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Home , Charlie Palmieri, Juan Morel Campos, Lamento Borincano, Llueve, Luckey Roberts, Myrta Silva

Volume XLVIII Numbers 1 & 2 Spring / Fall 2011

EDITORIAL BOARD Dr. Peter Derrick, Editor Dr. Elizabeth Beirne Dr. Gary Hermalyn Mr. Patrick Logan Ms. Kathleen A. McAuley Ms. Catherine Pellicano

Copyright 2011 by County Historical Society, Incorporated. The Bronx County Historical Society Journal is published by The Bronx County Historical Society, Incorporated. All correspondence should be addressed to 3309 Bainbridge Avenue, The Bronx, N.Y. 10467. Articles appearing in this Journal are abstracted and indexed in America: History and Life, PERiodical Source Index and Recent Scholarship Online. The Journal and its editors disclaim responsibility for statements made by contributors. ISSN 0007-2249 Microfilm and Microfiche issue and article copies are available through University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. The Bronx County Historical Journal articles can also be found on EBSCO host research databases.

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1 FROM TO FRANCE TO THE SOUTH BRONX: RAFAEL HERNÁNDEZ AND HIS LEGACY IN THE BRONX

by Elena Martínez

Rafael Hernández was a prolific composer of the popular music of his day, such as (romantic ballads) and (up-tempo humorous anecdotal songs), styles that originated in . He took those genres and created melodies and lyrics that pertained to his homeland, thereby giving them a distinct Puerto Rican voice. Today he is considered not just the greatest Puerto Rican composer, but one of the best in , because many of his songs, such as the anthem, Lamento Borincano, a lament about a poor farmer who can’t sell his goods, resonated throughout the region. His work and legacy also have a place in this country’s his- tory, and have left a lasting mark on The Bronx’s musical and physical landscape as well. Early Life Rafael was born October 24, 1891 (or 1892 depending on the source) in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, to Miguel Angel Rosa and Maria Hernández Medina, who were Afro-Puerto Rican tobacco workers. He and his three siblings, Victoria, Rosa Elvira, and Jesús, were inspired by their grand- mother, Crisanta Medina, to take an interest in music. When he was twelve years old she began to pay for Rafael’s music classes. He learned the cornet, , bombardino (valved horn with a range a little higher than a ), guitar, violin and . His brother, Jesús, nicknamed “Pocholo,” played , and Victoria was an accomplished violinist, cellist, and pianist. Not surprisingly, the siblings came from the town that has been called, “El pueblo donde hasta las piedras cantan” (“The town where even the rocks sing”). 5 6 Elena Martínez

His professional musical career started in 1914 when a Japanese circus, El Circo Kawamura, owned by the Kawamura Brothers passed through his hometown on their tour of Latin Amnerica. The owners heard of Hernández’s musical abilities and hired him to tour the island with them. Upon arriving in San Juan, Rafael made connections and began playing in various bands including the banda municipal which was directed by Manuel Tizol (the father of valve trombonist Juan Tizol, who would later play in ’s band), as well as playing in the Orquesta Sinfónica as a violinist. He also played the bombardino bajo in the orchestra, Sombras de la Noche, directed by Carmelo Díaz Soler at the Tres Banderas theater (though some sources say he formed the orchestra known as Los Jolly Boys to compete with Díaz Soler’s band). It was at this time that he began writ- ing and composing songs in earnest. World War I In 1917, the 26 year old Rafael met the renowned African-American bandleader . This meeting drastically changed Rafael’s life and led to an important event in music history. James Reese Europe was a highly regarded bandleader in . He had founded the Clef Club in , which functioned as a union and agency for African- American musicians who were pretty much ignored by the American Federation of Musicians. In 1912, Europe started an orchestra of over 100 musicians and the following year it was the first Black group to play Carnegie Hall. Europe’s prowess as a bandleader and conductor would be established for mainstream audiences, when he became the musical direc- tor for Irene and Vernon Castle, the dance partners who were responsible for igniting the tango rage in the prior to World War I— North America’s first love affair with and dance. As the U.S. was about to enter WW I, Europe signed up for service and became part of the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard. (On June 2, 1913 the governor of New York had signed a bill that gave New York its first Black National Guardsman troop in the 15th Regiment.) Though it was a Black regiment it had a White commander, Colonel William Hayward, who was a military music enthusiast. Hayward’s dream was to have a regimental band that would be “the best damn brass band in the United States Army,” as he has been so famously quoted. Europe, now a Lieutenant, started putting together this band. It included Harlem dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson as a Drum Major, along with Noble Sissle, who would later gain fame as a jazz composer and bandleader. Charles “Luckey” Roberts, the stride piano player who had occasionally played in Europe’s Clef Club orchestra for the Castles was also part of the band (Roberts was poplar through the 1920s and 1930s and Rafael must have met him through the regiment because he would per- form in Roberts’ band not too long after the war ended). Other notables in the regiment included the baseball player Spottswood Poles of the New From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 7

