Contramaestre needs a lot of Pachangos
Alfonso Gutiérrez González “Pachango”, is one of those men of torrential speech, he starts but never ends. Always riding the local horse that raises the root where he comes from, Contramaestre, eastern municipality. Guajiro (country man) by more distinguishing signs, cultivator of the Guaracha, is famous among his fellow countrymen due to two numbers that have the Cuban flavor: La Motorina (“The Motorina”) and La Wi-fi (“The Wi-fi”).
In his musical mind, his “pachangadas” (“things of his own”), as his friends like to say, there are projects, desires, dreams. He always carries on his shoulders the contingent Juan Marinello and the Sociedad Cultural José Martí, trying to save the Contramaestre river, protect the caves of this eastern zone or taking care of the intangible heritage, as he did from July 10 to 14, when he created the I Jornada Entre Teclas y Armonías, dedicated to José Gutiérrez González (Cheo, Pipito), alias with which his brother was known in the musical world of his time.
Between Keys and Harmonies (First edition)
The Day Between Keys and Harmonies began as a insanity, according to some officials who did not admit a season of music, which integrated the foundational roots that gave rise to what today could be called, “Musical culture of this people.
Its first edition corroborates that Contramaestre needs many Pachangos, with desire, ideas and intelligent collaborators who support his projects, well grounded and not as idealistic as his detractors think. Entre Teclas y Armonías confirmed this.
Never before in the history of this eastern municipality had folklore, tradition, religion, history and local identity come together as basic components of the “Contramaestre’s Spiritual Being”.
Proposals Between Keys and Harmonies
The “Route of the Musicians” at the Maffo Cemetery was another of Pachango’s great successes. Knowing forgotten names from this part of Cuban geography, such as José Gutiérrez González (Cheo Pipito), Félix Griñan Berroa, Alicio Cárdena Despaigne and Rosa Gutiérrez González, has an immense worth for the conservation of memory linked to intangible heritage.
The pilgrimage from the place where Contramaestre was born on February 5, 1913 as a population settlement is a fact that should also be recognized.
The location of the conversations in the corner of Jesús Rabí Park was welcomed, where every day the people who know the most about facts related to the emergence and evolution of Contramaestre as a town meet.
Visiting the community of El Manguito to Orlando Fajardo Fornaris, one of the founders of the first Concert Band, founded on December 24, 1952 by maestro Miguel Milanés, brought tears to the neighborhood there that could not believe in a very late tribute, but so deserved, to a man who belongs to the musical history of this eastern people.
The nightly presentation in the Jesús Rabí Park of first-level Contramaestre groups such as “Los Astros”, “Orbita 1”, “Charanga Santiaguera”, “Taburete y Tradison”, is one of those pachangadas that deserve a long standing ovation, because it places the genuinely local in the most central part of the city.
Between Keys and Harmonies (Call)
On Sunday, July 14, 2019, the call for the II Conference Between Keys and Harmonies was launched. Its organizing committee agreed to develop this event that privileges the local culture and musical history, in the month of July of each year; always dedicated to a figure of the intangible patrimony of Contramaestre.
