Americo Boschetti

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Americo Boschetti (born April 16, 1951) is a singer, composer and guitarist. Composer of over 500 songs, Boschetti has also transformed many poems into songs by adding music to the lyrics.

Composer person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition

A composer is a musician who is an author of music in any form, including vocal music, instrumental music, electronic music, and music which combines multiple forms. A composer may create music in any music genre, including, for example, classical music, musical theatre, blues, folk music, jazz, and popular music. Composers often express their works in a written musical score using musical notation.

Guitarist person who plays the guitar

A guitarist is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica.

Contents

Early years

Boschetti was born in Santurce, a section of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. However, he was raised in the town of Corozal where his mother's family came from. There he received his primary and secondary education and at an early age was introduced to the world of music when his mother gave him a guitar as a present. In 1964, he wrote in English his first song influenced by the styles of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. [1] [2] [3]

Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico Barrio of Puerto Rico

Santurce is a barrio in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 81,251. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the districts in the capital with a bigger population than most municipalities of Puerto Rico and one of the most densely populated areas of the island.

San Juan, Puerto Rico Capital and municipality of Puerto Rico

San Juan is the capital and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it is the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, with a population of 395,326. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's capital is the third oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1496 and Panama City, in Panama, founded in 1519. Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristóbal, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.

Corozal, Puerto Rico Town and municipality of Puerto Rico

Corozal is a municipality of Puerto Rico (U.S.) located in the central-eastern region, north of Orocovis and Barranquitas; south of Vega Alta; southwest of Toa Alta; east of Morovis and Orocovis; and west of Naranjito. Corozal is spread over 12 wards and Corozal Pueblo. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

In 1968, Boschetti enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico and became involved in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was also involved in the student protests of that era against the Vietnam War, the presence of the ROTC in the university's campus and other political issues. He started writing songs directed towards social reforms and romantic themes. [1] [2]

University of Puerto Rico The main public university system of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico is the main public university system of Puerto Rico and a government-owned corporation of Puerto Rico. The institution consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 58,000 students and 5,300 faculty members. UPR has the largest and most diverse academic offerings in Puerto Rico, with 472 academic programs of which 32 lead to a doctorate.

Vietnam War 1955–1975 conflict in Vietnam

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies. The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

Musical style

His compositions were not limited to one particular style, but to a diversified variety of styles which included rock and roll, bolero, salsa, etc. The death of his mother Conchita, in 1970 affected him very much and may be reflected in the songs which he wrote in tribute to women, love and children. [1] [2]

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, and country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.

Bolero refers to two distinct genres of slow-tempo Latin music and their associated dances. The oldest type of bolero originated in Spain during the late 18th century as a form of ballroom music, which influenced art music composers around the world, most famously Maurice Ravel's Boléro, as well as a flamenco style known as boleras. An unrelated genre of sung music originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. This genre gained widespread popularity around Latin America throughout the 20th century and continues to thrive.

Music of Puerto Rico Variety of musical genres from Puerto Rico, US

The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources have been Spain and West Africa, although many aspects of Puerto Rican music reflect origins elsewhere in Europe and the Caribbean. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from essentially indigenous genres like bomba to recent hybrids like Latin trap and reggaeton. Broadly conceived, the realm of "Puerto Rican music" should naturally comprise the music culture of the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent who have lived in the United States, and especially in New York City. Their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from the music culture of Puerto Rico itself.

In 1973, Boschetti decided to self-exile to avoid the U.S. military draft. The exile, which lasted until 1978, started in Europe, continued in Canada and ended in the United States. While in Europe, Boschetti wrote an operetta based on the drowning of Diego Salcedo by the Taíno Agueybana II, nephew of Taíno Cacique Agüeybaná. The operetta included 36 of Boschetti's songs and was written as a play in 1975 in Stromboli, Italy and made into an operetta in the United States in 1977 in Mandeville, Louisiana. [1] [2]

Conscription in the United States "The draft" in the United States

Conscription in the United States, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the federal government of the United States in five conflicts: the American Revolution, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. The third incarnation of the draft came into being in 1940 through the Selective Training and Service Act. It was the country's first peacetime draft. From 1940 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the United States Armed Forces that could not be filled through voluntary means. The draft came to an end when the United States Armed Forces moved to an all-volunteer military force. However, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency plan; all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily resumed if needed. United States Federal Law also provides for the compulsory conscription of men between the ages of 17 and 45 and certain women for militia service pursuant to Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution and 10 U.S. Code § 246.

Europe Continent in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere

Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Asia to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Boschetti returned to Puerto Rico in 1978, however in 1977 he secretly visited the island to meet with Puerto Rican singer Danny Rivera. Rivera agreed to record one of Boschetti's song La Guaracha del ruiseñor, which he included in his album Alborada. Once Boschetti reestablished himself in the island, he co-founded the group "Colindancias". In 1981, Boschetti made his recording debut with the song Colindancias and went on tour. [1] [2]

Danny Rivera is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan and whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired the Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 years of work Danny Rivera and Nelson González in 2014 finished work putting new life into the classical bolero - in Spanish. Latin Luminaries Danny Rivera and Nelson González Hit the Heart of the Latin American Song Book on Obsesión

Compositions

Among Boschetti's compositions are the following: [2]

In 1984, he decided to take a vacation (semi-retired) from the world of music. He had written over 500 songs and had also transformed some of the poems from the likes of Jose de Diego, Luis Lloréns Torres, Julia de Burgos, Juan Antonio Corretjer and José Martí into songs by adding music to the lyrics. During his vacation his songs were recorded by many artists, among them Haciendo Punto en Otro Son, Katraska, Danny Rivera, Perla del Sur, Cheo Feliciano, Josy Latorre, and Moliendo Vidrio. [1]

Later years

In 2000, he returned from his retirement and released Antología sencilla (Simple Anthology), which included 13 new compositions and 11 of his earlier songs. On April 25, 2004 he composed and recorded Canción Elegía, which he dedicated to Carlos Muñiz Varela, a young Cuban civil rights advocate who was murdered. Currently Americo Boschetti continues to write, record and perform with his band. [1] [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Americo Boschetti Archived December 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Haciendo Punto en Otro Son
  3. ↑ "Américo Boschetti" (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico: National Foundation for Popular Culture.
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