York Lincoln Giants, and Bert Williams, a popular vaudeville star, who performed with the 15th Regiment during their recruitment period in New York before they left for active duty. An infantry band normally consisted of 28 individuals, though Europe was allowed to recruit as many as forty at first (Harris: 17). Europe felt that the minimum of 28 musicians would not work for playing the music he wanted to play. Probably due to Europe’s reputation as a bandleader he was given more leave than others would have gotten. At one point the regi- mental band reached 65 musicians, but most were not actual soldiers and “few were willing to enlist” (Harris: 67). Europe recruited Black musicians from around the United States but after some rehearsals came to the con- clusion that the clarinet section was “disappointing” (Badger: 45). So when he decided he needed to search outside of New York to find the best reed musicians, Hayward facilitated his request. Europe’s plan including finding players too because along with the saxes and of the reed section these instruments served the same purpose in a military band that strings did in an orchestra. To complete the band Europe needed these players on short notice and they had to have three requirements: they had to read music well, be disci- plined, and most importantly, had to be Black. He traveled to Puerto Rico and recruited 18 Afro-Puerto Ricans from the island’s municipal bands.1 The versatile Rafael Hernández would play trombone for the regimental band—and were important instruments in military bands as well as early jazz bands. His musical talent was noticed, as the trombone section “was the outstanding feature of the band” (Gracyk: 26). But two questions arise from Europe’s trip to Puerto Rico. First, how did he know about the amazing musical talents of the Puerto Rican musicians? Some sources pur- port that the Puerto Rican bass and tuba player, Rafael Escudero had played in Europe’s Clef Club Orchestra; and that there were Puerto Rican musi- cians in Europe’s Syncopated Society Orchestra which played for the Castles, so Europe then would have been familiar with the quality of musi- cians from Puerto Rico (Thompson and Moreno de Schwartz: 3). Bandleader Manuel Tizol whom Rafael had played under in San Juan, was known on the music scene in New York because he regularly contracted orchestras from New York to play in San Juan. In fact, Manuel Tizol likely had pre-selected some potential musicians for Europe prior to his visit to the island, therefore Rafael Hernández would certainly have been on the list of candidates (Thompson and Moreno de Schwartz: 4). And lastly, the Victor Talking Machine Company had been in San Juan in early 1917 on a record- ing tour and Tizol’s band had recorded for them. Europe also recorded with Victor so through the he would have been aware of Tizol’s work (Glasser 1995: 55). Other musicians who were recruited from Puerto Rico included clarinetists Pocholo, Rafael’s brother, and Rafael Duchesne Mondríguez, who came from a leading musical family on the island. 8 Elena Martínez

