Asdrúbal José Hurtado, better known as Cheo Hurtado is an acclaimed musician, who received many awards and plays the four-string cuatro, in addition to several other string instruments t. This small instrument is normally used for the rhythmic accompaniment in the folkloric tradition of Venezuela, but Hurtado plays it so sophisticated that it becomes an outstanding solo instrument.
Cheo Hurtado was born in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela on May 2, 1960. Son of the guitarist and composer of Venezuelan popular music, Ramón Hurtado, his master, who initiated him in the field at 7 years of age. At 13 he won the first prize in the National Cuatro Festival.
Between 1975 and 1983 he worked as a teacher of cuatro, guitar and mandolin in the Ciudad de Bolivar Culture House, where he founded in 1977 the Carlos Raúl Villanueva Students Band. He was also founding member of the Cuerda de Carmito, a traditional Guyanese musical group, and played acoustic bass in the Angostura Orchestra, conducted by Juanito Arieta. In 1985 Cheo Hurtado moved to Caracas where he founded the well-known Gurrufío Esemble together with Luis Julio Toro and Cristóbal Soto. He was also member of Un Solo Pueblo, a pop music group, and conductor of the Costa Caribe Group and of Bandolas de Venezuela.
Cheo Hurtado has played together with many national and international music figures such as Alirio Díaz, Aldemaro Romero, Paquito D’Rivera, Oscar D’Leon, Simón Diaz, Bela Fleck, Serenata Guayanesa, Soledad Bravo, Lilia Vera, María Teresa Chacín among others.
With Gurrufío Ensemble, Costa Caribe and Bandolas de Venezuela he has toured the USA, Japan and Europe since 1982.
Discography
La Cuerda de Carmito Vol. 1 (1981)
La Cuerda de Carmito Vol. 2 (1986)
El Seis Guayanés (1988)
Costa Caribe Vol. 1 (1989)
Que Te Vaya Bien, with Costa Caribe (1990)
Bandolas de Venezuela (Musicarte/Dorian, 1990)
Sin Fronteras, with Costa Caribe (1991)
Compadre Pancho (Musicarte/1993)
Maroa, with Ensamble Gurrufío (1993)
Cruzao, with Ensamble Gurrufío (Dorian, 1994)
Music from the Orinoco River (Ocora, 1996)
El trabadedos, with Ensamble Gurrufío (Sony, 1997)
Cuatro arpas y un cuatro (Tropical Music, 1998)
Cosas del ayer, with Ensamble Gurrufío (1998)
Ensamble Gurrufío con la Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (1999)
Ensamble Gurrufío en vivo, with Ensamble Gurrufío (1999)
33 de 4 (2000)
Seis Guayanés (Fundación Bigott, 2002)
En Vivo, with Camerata Criolla (2002)
Sesiones con Moisés Torrealba, with Ensamble Gurrufío (2002)
El cuatro suelto (Fundación Bigott, 2004)
El Reto, with Ensamble Gurrufío (2004)
42 años Instrumenteando (2009)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
