By: Caridad González Edward

Visiting friends in times of a pandemic becomes an unreasonable and irresponsible act, but it would also be oblivion. For this reason and taking the necessary measures, I am going to the house of the composer and arranger Eliseo Saavedra, founding director of the Camagüey Trio, on the occasion of celebrating the anniversary of its creation, a group that became a Quintet and is today a member of the catalog of excellence of the Provincial Music Center.

Some words…

Received with affection and joy, after Betzy made me an exquisite coffee, she tells me that, in the Hotel Camagüey, they worked as members of a Septet called Los Siete del Son, and due to customer needs and other irregularities, a common thing in many group stories, they had to reduce the number of members.

It is then that Eliseo is named the leading voice and minor percussion, since he is an excellent improviser, with a powerful, clear voice and knowledgeable about the traditional music of our country, keeping Aurelio Mederos, at that time recently graduated as an Art Instructor and in Sibanicú, to play tres and Humberto Castellanos on guitar; a trio named: Camagüey. They became continuous heirs of the interpretive quality of others such as Trío Los Zafiros, Trio Los Monarcas and more.

Once upon a time, … then, … as the teacher Adalberto Álvarez would say years later here in the city, the wrongly called ´¨Trío Fantasma¨, a name awarded because they were not auditioned, nor did they belong to the catalog of the Music Center, they were lucky enough to be heard by other musicians and recognized by the long-awaited, beloved, timely and necessary Rafael García Grassa, daddy, who was among the members of the artistic development department of said center, and in some National auditions, taking advantage of the fact that they were musicians of support (those of the trio) of Los Agramontinos group, makes the proposal so that they listen to them.

For the good of these three musicians and of our Camagüey, they were named members of the catalog of excellence of the National Institute of Music and began a history of participation in provincial and national events such as the International Guitar Festival in Havana in tribute to the TaiCuba Trio, which becomes the first international tour to a festival in Germany and others.

Because of that enviable vitality, despite his state of health, always accompanied by his faithful Betzy, I preferred then, that his image, his voice, be seen, and very briefly, he spoke to me about the trio. This is a gift to everyone.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García