The reason there were many well-trained musicians of African ances- try on the island in large part comes from the tradition of the bandas municipales (municipal bands) common throughout Latin America. These bands were modeled after military bands and would play in the main square or plaza of a town (the Church and the military provide most aspects of public music in the 19th century Spanish Caribbean). In this way the regimental bands helped to disseminate popular, contemporary styles of music to the public. Most local communities didn’t have all the necessary personnel to form a complete band so until the 1880’s gaps in the personnel were filled by military band members, especially in the big- ger municipalities of San Juan and Ponce, where these musicians would later become active as local educators as well. These changes would con- solidate the disciplined European military aesthetic to the local sound (Díaz Díaz 2008: 235). An important step for this tradition in Puerto Rico came when the was formed. It was founded in 1883 by the great composer of and marches, , and still performs in the Ponce plaza on Sundays, making it the oldest munic- ipal band in the Caribbean. Many of the Puerto Rican musicians who were part of James Reese Europe’s regimental band started their careers in municipal bands on the island. Due to this training they brought with them important skills which made then invaluable to Europe. Their training was rigorous and they spent many years leaning music theory and solfeo—the ability to sight sing written music. They could read music on an extremely high level and play several instruments (Glasser 1995: 35). This gave them a step up over many African-American musicians who due to Jim Crow segregation laws in the United States did not have access to music education and the instruments, specifically the expensive ones like brass instruments. In the U.S., they also had to work within segregated circuits: “With the lines between classical and popular music more strictly drawn in the United States than in Puerto Rico even the most qualified African-American musician would more likely be found in a minstrel show than in a sym- phony orchestra” (Glasser 1995: 59). An additional factor making it more difficult to recruit musicians in the U.S. may have been that established African-American musicians who worked in the nightclub scene in the U.S. probably “no querían abandoner sus puestos por la exigua paga y el riesgo que la guerra significa” [they didn’t want to abandon their positions for the paltry pay and the risk involved in war](Diaz Ayala: 43-44; Harris: 72). It is likely that when the Puerto Rican musicians accepted Europe’s offer to take part in his band, they weren’t aware they were soon going to be shipped off to play at the front. This brings us to the other question regarding Europe’s trip to Puerto Rico—how could individuals from this Caribbean island be enlisted into From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 9 the United States military? Puerto Ricans have had a unique relationship with the United States since 1898. The passing of the Jones-Shafroth Act in Congress on March 2, 1917 imposed U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans which facilitated the recruitment of Puerto Ricans into the military. Since this happened right before the U.S. entered into World War I, was it to provide more eligible men for the armed services? Scholar José Cabranes states that “U.S. citizenship wasn’t a prerequisite for conscription into the armed forces” (Cabranes: 16).2 But then why include the issue of citizen- ship into legislation at this time? For years the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the U.S. had attempted to amend previous legislation such as the Foraker Act and grant citizenship to Puerto Ricans hoping it would end their dis- satisfaction with the colonial administration (Cabán: 198). The United States also realized it might soon enter the conflict in Europe (the U.S. eventually declared war on Germany on April 6th), so it needed to affirm its control over Puerto Rico since the island would be a key element in the defense strategy of the Caribbean (Ayala: 57). Congressman Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin summed it up at a Congressional Hearing for the Jones Act: We are never to give up Porto Rico (sic) for, now that we have completed the Panama Canal, the retention of the island becomes very important to the safety of the land, and in that way to the safety of the nation itself. It helps to make the Gulf of an American lake. I again express my pleasure that this bill grant to this people citizenship (Maldonaldo-Denis: 106). Whatever the reason, when the Selective Service Act of 1917 was passed two months after the Jones Act, men on the island became eligible for conscription. Nearly 2,000 Puerto Rican men were sent to Panama— these were for the strategic defense purposes thought necessary by many in Congress. However, a total of 17,855 actually served in World War I—and not just in the Caribbean (Cabán: 202). So 18 musicians from Puerto Rico sailed to New York and were enlist- ed in the 15th Infantry Regiment. In his memoirs Noble Sissle recounts the obstacles encountered by them such as a climate radically different from their homeland and the language barrier. But musically, they contin- ued to excel. The regimental band played a concert at the Manhattan Casino and were reviewed in The New York Age by critic Lester Walton who was extremely impressed by them. He commented, the “dozen or more Porto Ricans who made up the reed section they cannot be excelled” (Walton: 6). On July 15, 1917, National Guard troops were mustered into federal service. So in early 1918, the regiment sailed for France and was the first African-American military unit to ever land in Europe (Harris: 152). Under orders from General John Pershing, the commander of the U.S. 10 Elena Martínez forces, and following the War Department’s segregation policy, Blacks were not allowed to fight with the White U.S. Army. As there were not enough Black regiments to form their own division, the 15th Infantry was “temporarily detached” from the U.S. Army and were put under the com- mand of the French Army as part of the 16th Division. They were now called the 369th Regiment (Shack: 20). The regiment soon gained the name, “Hellfighters,” for their prowess in battle, and became one of the most decorated on the European Front, even getting the French Croix de Guerre. The musicians in the regimental band did not actually fight because customarily band members act as stretcher bearers in the Ambulance Corps. But the band (by this time in France it included 44 members) gained its own recognition as it is credited with introducing jazz and to the European continent. The music that heralded jazz had probably been played in Paris before, but the 369th Regiment band intro- duced this music to the French working class (Harris: 155). In 1917, the band played in 25 French cities, performing for both French civilians and Allied soldiers who were at first astonished and then entranced by the music they heard. It was basically ragtime music designated for marching and not considered jazz (they didn’t improvise