POLO MONTAÑEZ, TODAVIA EN LOS RECUERDOS DE CUBA COMO “EL GUAJIRO NATURAL”. PHOTOS.
Polo Montañez Linares, un popular cantante cubano nació un 5 de junio de 1955.
Montañez nació en la Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Rio, en una finca conocida como El Brujito. A una edad temprana trabajó en varios trabajos, incluyendo conducir un tractor, ordeñar vacas, hacer carbón, ayudar en la granja familiar y como leñador. En su tiempo libre, Montañez iba de casa en casa cantando. Comenzó a cantar y tocar en fiestas locales y reuniones familiares con su padre. En esas tertulias empezó a tocar la tumbadora y la guitarra a los 7 años.
Polo was a charcoal maker or cane cutter. As a hobby, he indulged in his passion for music and was discovered, to the amazement and delight of crowds around the world. When personalities of the artistic rank of the Puerto Rican Gilberto Santa Rosa included in his active repertoire the version of Un montón de Estrellas, at the same time that he was invited to share the stage with legends such as Compay Segundo and the Cuban-panamanian Rubén Blades, Polo knew that in less than three years after his professional career took off and with only two albums recorded, he had managed to place himself among the legends of popular music of the time, without fame going to his head.
Overnight, radio stations in the country surprised us one fine day with the charm of titles such as Un montón de Estrellas and Guajiro natural, danceable pieces sung by a certain Fernando Borrego, who was none other than the composer and performer better known as Polo Montañez, from Pinar del Río.
POLO TODAVIA EN LOS RECUERDOS…
Twenty years after his passing, the legacy of Polo Montañez overflows with the joy of living, the one that is forever impregnated in our souls. Like a few others, Polo knew how to place the value of humility and naturalness as a human being in its rightful place, even among the highest figures of contemporary art.
In around 1994 when the Complejo Las Terrazas was founded, Polo and his own ensemble of sorts started playing at its different touristic installations, like Hotel Moka, Rancho Curujey, and Cafetal Buenavista. Between those tasks, he met a Lusafrica European label owner and in 1999 signed a contract to make a few records. From there his first album “Guajiro Natural” and the song “Un montón de Estrellas” were born. In Colombia it sold more than 40,000 copies, obtaining Gold and Platinum status, and he was recognized as the most listened to international artist. He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about peasant life in Cuba.
With his original take on sones and guarachas written by him and contained in the album Guajiro natural (2000), Polo reiterated the powerful onslaught of the original music of our countryside when it is assumed with honesty, talent, and simplicity, coming from both his work and his way of being as a person.
At age 44 he had more than 70 songs written as an autodidact. He had no professional training nor musical knowledge, apart from listening to the countryside sounds. He composed in a mix of genres, making use of rhythms he heard and knew. He developed his own style with themes about outside or personal events, impregnated with rural elements: the ox yoke, the smell of coal, and the smell of bats.
In Cuba, Polo’s popularity skyrocketed. Spectators’ numbers at his concerts exceeded expectations.
Precisely, the song Un montón de Estrellas reached an unexpected popularity, capable of overturning the course of contrived marketing campaigns of other musical contexts, as if art were not closely linked to the irrefutable criterion of evidence, embodied in the facts that occurred with this relevant artistic event. There is no other way to explain the rapid and massive reception it had among us, which led to him becoming the celebrity Polo Montañez and let’s not talk about his great success in countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and France, among others.
In spite of having the support of favorable economic conditions, he never abandoned his homeland in Pinar del Río, nor the essence of his roots that defined him in his ennobling Homage to José Martí.
MUERTE DE POLO MONTAÑEZ…
Polo Montañez falleció el 26 de noviembre de 2002, seis días después de ser hospitalizado en el Hospital Militar Carlos J. Finlay, a consecuencia de un trágico accidente automovilístico en la zona de Coronela, cerca de San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río. Fue enterrado en el cementerio de Candelaria, en Artemisa. El centro cultural en la plaza principal de Viñales, Pinar del Río, lleva su nombre en su memoria.
Al poco tiempo de su muerte el cantautor José Valladares compuso una canción en honor a Polo titulada “Cazador de Estrellas”, la cual fue interpretada por varios artistas como Pedro Calvo, Paulito FG, Jenny (vocalista de Los Van Van) entre otros, haciendo un homenaje a la inolvidable figura del Guajiro Natural.
