Idelfonso Acosta Biography

His surname about as prevalent in Latin music as tasty fixings on a bocadilla, Idelfonso Acosta’s international status as a guitarist and composer has probably been compromised by his decision to remain in Cuba. No one is taking him for granted there, however, at least judging by his status as president of the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba, also known as UNEAC. Access to Acosta seems quite easy as he passed the half-century mark in his performing career. Besides greeting classes as a professor of guitar in the Center Vocacional de Musica de Matanzas, Acosta performs regularly. One of these gigs might help make up the aesthetic portion of a gala tribute to the revolution; the next evening he could be on national television preceding Celine Dion on a variety show.Interestingly enough, Acosta studied several other instruments in the so-called conventional academic manner before taking on the guitar with a completely contrasting approach. For earlier studies on violin and trumpet he sought out respected instructors such as Candido Faile and Rafael Somavilla, respectively. For his subsequent conversion to guitar he adopted a private, non-conformist approach — in other words, he taught himself — although eventually he added studies with the brilliant Isaac Nicola and Federico Smith. Acosta’s performing career began in the mid-’50s in the Compañía de Teatro y Variedades, and by 1960 he performed in tours abroad as well as receiving thorough coverage on the Cuban isle. He played in jazz bands as well as symphonic settings, and became involved in musical portions of several popular television programs. His Trio Tropical worked by itself or as a special unit within a larger group, a tactic employed in the swing era by bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. Like a barnstorming big band, Acosta worked diligently to bring his performances to regions where live events of this scope were rare, especially programs of somewhat progressive guitar music. On the European concert scene his stature was not diminished by the Cold War rift between Cuban leader Fidel Castro and shuffling American administrations. He performed to acclaim on both sides of the Iron Curtain, served minestrone and gnocchi by Italian festival hosts, soljenka and dumplings by cultural bigwigs in the old U.S.S.R..Western access to his recordings has remained somewhat tricky.Acosta’s Cuban catalog has been smoked out of the United States as if it was a Cuban cigar while the stock of state-run imprints in countries such as Hungary and Poland seems to have dried up almost completely, save a lucky find in an Eastern bloc used record pile. Biographical information posted online mentioned an American production in the works for a label identified as Harbord Side — something fans of guitar can watch out for, unless this is just a hidden message for “the boat people.” “Quinteto Para Dos Musicaturas Cubanas” has been one of the most acclaimed works of Acosta as a composer, winning him an important chamber music prize. “Homenaje al 26” represented an even more ambitious work, described as a “symphonic poem” for chorus and orchestra, and like several of this artist’s pieces, represented something of a slap on the Communist revolutionaries’ back. His work with pen and score pad also includes many transcriptions of performances by other guitarists.