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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 The Bronx 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. Visit our website www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org 1 FROM PUERTO RICO 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 boleros (romantic ballads) and guarachas (up-tempo humorous anecdotal songs), styles that originated in Cuba. 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 Latin America, 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 jazz 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, trombone, bombardino (valved horn with a range a little higher than a tuba), guitar, violin and piano. His brother, Jesús, nicknamed “Pocholo,” played clarinet, 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 Duke Ellington’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 James Reese Europe. 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 New York City. He had founded the Clef Club in Harlem, 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 United States prior to World War I— North America’s first love affair with Latin music 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 flute players too because along with the saxes and clarinets 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 trombones 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 record label 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.

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