POLO MONTAÑEZ, IS STILL IN THE MEMORIES OF CUBA AS “EL GUAJIRO NATURAL”. PHOTOS.
Polo Montañez Linares, a popular Cuban singer was born on June 5, 1955.
Montañez was born in the Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río, on a farm known as El Brujito. At a young age, he worked various jobs, including driving a tractor, milking cows, making charcoal, helping on the family farm, and as a lumberjack. In his free time, Montañez went from house to house singing. He began singing and playing at local parties and family gatherings with his father. In those gatherings, he began to play the conga and the guitar at the age of 7.
Polo was a charcoal maker or cane cutter. As a hobby, he indulged in his passion for music and was discovered, to the amazement and delight of crowds around the world. When personalities of the artistic rank of the Puerto Rican Gilberto Santa Rosa included in his active repertoire the version of Un montón de Estrellas, at the same time that he was invited to share the stage with legends such as Compay Segundo and the Cuban-Panamanian Rubén Blades, Polo knew that in less than three years after his professional career took off and with only two albums recorded, he had managed to place himself among the legends of popular music of the time, without fame going to his head.
Overnight, radio stations in the country surprised us one fine day with the charm of titles such as Un monton de Estrellas and Guajiro natural, danceable pieces sung by a certain Fernando Borrego, who was none other than the composer and performer better known as Polo Montañez , from Pinar del Rio.
POLO IS STILL IN THE MEMORIES…
Twenty years after his passing from him, the legacy of Polo Montañez overflows with the joy of living, the one that is forever impregnated in our souls. Like a few others, Polo knew how to place the value of humility and naturalness as a human being in its rightful place, even among the highest figures of contemporary art.
In around 1994 when the Complejo Las Terrazas was founded, Polo and his own ensemble of sorts started playing at its different touristic facilities, like Hotel Moka, Rancho Curujey, and Cafetal Buenavista. Between those tasks, he met a Lusafrica European label owner and in 1999 he signed a contract to make a few records. From there his first album “Guajiro Natural” and the song “Un montón de Estrellas” were born. In Colombia it sold more than 40,000 copies, obtaining Gold and Platinum status, and he was recognized as the most listened to international artist. He became known as the Guajiro Natural (Natural Countryman) because of his humble personality and songs about peasant life in Cuba.
With his original take on sones and guarachas written by him and contained in the album Guajiro natural (2000), Polo reiterated the powerful onslaught of the original music of our countryside when it is assumed with honesty, talent, and simplicity, coming from both his work and his way of being as a person.
At age 44 he had more than 70 songs written as an autodidact. He had no professional training or musical knowledge, apart from listening to country sounds. He composed in a mix of genres, making use of rhythms he heard and knew. He developed his own style with themes about outside or personal events, impregnated with rural elements: the ox yoke, the smell of coal, and the smell of bats.
In Cuba, Polo’s popularity skyrocketed. Spectators’ numbers at his concerts of him exceeded expectations.
Precisely, the song Un monton de Estrellas reached an unexpected popularity, capable of overturning the course of contrived marketing campaigns of other musical contexts, as if art were not closely linked to the irrefutable criteria of evidence, embodied in the facts that occurred with this relevant artistic event. There is no other way to explain the rapid and massive reception he had among us, which led to him becoming the celebrity Polo Montañez and let’s not talk about his great success in countries such as Colombia, Mexico, and France, among others.
Despite having the support of favorable economic conditions, he never abandoned his homeland in Pinar del Río, nor the essence of his roots that defined him in his ennobling Homage to José Martí.
DEATH OF POLO MONTAÑEZ…
Polo Montañez passed away on November 26, 2002, six days after being hospitalized at the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital, as a result of a tragic car accident in the Coronela area, near San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río. He was buried in the Candelaria cemetery, in Artemisa. The cultural center in the main square of Viñales, Pinar del Río, is named after him in his memory.
Shortly after his death, the singer-songwriter José Valladares composed a song in honor of Polo entitled “Cazador de Estrellas”, which was performed by various artists such as Pedro Calvo, Paulito FG, Jenny (vocalist of Los Van Van) among others, making a tribute to the unforgettable figure of the Guajiro Natural.
Agencies/ Wiki/ Guille Vilar/ Ecured/ PoloBio./ Extractos/ Excerpts/ Internet Photos/ Arnoldo Varona/ www.TheCubanHistory.com
THE CUBAN HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD.