which is a major feature of jazz) but the music contained many jazz-like elements—“breaks, riffs, and trombone smears” (Ward and Burns: 68). After serving 10 months in France and 191 days under fire—the longest time spent by any U.S. regiment during the war (Badger: 36), the 369th U.S. Infantry Regiment triumphantly returned to the United States where they were the first African-Americans to march down Fifth Avenue. A smaller version of the 369th U.S. Infantry band began record- ing for the Pathé label in May 1919 and toured briefly until James Reese Europe was murdered by one of his drummers after a concert in Boston. Following this unfortunate tragedy, the group disbanded and the musicians had to strike out on their own. Although the register for the recordings have been lost, historian Reid Badger writes that some of the Puerto Rican musicians were involved including, Rafael (who had been a sergeant in the band during the war), his brother, Pocholo, Eligio Rojas, Antonio Gonzalez, and Arturo Ayala (Badger: 237). So of the four trombonists in the recording sessions, one was likely Rafael. Tim Gracyk writing about the recordings comments, “One solo moment deserves our special atten- tion. It is the trombone break at the end of ‘Memphis Blues.’ These two swift bars reveal a melodic swinging improviser who is fully in command of his horn” (Gracyk: 28). Could this have been Rafael? James Reese Europe’s decision to bring musicians back from Puerto Rico, many of whom would settle in New York City after the war, would change the face of New York’s and Latin America’s music scene forever. Unfortunately with the exception of Ruth Glasser’s book on Puerto Rican musicians in New York City between the world wars, the future of the From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 11 musicians of the 369th and their service during the war is left out entire- ly or treated as a footnote in most historical accounts of the regiment (Shack, 2001; Nelson, 2009; Burns, 2001). The one place where there is more than a passing reference to them is in Nobel Sissle’s memoirs from his time with the regiment; however his account tends to be patronizing towards the Puerto Rican recruits. Sissle and these later writers who do mention some of the musicians by name never explain their later signifi- cance. e—for instance, Rafael Hernández, for instance, achieved interna- tional fame, at a level on a par with that of Nobel Sissle. Musical Career in New York and Cuba Between the two World Wars, as New York’s Puerto Rican community was rapidly growing, New York was becoming the world’s capital for all things related to the music industry: recording, sheet music, piano rolls, and radio. The late 1920s and early 1930s also saw the rise of theater shows, movies, and variety shows organized by professional promoters. Puerto Rican musicians found a welcoming environment in which to make their own music—plena, , seis, aguinaldo—as well as to play in the many Cuban ensembles gaining popularity. Scholar Ruth Glasser, states that “New York City gave birth to the golden age of Puerto Rican small-ensemble music” (Glasser 1995:130). Nonetheless, the Puerto Rican songs that were classics among the migrants were not played outside of the community, whereas Cuban musical styles would ultimately became the most popular Latin American musical import. Into this milieu in February 1919 Rafael settled in New York City. While he wanted to continue a career in music, when he couldn’t find gigs he began working in a factory which made screws and bolts. But he soon found work with the Harlem stride pianist Luckey Roberts. In 1921 he was offered the job to direct the orchestra of the Teatro Fausto in and went to Cuba. There he composed songs that would become part of his celebrated repertoire such as, Capullito de alelí and the entitled, Cachita. The latter is an example of the universality of his music as Rafael didn’t limit his songs to a Puerto Rican themes only. “Cachita” has many associations with Cuba. The title is the nickname for the Virgin of Charity (La Caridad del Cobre), the patron saint of Cuba, who is also associated with the West African deity, Ochún in the Yoruba religion known as Santería in Cuba. Ochún is often represented as a sexy woman, and Cachita is also a slang term for a flirtatious woman. In this song Cachita loves to dance to the Cuban rumba and the sound of the percussion. By 1925 he was back in New York City and worked as an accompanist for the tenor Francisco Quiñones. In 1926 he organized his own trio— with the legendary Manuel “Canario” Jímenez as first voice, Salvador Ithier as second voice, and Rafael himself as the first guitar. Trio Borinquen (the indigenous name for the island of Puerto Rico), as they 12 Elena Martínez were called, recorded for the Columbia label. Canario left the group after a few recordings (in later years he would popularize the Puerto Rican plena). When Canario left Rafael replaced him with the Dominican singer Antonio Mesa. In 1928 the group made their first visit to Puerto Rico and later traveled to the to perform where they called themselves Trio Quisqueya (the indigenous name for the Dominican Republic) to appeal to local crowds. Lamento Borincano In 1927, Rafael started a music store with his sister, Victoria. The leg- end has it that the song Lamento borincano, considered to be his most famous work, was composed there. According to Rafael: . . . Un día en que se está bruja y mucho, uno de mis compañeros tenía una botella de ron de Puerto Rico, A medida que nos pasábamos la botella, se agolpaban los recuerdos de nuestra islita y nuestras mentes vola- ban a los soleadas playas de la tierra distante. Las palmeras y todas las cosas bellas de allá. Se no aparecían ese día como la imagen del Paraíso. La nos- talgia de esta fría tarde de tristeza atraía mis dedos hacia el piano casi des- mantelado que había en el rincón y comencé a tocar la melodía del “Lamento borincano” (Rico Salazar: 191). [One rainy day one of my friends had a bottle of rum from Puerto Rico. After passing around the bottle, the memories of our beloved island accumulated and our minds flew to thoughts of the sunny beach- es ion our distant land - t. The palm trees and all of the beautiful things from there. That day it felt like an image of Paradise. The nostalgia of that cold day, full of sadness, caused my fingers to play on the piano in the corner, to practically dismantle it, and I began to play the melody of Lamento borincano.] Canario would became the first of many singers and bands to record this song. Composed during the Great Depression, Lamento bborincano, related the tribulations of a poor jíbaro (peasant farmer in Puerto Rico). People here in the U.S., in Puerto Rico, and throughout Latin America could relate to the economic hardship described in its verses. Some of its lyrics are: Pasa la mañana entera sin que nadie The entire morning goes by and no one pueda su comprar ¡ay! su carga comprar. can buy his produce. Todo, todo esta desierto, el pueblo There is nothing but desolation, and the people esta muerto de necesidad ¡ay! de necesidad. are dying of starvation. Se oye este lamento por doquier From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 13

