Faustino Oramas dies

Faustino Oramas dies

'Buena Vista' songwriter

Published: 29 March 2007 the independent

Faustino Oramas, singer and songwriter: born Holguín, Cuba 4 June 1911; died Holguín 26 March 2007.

One of the most acclaimed albums of 1997 was Buena Vista Social Club, a CD of Cuban son music produced by Ry Cooder. For the project, Cooder assembled forgotten, elderly but supremely talented Cuban musicians and, as a result of the CD, they recorded their own solo projects, toured the world and were the subject of the 1999 documentary film by Wim Wenders.

A key track on the album was the insidious "Candela" ("Candle"), which was written by Faustino Oramas and showcased Ibrahim Ferrer's vocal. The song, told in the form of a nursery story, was about the fire and passion produced by dancing. Ferrer referred to Oramas in his vocal, but at the time Oramas was living in Spain and not one of the musicians.

Oramas was probably born in 1911, but he never had a birth certificate and claimed recently to be 103. He was raised in poverty and from the age of 15 worked as a travelling musician around east Cuba. Although he sang traditional songs, he also grabbed attention with his highly original, innuendo-laden novelties. His fans enjoyed "Como Baila Marieta" ("How Marieta Dances") so much that he kept rewriting it and several different versions occur on record.

The singer lived the life of his songs. When he was caught under a guayabera (guava) tree by a jealous husband, he acquired the sobriquet of "El Guayabero". The song of the same title contains the line, "In Guayabero, mother, they all want to give it to me." With time, he became a very popular performer in Cuba and the epitome of elegant dressing. Ferrer had always enjoyed his compositions and recorded Oramas's "Compositor Confundido" ("Mistaken Composer") and "Mañana Me Voy A Sibanicu" ("Tomorrow I Will Go to Sibanicu"), among others. In 1986 Oramas was the subject of a documentary, En Guayabero, Mamá.

A CD compilation of Oramas's work did well in 2001 and he was awarded the National Humour Prize in Cuba in 2002. Ferrer recorded Oramas's "Oye El Consejo" ("Listen to My Advice") on his 2003 CD Buenos Hermanos, and recommended, "If you want to die laughing, go and see Faustino Oramas; he's the wittiest man I have ever known."

Spencer Leigh