Havana, Cuba. - Alberto Ruiz was a natural bolero singer. Many are unaware that singers like Roberto Faz, Fernando Alvarez and other stars of bolero are heirs of a singer named Alberto Ruiz (Havana 1913-1978). He was a natural bolero singer, very creative, who set standards in the singing style.
The singer and orchestra conductor was born in Havana. He began in typical groups, such as La Fantasia and Raimundo Pia. Later on, he founded his own ensemble, Kubavana.
Ruiz built his fame – in Jordy Pujol’s words - especially on the style he developed singing boleros. However, thanks to his great qualities as a singer, he also became a great Sonero, also successful as guaracha singer. During the second half of the 1940’s, Kubavana ensemble shared the public’s acceptance with two other very popular Cuban groups: Arsenio Rodriguez’s and Conjunto Casino.
Kubavana, led by Alberto Ruiz, played eight years at the Zombie Club, Havana’s most famous nightclub in the 1940’s. They appeared on the radio and throughout the country. They recorded anthological phonograms, worth-studying by experts and singers.
Senen Suarez recalls having watched Kubavana at the Zombie Club many times. The facility had a revolving stage, where he alternated with Adolfo Guzman's orchestra.
Alberto Ruiz’s voice
Cristobal Diaz-Ayala thinks Alberto created the style of ensemble singers, who later triumphed in their solo careers. Senen Suarez claims Alberto had a special repertoire and a little voice that he placed finely, in a romantic way. “Loose women" loved that voice, as well as the great public. Helio Orovio explained it this way:
“His was a little voice, but well-pitched, very pleasant to hear. He had a very broad range though, very flexible, ductile. He placed it superbly and his general vocal handling was perfect. His diction and phrasing were flawless, absolutely tuned, and his melodious style had a remarkable expressive strength. He excelled in guaracha, and urban Havana Son, but wrote unforgettable pages in bolero, He sang a very tasty type of bolero. His line of work was close to the crooner, but fortunately he did not become one. Panamanian singer Camilo Rodriguez, who lived for a while in Santiago de Cuba, also moved along that line. He was a precursor in the way of saying songs, conversationally, declamatorily. He opened the path towards the colloquial singing style. He was, therefore, a forerunner of Feeling. He paved the way for bolero singers in the Feeling style of Cuban music ensembles. He made art in a rubato fashion, since he never sounded untrue or recherché. He was a founder in many fields of our popular music. Most vocal singers followed his footsteps. Before him, there was a lyrical, affected way, influenced by schematic tenors. Alberto went further than those tenors, than US troubadours and crooners. He was altogether different. He followed another path, with that special lilt, that Cuban flair. Behind his style lies black rhythms, fused with the tempo of bolero, in the Cuban melodic sense; a classic style in the way of singing bolero.”
Based on Alberto’s creative qualities, Helio Orovio proved the former’s influence on Roberto Faz, who shaped that style; on Carlos Querol, specialized in the second voice; on Alfonsin Quintana, with his hallmark in Los Jovenes del Cayo; on Nelo Sosa, an orthodox in that line; on Mario Recio in his overtures in trios; on Celio González, true to that school; on Rene del Mar’s rubato; on Fernando Alvarez, in his crooner’s way; on Roberto Sanchez, in the same line, and even on the great Vicentico Valdes, with his supple Sonero gusto.
Who was Alberto Ruiz?
He was a mulatto, half-breed, very attractive to fans and equally liked by everyone. Senen Suarez says he was a gigolo and very wild. Orovio describes him as very messy, a disaster as an individual, "but when it comes to appraising his creativity, we have to say that Alberto Ruiz is one of the greats of Cuban singing".
Translated by Pedro A. Fanego