Rafael and Victoria Hernández. Courtesy of Mike Amadeo. The lament can be heard throughout en mi desdichado Borinquen, sí. my unfortunate Puerto Rico, yes. Y triste, el jibarito va llorando así, And this sad and forlorn jibarito goes crying like this, pensando así, diciendo así por el camino: thinking like this, saying this as he walks down the road “¿Qué será de Borinquen mi Dios querido? “What will become of Puerto Rico my dear God? ¿ Qué será de mis hijos y de mi hogar.?” What will become of my children and my home?” During this time Puerto Rican musicians based in New York City com- posed some of the songs that are now considered standards in the reper- toire of Latin American popular music and have become unofficial anthems among the Puerto Rican community, such as Lamento Borincano 14 Elena Martínez by Hernández and Sin Bbandera by . Music historian Jorge Javaríz comments upon their music: “The bulk of what we call popular Puerto Rican music was written and recorded in New York. Puerto Rico is the only Latin American country whose popular music was mainly creat- ed on foreign soil. The curious thing about this phenomenon is that it was precisely in those years that the popular Puerto Rican song became more Puerto Rican than it has ever been before or since” (Glasser 1995:90). Later Musical Career In 1930, Rafael made his first trip to Mexico (though sources have var- ious dates for his trips back and forth to Mexico). He would end up living there off and on until the mid-1940s. At the end of 1931, he returned to New York City and organized Grupo Hernández to accompany Pilar Arcos on recordings. He then started a band called Grupo (or at times Cuarteto) Victoria, named in honor of his sister, and they made their first recording in 1933 on Victor Records. This band included Davilita as the first voice, Rafael Rodríguez as the second voice, Francisco Lopez Cruz as the first gui- tar and Rafael as second guitar. In 1935, Rafael returned to Mexico and it is during this time that he composed some other of his most famous songs, such as El cumbanchero, Amor ciego, and Noche y dia. During this time he also worked in Mexican cinema during its “Golden Age” providing music for many films and also appearing in three which starred Mexican comedian, Cantínflas: Aguila o sol (1937); El gendarme desconocido (1941), which also featured fellow Puerto Rican Mapy Cortés; and Carnaval en el trópico (1942). In 1939, he was again back in New York City and he added vocalist (she had been the singer in in Cuba and was replaced by ) to Grupo Victoria, and a young Bobby Capó to replace Davilita. In 1940, Rafael returned to Mexico, married Maria Perez and had four children with her. In 1947, he settled in Puerto Rico where he lived out the remainder of his life. The Governor of Puerto Rico Luis Muñoz Marín would later name him the Director de la Sinfonieta and he also worked as the Musical Consultant for WIPR. He passed away on December 11, 1965 in the Puerto Nuevo Hospital de Veteranos de San Patricio. Of the many renowned composers in Latin America, he is among the top three with Agustín Lara (Mexico) and Ernesto Lecuona (Cuba). Of these he was the most prolific with more than 2,000 songs, as well as the most versatile, composing songs in Puerto Rican styles of the plena and danza, as well as the Cuban genres of , guarachas, son, and rumba (Díaz Ayala 2000: 244). Victoria Hernández and the Music Store With a life full of so much traveling from Europe in World War I, later to Mexico and Cuba, where does Rafael fit in the history of The Bronx? From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 15

