Where Music Never Stops

Listening Post 317. More than coffee or summer rain, Cuba is drenched in music. It emanates from bars and homes, along Havana’s Malécon, from the streets and squares of cities and towns, from the public buses that weave through the countryside. Along with the merging of European and African traditions that produced a cornucopia of genres, the island’s perpetual soundtrack helps explain why Cuba is a music superpower. Héctor Valentín occupies one of the highest perches of the cultural tower. In the 1980s, renowned as “the tenor of salsa,” he sang with some of the country’s leading ensembles; by the early 1990s he had his own band. On Me Quité (I Quit) he joins forces with master producer-arranger Manolito Simonet, a superb lineup of musicians and some of Cuba’s best songwriters; the album’s 12 eminently danceable tracks of spectacularly pure sound unfold like an anthology, delivered in Valentín’s vibrant voice and surfing on salsa, son Cubano, rumba, bolero and bachata. Opening with a homecoming greeting to neighbors after returning from his world travels, the artist spins tales of love and reverence: For women, for family and friends, for life, music and the river goddess Oshun. The title track is a pulsing confession of vices forsaken—drinking, smoking, seamy streets—and wisdom gained (video 1). At the album’s sensual, romantic center float Quisiera ser su pintor (I’d Like to Paint Your Portrait, video 2) and Tu fiel trovador (Your Faithful Troubadour, video 3). And Sin clave no se puede (Not Without the Key, video 4), pays tribute to son Cubano, arguably the nation’s most iconic music style. Like many of his countrymen Valentín left Cuba physically, moving to Mexico City in 1999, but remains inextricably tied to the island. With the music forever playing in his soul, his homeland is one love he can never quit. (Tumi Music)

Héctor Valentín: Me Quité / I Quit
Héctor Valentín: Lead vocals
Ricardo Amaray: Vocals
Adalberto Álvarez: Backing vocals
Rubén Rodríguez, Gabriel Rodríguez, David Bencomo: Chorus
Jairon: Rap
Manolito Simonet: Piano, keyboard
Roger Rizo: Piano
Ernesto Leandro Sánchez: Bass
Evelio Delfín: Tumbadoras
Héctor Randy Olmos: Timbal, drums
Jorge Luis Guerra: Guiro, maracas
Carlos Frank Iraola: Trumpet
Eulises Benavides: Trombone
Osley Antonio Patridge: Trombone
Carolina Rodríguez de Armas: Cello
Ana Karla Sarmiento: Viola
Jelyem Baso: Violin
Amanda Michelle: Violin 

Guest artists
Dorgelis Álvarez: Piano
Lino Lores: Guitar
Adonis Panter, Cajón: Shekeré, quinto, tres
Bárbaro Crespo “Machito” (“Osaín del Monte”): Tumbador

Me quité / I Quit
(Alberto Tamayo)

(From the Spanish lyrics)
I quit drinking because people were talking/I quit so many things because I started to think
I gave up smoking after a casual comment/That it was hurting my singing
A piece of advice to my friends, those of you who want to listen/Tthere are streets you should pass by
If you have an affection for me, don’t invite me again/Because I don’t want wind up on the ground

I quit one thing and I quit another
Because there are words ​​that can kill/And eyes that knock coconuts to the ground, crash!
I quit one thing and I gave up another
Because there are words ​​that can kill/And eyes that knock coconuts to the ground
I gave up this and that, because there are words ​​that can kill and are eyes that knock coconuts to the ground
No more cigarettes, no more rum/Beware of excesses that will melt your lungs, I’m telling you

I gave up this and that, because there are words ​​that can kill?And are eyes that knock coconuts to the ground
I can’t forget my childhood friends if they call me/Don’t invite me and I won’t go back to that bar
I gave up this and that because there are words ​​that kill?And eyes that knock a coconut to the ground

You know El Valiente will tell you the truth/If you don’t give up these vices, your life is going to end
El Valiente on stage, haha, you know my friends/Tremendous show!
Quit, or you’ll get burned!

