Mujer de cabaret

about this album

iASO is pleased to present Puerto Plata’s debut album, “Mujer de Cabaret”, a collection of songs which will take you back to the golden age of Dominican guitar music. The sons, boleros, and merengues on this album are a testament to a time gone but not forgotten, of serenades, carousing and revelry. Puerto Plata’s sweet, nostalgic voice is accompanied by two of the Dominican Republic’s finest requinto virtuosos, Edilio Paredes and Frank Mendez, who each contribute their unique style to the tracks they accompany. Born in the resort town of Puerto Plata, in 1923, Jose Cobles, “Puerto Plata”, combines the wisdom of an elder with an astounding vigor and charisma that one would expect of a much younger man. His three uncles were musicians, and he recalls Sundays spent at their house in the presence of such legends of Dominican music as composer Juan Lockward and singer Eduardo Brito. His mother died when he was young, and upon the death of his grandmother, when he was 16, he went to work as a carpenter for the United Fruit Company. His work took him to Manzanillo, to Panama, and finally led him to settle in Santiago (in the Dominican Republic) at the age of 27. From 1931 until 1961, the musical climate in the Dominican Republic was stifled by the Trujillo dictatorship, and guitar musicians like Puerto Plata were rarely heard or seen outside the country side and lower class slums. The barrio of La Joya where Puerto Plata settled is Santiago’s most storied, and its most feared. H

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tracks

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