Rafael has a direct connection to a music store named Casa Amadeo on Prospect Avenue in The Bronx. But the story of Casa Amadeo actually begins in . After being discharged from the U.S. military fol- lowing World War I, Rafael along with his sister, Victoria, and other fam- ily members settled in New York City. In 1927, after working as a seam- stress in a factory and teaching embroidery to the daughters of Cuban fam- ilies, Victoria bought a storefront for $500 and opened Almacenes Hernández (a.k.a the Hernández Music Store), in East Harlem, at 1735 Madison Avenue. According to Victoria it was the first Puerto Rican- owned music store in New York City: “Yo fuí la primera puertorriqueña que puse un negocio de discos de música. . .la única tienda de música puer- torriqueña”/ I was the first Puerto Rican woman that owned a music busi- ness. . . the only store of Puerto Rican music (Interview with Glasser, 3/21/89). To accommodate her growing business, Bartolo Alvarez, musi- cian and founder of the Casa Latina music store, remembers: “Victoria moved the store from there because she had a very small store and she had a piano in the back because she was a music teacher. She moved to a big- ger store at 1724 Madison Avenue” (Interview with Martínez, 2001). Besides selling records and giving piano lessons, Victoria served as a booking agent for many Puerto Rican musicians and acted as a liaison between the major record companies and the Latino community–the large companies felt the small business owners would be more in touch with the preferences of their community and therefore better arbiters of what would sell. Unlike the large megastores of today, music stores served many other purposes, other than the selling of records. They were hangouts for musi- cians and were places where bandleaders could find instrumentalists. According to historian Virginia Sánchez Korrol: As a business venture, the small music store spread quickly throughout the colonia hispana and came to symbolize the Latin settlements as the candy store had characterized other ethnic immigrant neighborhoods. Emanating from these establishments the rhythms of el Son, la Guaracha, Puerto Rican Plenas and Aguinaldos combined with the romantic Boleros and Danzas to serenade the Spanish-speaking neighborhoods day and night, nurturing a continuation of vital cultural expression rooted in Puerto Rico and Spanish America (Sánchez Korrol 1993: 80-81). In this emerging music and recording industry, local music stores played an important role. For instance, the Spanish Music Center in East Harlem was opened in 1934 by Puerto Rican Gabriel Oller. He sold recordings, pianola rolls and guitars. In the back of his store he recorded the music of neighborhood tríos and cuartetos for Dynasonic label, the first Puerto Rican-owned recording company (Salazar 1980: 91). Later in 1949, when Casa Latina on 110th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem was bought by the Puerto Rican musician Bartolo Alvarez, it too had many roles in the 16 Elena Martínez music industry. The store sold music and instruments and in 1950 Bartolo founded Alba, where pianist Charlie Palmieri first recorded as a band- leader with the band Carlos Palmieri y su , and later Rival Records, which recorded some of the most popular artists at the time including the Puerto Rican singer Davilita. Victoria also was involved in the recording, producing, and marketing of numerous records. In the same year she bought the store, Victoria start- ed a record label called Hispano. Victoria remembers, “Fuimos los primeros puertorriqueños que hicimos discos. Grabamos dos veces.”/We were the first Puerto Ricans that made records. We recorded two times. (Interview with Glasser, 5/11/89) The label produced records by Los Diablos de la Plena and Las Estrellas Boricuas which recorded Rafael’s famous song, Pura Flama (Pure Flame). Unfortunately, although the records sold well, she had to close the company when her bank went bank- rupt at the start of the Depression in 1929. The store helped financially support Victoria’s family and gave Rafael time to write music. Victoria supplemented the family’s income by giving piano lessons (her students included two young neighborhood boys who would later become internationally known Latin music performers— and Joe Loco). Rafael wrote and played his music in the back of the store. Though Victoria was an accomplished musician, she dedicated herself to the business aspect of the industry; at that time being a business owner was more respectable than being a musician, especially for women. In Victoria’s case, it may have also been her calling. She remembers sell- ing fruit to her neighbors as a young girl, “Yo siempre he sido comerciante de chiquita. . . Desde ocho años yo vendí todos que lo encontraba”/ I had always been a commercially-minded as a child. . . Since I was eight years old I sold everything I could find (Interview with Glasser, 3/21/89). She was one of the only women playing a role in this early music scene as well as being one of approximately sixteen women, or .5% of the Puerto Rican female migrant population, who supervised or owned their own business- es in the mid-1920s according to historian Virginia Sánchez Korrol (1996). Ironically, Bartolo Alvarez said he was inspired to become a musi- cian at the age of fourteen when he started stopping by Almacenes Hernández and listening to Rafael Hernández play music (Interviews with Carp 1994; Martínez 2001). In addition to running Almacenes Hernández, Victoria served as a manager for Rafael’s group, Cuarteto Victoria, organizing tours and record- ing dates. Her role as a booking agent extended to serving as intermediary between representatives from record labels such as Victor and Decca, and the musicians the companies were seeking to record. Bandleaders would also contact her looking for musicians and other necessities, “[Xavier] Cugat me llamaba para buscar músicos y me llamaba para que le mandara maracas y mandar palitos.”/ Cugat called me to find musicians and called Mike Amadeo in front of Casa Amadeo, ca. 2000. Photo by Martha Cooper/City Lore. me to send for maracas and claves (3/21/89). Victoria, in this capacity, became known to musicians as La Madrina (“the Godmother”). In 1939. Victoria and Rafael sold the music store Hernández to Luis Cuevas, another entrepreneur and from Puerto Rico, and moved to Mexico. After a failed business venture, Victoria moved back to New York and settled in The Bronx in 1940, in the vanguard of a similar path soon to be followed by many other Puerto Ricans who would migrate from the island to East Harlem and then to The Bronx. In 1941, she opened Casa Hernández at 786 Prospect Avenue on the first floor of the Manhanset building, where she continued to sell music and clothes and give piano lessons. She lived on the third floor of this apartment building and when he visited New York, Rafael would stay there. When one walked through the door of Casa Hernández, the left side of the store had merchandise cases filled with music and instruments, and a listening booth where patrons could listen to the latest 78s; to the right, dresses lined the wall. This eclectic assortment of wares was not uncom- mon. It wasn’t until the late 1940s that music shops became more special- 18 Elena Martínez ized in their wares.This inventory was reflected in Casa Hernández by the painted lettering that remained until recently above the front door, “Novedades” (Novelties). Victoria’s decision to include clothing among her wares reflects another aspect of the Puerto Rican migration experi- ence—how women migrants made their living in the garment industry.3 Victoria continued to give piano lessons to budding musicians in the neighborhood, though she came to rely on selling her dresses more than the music. In 1965, when Rafael died, Victoria lost interest in the business and turned over management of the store to her friend Johnny Cabán (Martínez 2000). Later in life Victoria married Puerto Rican entrepreneur, Gabriel Oller, who had opened the Spanish Music Center. She died in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico in 1998 and was buried in her brother’s tomb in the Old San Juan Cemetery. In 1969, the store was bought by the composer/musician Mike Amadeo who still owns it today. Miguel Angel Amadeo Rodríguez was born in 1934 and moved with his mother and brother from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, to New York City in 1947. As a teenager he had worked in Casa Latina in East Harlem, and later he was manager at Casalegre, down the block from Casa Hernández, which was owned by Bartolo Alvarez’s nephew, Al Santiago, giving him experience in the business side of the music. But he is also a prominent bolero composer in his own right (he began writing songs at the age of 15) and many well known musicians have recorded his compositions including Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Pachito Riset, Santitos Colón, and El Gran Combo. He is the son of another important Puerto Rican composer, Alberto “Titi” Amadeo (and ironically Titi’s most popu- lar composition was a bolero called, Adorada Iillusion which was recorded by Cuarteto Victoria in the 1930s). Mike is considered “the most impor- tant Puerto Rican composer living in New York” (Salazer: 214). During the mambo era of the 1950s, every weekend hundreds of people flocked to The Bronx on its many subway lines, to listen to the sounds of Latin music, or individuals from the local community walked to the near- est bars and clubs to listen to their favorite bands. Today, The Bronx is still considered the “Borough of Salsa.” Through the years, due to the changes in the neighborhoods and troubles in the borough during the 1970s and 1980s that is referred to as “the burning of The Bronx,” most of these venues have been razed, stand empty or have been renovated into other structures (office space or churches). Casa Amadeo is the only place that has remained at its original site and stands as a testament oft the borough’s musical history. Though he changed the name of the store, Mike kept some features from the days when Victoria owned it: the awning reads “Casa Amadeo, antigua [formerly] Casa Hernández,” and some of the original merchandise cases are still in the store. In 2003, Casa Amadeo was nominated to the From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 19