Take the water from the coconut
You’re going crazy, crazy
Take water from the coconut
And in Havana there are lots of crazy people
Take the water from the coconut
Hey, how does the water get into the coconut?
Take the water from the coconut
Oh my God! Hey Tamayo …
Take the water from the coconut
Look at that show
Take the water out of the coconut
I’m crazy
Listen to me well, listen to my chorus
I’m crazy
That’s why I slip on the coconut
I’m crazy/Take the water from the coconut
Hear the trombones, boy
Take the water from the coconut
What a show!
Take the water from the coconut
Aeeeeeeeeeeeeeh

Take the water from the coconut
So I keep making it delicious
Take the water the coconut
Listen to this Gabriel

Quisiera ser tu pintor / I’d Like to Paint Your Portrait
(Alberto Tamayo)

I’d like to be your painter, to paint your figure/In a nude pose that is only for me
I’d like to be your painter, to hang your portrait in my room/So that I never feel your absence
I’d like to be your painter, enter into the frame/And fill you with kisses, even if doubts kill me
I’d like to be your painter, for a portrait not auctioned/That no one can buy because no money is enough
No one can buy because no money is enough

First I want to paint your breasts, and your hips/And your angelic face, with your hair perfectly in place
With my silk brushes, I want to immortalize you/Not to commercialize you because the portrait stays with me
I’d like to be your painter, for a portrait not auctioned/That no one can buy because no money is enough
No one can buy because no money is enough

I’d like, I’d like to be your painter and enter into the frame?To shower you with kisses, even if doubts kill me
First I want to paint your breasts and your hips/Even if doubts kill me, even if I die of grief

What a show!
I will not be a good painter, but I love you Yolanda

Tu fiel trovador / Your Faithful Troubadour
(Adalberto Álvarez)

I wish I could forget your smile, but it cannot be/My imagination wants to be with you
To me you are as the guitar to the troubadour/My happiest source of inspiration, breath of my dreams
In the white sand by the sea/We write our indelible names
You laugh happily and with your sparkling laugh/You vanquish my loneliness
Heaven made you like this, almost perfect for me/Divine woman born for love
I write for you with all my heart as joyous proof of my love

I will be your faithful troubadour, you my eternal well of inspiration
Listen to me well, I can’t, I don’t want to escape living without your love
And if you think that I’m not telling the truth, I’ll die
I will be your faithful troubadour, you will be my eternal well of inspiration
You are a torrent of love that calms my impatience
So when I sing to you I do it with a great cadence, ahhhh

Let’s enjoy the soneros
What a show!
You are the eternal well of my inspiration
I will be your faithful troubadour, troubadour
You are the eternal well of my inspiration
For this I stand

Sin clave no se puede / Not Without a Key
(Alberto Tamayo)

Son Cubano, for the entire world!
Everything you want I give you with tremendous faith/Because those who know it don’t recognize it, I don’t know why?
The moment has come to go on stage to be seen/And to all the unknowing I ask that you do your homework
The key was born from the son, the son was created in Cuba/Valentin is telling you so that there are no doubts
The mambo and the cha cha cha, the yambú, the jiribilla, the paca and the Mozambique/Better not make it complicated
Cuni, Chapotin, Arsenio and Mr. Benny Moré/Left me a legacy that I will never betray
My son is original because it has left a mark/Even though in Hollywood, gentlemen, they have not given it a star
And my son is original, I say willingly/Even if it does not have a place in the Hall of Fame

From where does the son come?/From Cuba, you know that the key is from Cuba
What a show!
The son is a feeling direct to your heart/That enters your body and awakens the emotions
Runs through your blood from head to toe/But if you don’t have the key you can’t, you can’t, no
Those who thought that son had gone out of style
Without the key you can’t dance, without the key you cannot enjoy it
Now I bring it to you and it comes with the time
Without a key you can’t dance, without the key you cannot enjoy it
Bembelén, bembelén
As Benny Moré said: Berebereberebeeee
Go to the people of my neighborhood: Old Havana
“El Valiente” back on stage!
What a show!

And what do my people say?
Throw me the music Valentín
Because mine has no end
Throw me the music Valentín
Throw it, throw it, throw it, throw it …
Throw me the music Valentín
So I can sing with tremendous swing
Throw me the music Valentín
I’m going to Santiago de Cuba
Throw me the music Valentine
Land of my mom
Go mambo
Throw me the music Valentín, throw me the music Valentín, throw it to me good
If you know, it sticks
Throw it to me good
My music is on stage
Throw it to me good