EDDY GAYTAN
Dionisio Tomás Gaytán Frutos, was known as Eddy Gaytán from the artistic point of view. He was a remarkable musician that was born in Santa Fe, Argentina on June 30th, 1929 but his artistic life was developed in Cuba specifically in Havana. Since he was a child he started to study music with professors Juan D’Angelo and Atilio Roca and later on Professor Ernesto del Puerto started him in orchestral conduction.
He was part of different groups and finally he joined the group of the cuban master Isidro Benítez, who urged him to move to Cuba and he arrived in Havana on April 15th, 1956. He created his own group a short time later. When he came to Cuba he, Eddy Gaytan was already a well known musician who mastered the Accordion, the Organ and the Marimba.
He managed to be in contact with prestigious Cuban musicians, among them we find: Ignacio Piñeiro, Miguel Matamoros, Rosendo Ruiz (father) y Adolfo Guzmán. They had a great friendship and they gave him valuable professional support. Eddy Gaytán and his group started to perform in the most important sceneries of Havana, such as : the Johnny’s Dream, as well as in hotel Sevilla, Habana Hilton, Hotel Nacional de Cuba , Capri and in the Cabaret Ali Bar. At the same time he worked as an orchestra conductor in recording studios for record companies firms.
His discography as a musician, director, producer, and composer includes 21 LPs and 80 singles made in Cuba with different artists. He also recorded 300 instrumental works, the most representative of the famous Cuban, Latin American and international anthology for the Radio Station Radio Habana Cuba. In another time of his life Eddy Gaytán created the group Opalos and went through Europe, Asia and America with it. He was an active musicians for some decades and was exceptional for being part of board of judges in festivals and other international contests. He had different responsibilities in the Popular Music Department at the Ministry of Culture and as a musical director of the record company of the Recording Company and Musical Editions of Cuba, EGREM as well as being the head of the Technical Advisor Department of the Centro Provincial de la Música Adolfo Guzmán. Eddy Gaytán died in Havana on September 14th, 1999.
He was an outstanding composer and guitarist who was born on March 1st, 1885 in Santiago de Cuba. He had a vast, large and varied work as he composed in nearly all popular genres. He devoted his life to support the Cuban music, that is the reason why he is considered one of the fourth pillars of the Trova Tradicional Cubana together with Alberto Villalón, Manuel Corona and Sindo Garay. Rosendo Ruiz Suárez died in Havana on January 1st , 1983, at the age of 97 years.
Adolfo Guzmán was born in Havana on May 13th, 1920. He was one of the most relevant figures of the Cuban music in the twenty century. He was one of the most complete musicians in our country as he was an excellent pianist, with a refined technique, arranger, conductor, magnificent composer and a prestigious conductor. He was very talented and extraordinarily creative; he composed several notorious works full of sensitivity and elegance.
It is the first Cuban short wave broadcasting station with an international reach. It was opened by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on May 1st, 1961.
Recording Company and Musical Editions of Cuba, EGREM
It was founded in 1964 and is the oldest Cuban record company among the ones we have at the present. It is commonly known as EGREM. It holds a wide kind of businesses related to the production and market of artistic presentations in the country and abroad; linked to the promotion of its catalogue and the Cuban music in general, as well as the arrangement of international tours of the artists it represents, through its agency Promusic.
Centro Provincial de la Música Adolfo Guzmán
It is a Company with a catalogue for artists, singers, soloists, duets, trios, quartets, quintet, septet, groups of more than 7 people, dance companies, comedians, folk groups, among others. It has a catalogue of more than 500 artistic units of all types of music and shows.