National Register of Historic Places. It was the first time a Puerto Rican site from the mainland was added to the National Register. Casa Amadeo also retains an active role in the Latin music scene. Musicians still call searching for songs, or if they are in the area they stop by to just talk or play some songs with Mike (musicians from the neighborhood or those visiting from Puerto Rico like members of El Gran Combo, and even local politicians may drop by and sing a song while Mike plays the guitar). Mike feels a loyalty to the neighborhood, not just by having a presence there, but by helping other community organizations. For many years he helped 52 People for Progress with their annual summer series of Latin music con- certs by helping to organize a concert of trios at a nearby park. Casa Amadeo and its history mirror the Puerto Rican experience in New York City and especially The Bronx from the store’s opening in the 1940s, just prior to the great postwar Puerto Rican migration to the main- land. The jobs that were available to them, the obstacles they had to over- come and the music that defined them and helped them get through it all. While the media called The Bronx a symbol of urban decay, it continued to provide a context of musical and cultural creativity. It stands as a sym- bol of New York’s legacy to Latin music, a cultural expression that devel- oped here, yet has eclipsed its New York City origins. Latin music is now a worldwide phenomenon and one of this century’s most influential pop- ular music. And the store’s historical trajectory began when a young musi- cian, Rafael Hernández, musically trained in the island’s tradition of ban- das municipales, decided to enlist in a very special regimental band.

