Madrid, August 3 (EFE). - Tomorrow, Friday, August 4, marks the 40th anniversary of the death in Madrid, at the age of 74, of the prominent Cuban composer and singer Antonio Machín, interpreter of immortal songs such as "Angelitos negros", "El manisero", and "Mira que eres linda", unforgettable and timeless songs that left their mark on an era and are part of the musical memory of all time.
Machín's remains rest in Seville, as he wished. He had expressly stated that he wanted to be buried in the city where he lived and got married in June 1943 to Angelita Rodríguez (a younger Andalusian woman than him), and where he has been immortalized in bronze since December 2006 in front of the chapel of Los Negritos, of which he was a brother.
Antonio Machín had more than 500 songs registered, the rights of which continue to be managed by his heirs. In 2002, precisely on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, the author's contribution to universal popular music was generously recognized.
So, under a cultural initiative called "Machín Project," which included the publication of his biography "Machín: A Lifetime," written by his former son-in-law, Eduardo Jover; the film of the same name directed by Nuria Villazán; a record with his most international songs; and the organization of a hundred events in his memory.
Born on February 11, 1903 in Sagua la Grande, province of Santa Clara (Cuba), to a Galician father and a Cuban mother, Antonio Machín's childhood unfolded within a humble and large family, as he had sixteen siblings.
At the age of four, he learned his first song from his mother, and only ten years later he made his first public appearance, at the casino in Havana. A year later, he began his artistic career alongside singer Miguelito Zaballa.
He was part of the Trio Luna and then, the young Machin joined one of the most avant-garde formations of the Latin American scene in the 1920s and 30s, the Azpiazu Orchestra directed by Justo Ángel Azpiazú, "Don Azpiazu", with which he performed his first acts in New York and recorded several albums, the first of which was "El manisero" in 1929.
Since then, his songs have spread throughout Latin America and the United States. In the thirties, he performed in Paris and London, and at the end of 1939, the threat of the Second World War forced him to move to Spain, where after debuting in Barcelona, he premiered the immortal theme of Maciste and Blanco, "Angelitos negros", of which thousands of records were sold.
Soon his name was known throughout the country, and songs like "El manisero", "Perfidia", "Mira que eres linda", "Madrecita", and "Envidia" surpassed trends to remain in the memory and emotions of several generations.
At the same time, the singer's creative restlessness led him to form the Machín Quartet, which achieved great success among the Ibero-American community in the USA.
His popularity spread throughout Europe, presenting his famous "Lamento esclavo" by Grenet. All this allowed him to face with guarantees larger artistic endeavors, such as the creation of the Habana Orchestra, with which he would carry out numerous tours across the Old Continent.
By the end of the 1940s, and already established as a reference in the musical and variety theater scene, the singer included another one of his most universal pieces, "Dos gardenias," by Isolina Carrillo, into his repertoire. From that era come his shows "Ebony and Ivory," "Cuban Songbook," "Familiar Faces," and "Cuba and Spain."
In the following decade, in the fifties, in Spain coincided the rise of the cha-cha-chá with Machín's orchestra restructured to liven up this genre.
Starting in 1964, the singer and songwriter would begin a two-year tour with the show "Silver Anniversary".
Having become a leading figure of Cuban son and bolero, Machín would later launch other shows such as "Life Begins at Seven" or "Unforgettable Melodies."
His last performance, just two months before he died and already ill with his lung, took place in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville) on June 7, 1977.
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