Exitos de la charanga 76 biography

534859505960484646525547595747394650516962484350535254454145495344425032424746595654535644446954395644373842364245

Orquesta Broadway are a charanga, a Latin band of flute, violins, rhythm section and voices. They were co-founded in 1962 by Eddy Zervigón (b. 7 July 1940, Güines, Cuba) and Roberto Torres and have proved to be one of New York’s longest surviving charangas. Eddy’s twin brother, Ruddy, a violinist, was a founder member and his youngest brother, Kelvin, initially played güiro (gourd scraper) and later the piano. At the age of 15 Eddy switched from piccolo to flute on the advice of Richard Egües, flautist with the great Cuban charanga, Orquesta Aragón. In 1958, Eddy and Ruddy co-led the band La Ideal. In 1960, when José Fajardo left Cuba for the USA, Eddy filled his place in his former group, renamed the Estrellas Cubanas. Eddy left Cuba in April 1962, did a four-month stint in Miami with his band, Ritmo De Estrellas, and then moved to New York, where he worked with Johnny Pacheco, Arsenio Rodríguez, Joe Valle, Lou Pérez, Félix ‘Pupi’ Legarreta, Alfredito Valdés and others. Eddy and Torres both lived in the same East Harlem building and they rehearsed in Eddy’s apartment with accompanists drawn from neighbouring blocks. After some disagreement over a name for the charanga, they eventually settled for the suggestion of a promoter, who dubbed them ‘Orquesta Broadway’, because most

•