Richard Egues
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Richard Egües was one of the greatest Cuban flutists. Indeed, he is viewed by fans as the greatest.
In any case, Egues was born in the town of Cruces in the Cuban province of Las Villas on January 26, 1924. After learning to play sax, clarinet and piano, he decided to pick up the flute in the late '40s, in part, because flute players got to take more breaks during performances. Nevertheless, Egues came to be the foremost exponent of the charanga style of Cuban flute playing.
Charanga bands consist of vocals, percussion, strings and a flutist with the flute serving as a prominent and central voice. Charanga music has a characteristic classical or ‘ballroom’ aspect to it precisely because, historically, it was designed to appeal to the wealthier classes. Accordingly, this style reflects a blend of Spanish and French contredanse as well as African roots. The tunes played by charanga bands are typically the ‘danzon’ (with its characteristic five-beat percussive figure known as the cinquillo) and the more the familiar ‘cha cha cha’ (which, unlike most other Cuban styles, is not rooted in the clave).
Egues served for many years as the flutist with the most famous charanga band in all of Cuba known as Orquesta Aragon. The ensemble was founded in 1939. After substituting in the band on many occasions over a period of years, Richard was finally solicited by the leader to become a full-time member when his formidable and well-known predecessor, Rolando Lazano, left the group in 1954. Once installed, Egues remained with Orquesta Aragon for over three decades and became an active participant (as flutist, writer and arranger) in the band’s most renowned works and, in a genuine sense, began to define this style of Cuban music as Orquesta Aragon became a world-renowned performing group—and in no small measure on account of Egues’ own personal popularity.
Many of the pieces Egues recorded became so familiar that Cubans would whistle them spontaneously in the streets and, ironically, not the melodies, but rather Egues' own improvised flute solos, precisely because they were so clever, catchy and melodic all at once.
Richard Egues passed away on September 1, 2006 in Havana as a result of complications arising from a stroke.
