, presented proclamations from the State and City of New York to Rodriguez’s family in recognition of his contributions to the community’s culture and musical heritage. A film crew documented the occasion to be included in the documentary The Legend of Arsenio, directed by Rolando Almirante, and produced by Tony Pinelli and EGREM.
The Caribbean Cultural Center in association with the 12th Annual New York International Salsa Congress hosted an extravaganza at the New York Hilton last Labor Day weekend in tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez with concerts, exhibitions, panel discussions, dances, and music collector’s market.
“By honoring one of the salsa’s foremost founding fathers with a street dedication, The Bronx can now truly claim to be “El Condado de la Salsa” (“The Borough of Salsa”). We look forward to having the Arsenio Rodriguez Way featured in the South Bronx Culture Trail and The Bronx Culture Trolley tours,” explained Jose Rafael Mendez.
For more information about the Arsenio Rodriguez Way street dedication ceremony, please contact Aisha Jordan at 718-589-2230 x6193 or send an email to [email protected].
The most important figure in Afro Cuban Music history of the 20th Century had been forgotten and erased by new story tellers and revisionists who were quick to give credit to others for creating the Mambo. But the true creator of 'Mambo', the Son Montuno and the Guaguanco-Son is ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ.
A sleeping giant has awakened. Que Viva Arsenio!!!
Date: Thursday June 6th 2013
Time: 10:00am until 12:30pm.
Location: Dawson Street & Intervale Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
The City of New York, the Bronx Community Board #2, and the South Bronx Culture Trail Celebrate the Naming of a Street in the South Bronx to Honor the Musical Legacy of Arsenio Rodriguez
Ceremony includes messages by Hon. Maria del Carmen Arroyo; NYC Councilwoman; Arsenio Rodriguez’s family members; Sarah Calderon, Executive Director, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education; Larry Harlow and Bobby Sanabria, Grammy Award Nominees; Albert Luis Quinones, Founder and Chair of 52 People For Progress, Inc.; Henry Medina, Music Collector; José Rafael Mendez Jr., Project Organizer; and other guests.
(Bronx, NY, May 29, 2013) The City of New York, the Bronx Community Board #2, and the South Bronx Culture Trail will celebrate the street dedication and unveiling of the Arsenio Rodriguez Way on Thursday, June 6, at 10:00 am at Dawson Street, between Intervale and Longwood avenues in the South Bronx. Following the street dedication ceremony, a reception will take place at Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, located at 928 Simpson Street, Bronx. This event is free and open to everyone.
“If Arsenio Rodriguez - affectionately known as “El Ciego Maravilloso (“The Blind Marvel”)- had lived to see the day that a street in the Bronx was named after him, he would have probably written a song about it as he did when he wrote the lyrics and music to his song “La Gente del Bronx” (“The People of the Bronx”)”, explained Jose Rafael Mendez, organizer of the Arsenio Rodriguez street dedication ceremony..
Arsenio Rodriguez (Aug. 30, 1911 – Dec. 30, 1970) was a Cuban musician of Congolese ancestry who became a trans-formative figure for Salsa Music. Born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull, he is recognized and credited by music historians as a revolutionary figure in Salsa music. He was one of the founders of the conjunto style of Cuban music by adding keyboards, harmonized brass and the conga drums (which at the time where controversially forbidden) into the Latin music lineup in the 1940s.
Accidentally blinded in his youth, he established his fame in his native Cuba prior to immigrating to The Bronx in the 1950’s. He inspired generations of musicians and dancers with his musical innovations and compositions in local night clubs like The Tropicana, The Hunts Point Palace and Club Cubano Inter-Americano, as well as the Palladium and Park Plaza/Palace in Manhattan.
The street dedication ceremony serves as the culmination of a series of collaborative programs and events that started in 2012 to pay tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez was buried on January 6, 1971 in Hartsdale, N.Y. his gravesite remained without a tombstone until last spring. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of a group of dedicated New York fans of Puerto Rican ancestry and in particular to the generosity of Larry Harlow, “El Judio Maravilloso” (“The Marvelous Jew”), Rodriguez now has a bronze memorial.
On August 29, 2012, as part of the South Bronx Culture Trail, Casita Maria and Dancing in the Streets collaborated with 52 People For Progress, Inc. to present a concert in honor of Rodriguez at 52 Park. This concert was part of the long running 52 Latin Jazz Concert Series. The event reunited Rodriguez’s daughter and granddaughter, Regla Maria Travieso Montesino and Nizta Jacinta Crucet Travieso, (from Cuba) with their cousins Xiomara and Lazaro Travieso (from The Bronx). Hon. Carmen E. Arroyo, New York State Assemblywoman, and Hon. Maria Del Carmen Arroyo, New York City Councilwoman, presented proclamations from the State and City of New York to Rodriguez’s family in recognition of his contributions to the community’s culture and musical heritage. A film crew documented the occasion to be included in the documentary The Legend of Arsenio, directed by Rolando Almirante, and produced by Tony Pinelli and EGREM.
The Caribbean Cultural Center in association with the 12th Annual New York International Salsa Congress hosted an extravaganza at the New York Hilton last Labor Day weekend in tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez with concerts, exhibitions, panel discussions, dances, and music collector’s market.
“By honoring one of the salsa’s foremost founding fathers with a street dedication, The Bronx can now truly claim to be “El Condado de la Salsa” (“The Borough of Salsa”). We look forward to having the Arsenio Rodriguez Way featured in the South Bronx Culture Trail and The Bronx Culture Trolley tours,” explained Jose Rafael Mendez.
For more information about the Arsenio Rodriguez Way street dedication ceremony, please contact Aisha Jordan at 718-589-2230 x6193 or send an email to [email protected].
