[Trombone-l] Generoso Jimenez has died

[Stan Brager]

The Miami Herald had the following obit in yesterday's paper:

"Posted on Mon, Sep. 17, 2007
Famed Cuban trombonist
By WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
Famed trombone player Generoso ''Tojo'' Jiménez, a pioneer of Cuba's popular
music, died of kidney failure Saturday in Coral Gables. He was 90.
Trombonist for legendary Cuban bandleader Beny Moré, Jiménez made his mark
in music by playing the trombone with a unique style that was both playful
and personal.

Jiménez died at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at Coral Gables Hospital. He was
hospitalized Aug. 29 but his health deteriorated and he fell into a coma
last Thursday.

''I am very sad, but I feel that I also have in me all the happiness and
love that he gave me in the last few years that I was able to be by his
side,'' said his daughter, Raquel Jiménez. ``He was an extremely loving
father and a very exceptional person, with an incredible spirit to push
forward.''

Born July 17, 1917, in Cruces, in the old Cuban province of Las Villas,
Jiménez got his first music lessons from the director of the town band and
from a piano teacher in his hometown. His got his first trombone from
friends who bought it in a pawnshop.

Together with flutist Efraín Loyola and violinist Gilberto de la Rosa,
Jiménez founded in 1939 the Orquesta Rítmica.

Jiménez stayed in Cuba after Fidel Castro seized power in the Cuban
revolution in 1959, and in 1965 recorded El Trombón Majadero, considered a
classic in contemporary Cuban music.

Eventually, Jiménez fell out of grace and was denied work because his
orchestra included musicians perceived as not fully supportive of Castro.

''They wanted me to cut sugar cane on Sundays, to stand guard duty and wear
a militiaman uniform to be able to travel to socialist countries,'' he
recalled. ``I couldn't do it.''

Jiménez stopped playing the trombone and became a roaming street vendor.

In 2003, Jiménez was allowed to travel to New York -- escorted by a Cuban
government official -- to attend a Grammy ceremony where one of his records
had been nominated.

He returned to the United States a few months later and stayed. He picked up
the trombone again and his career was reborn.

His last recording was for 90 Millas, singer Gloria Estefan's new
Spanish-language album set for release Tuesday.

Jiménez is survived by his children Ricardo, Rubén, Regla and Raquel, in
Miami; and Regina and Raúl, in Cuba; and seven grandchildren and eight
great-grandchildren.."


Stan
Stan Brager