Cuban trombonist Generoso Jiménez, known throughout the Cuban music and Latin jazz scenes, died on Saturday in Miami, Florida of renal failure. Mr. Jiménez was 90.
Born in Cruces, Cuba on July 17, 1917, Jiménez started his music education early, learning to play the trombone and other instruments. It wasn’t long before he set out for the thriving musical landscape of Havana. There he found a musical camaraderie with groups Orquesta Aragón and Chico O’Farrill’s band.
It was in 1955 that Jiménez joined Cuban icon Benny More and his big band sound. Jiménez worked as soloist, composer and arranger. He proved to be such a stellar addition to the band that More changed the lyrics to his song "Que Buena Baila Usted" to "Generoso, que bueno toca usted" ("Generoso, how well you play"). Jiménez continued to arrange and help his friend More even after he left the band in 1959.Mr. Jiménez jumped into working on his own band from 1963 to 1965. Later he was part of the orchestra for the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television.
Years later he released Generoso Que Bueno Toca Usted in 2002 and won a Grammy nomination. Maybe best known for his classic El Trombón Majadero, continued to work in the music business even after his 2003 move to the United States. He recently played with Cuban singer Issac Delgado in June of this year and is featured guest on 90 Millas, Gloria Estafan’s latest CD due to hit stores on Tuesday.
Mr. Jiménez is survived by his six children. He is expected to be buried in Miami.
Photo: Generoso Jiménez with his daughter Regina. Courtesy of Bembé Records.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