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[Thank you to Bobby Sanabria and Alberto Hernández for their help in the creation of this article.] 20 Elena Martínez

NOTES 1 Every source lists a different number of recruits from Puerto Rico. Noble Sissle’s memoir states Europe “enlisted fifteen of the best Porto Rican musicians” (51); whereas a document from the James Reese Europe Collection at the Schomburg Manuscript Collection lists 18 musicians; while the ship manifests on the Ellis Island Passenger Search, ellisisland.org, also lists 18 musicians arriving on at least three different ships but a couple of names are different from the document in the Schomburg collection. According to the Ellis Island passenger manifests they came in three groups to New York. The first group came on board the SS Caracas along with Europe on May 5, 1917, and were enlisted the same day they arrived in New York City, May 11th. The second group included Rafael Hernández and his brother along with Eligio Rojas and they arrived July 23rd. The last group had Duchesne (the nephew), Cruz, and Sánchez and arrived on August 6th aboard the SS Brazos. 2 According to Cabranés, the Jones Act did not affect the issue of Puerto Ricans and the draft, because conscription never had anything to do with citizenship. “Aliens” were drafted into service in the Civil War, the Spanish-Cuban-American War etc. In the Gonzales v. Williams case (1904), it conceded that Puerto Ricans were allowed entry into the United States and couldn’t be deported. This ruling also stated that they could be drafted into the regular army. However, scholar Efrén Rivera Ramos feels Cabranes may overstate his case and comments: “If not conscription, certainly. . . strategic preoccupations figured principally among the considerations borne in mind by American decision-makers” (147). 3 There weren’t many options open to women for work, but domestic help and needlework employed large numbers of the migrants. Needlework of various kinds and lace making has a long history in Puerto Rico and after World War I became especially important when there was a halt to the export of these materials from Europe. In the 1920s, Puerto Rican women became a major segment of the gar- ment industry’s labor force.They replaced the jobs that were once held largely by Jewish and Italian women in the trades of dressmaking, accessories and children’s clothing (Ortíz 1996: 58). Needlework of various kinds and lace making has a long history in Puerto Rico and after World War I became especially important when there was a halt to the export of these materials from Europe.Not only did many of these women work as seamstresses in factories but, as in Puerto Rico, many worked at home doing piecework where they could supplement their family’s income while also taking care of domestic duties (Boris 36; Sánchez Korrol 1996: 59). From Puerto Rico to France to the South Bronx: Rafael Hernandez & His Legacy 21

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