Adolfo Colombo

Who was Adolfo Colombo?

Adolfo Columbo was a leading singer in the Alhambra Theatre in Havana, and also an actor and a leading personality in the theatre. Colombo was the most recorded artist in Cuba up to 1925: records show he recorded about 350 numbers between 1906 and 1917.

Colombo was a tenor, who sang regularly with Claudio García in the theatre and on recordings. He also recorded with Regino López and other artists between 1906 to 1929. In 1908 he joined the Cuarteto Villalón with García, Emilio Reinoso, and Alberto Villalón. This was an early precursor of the son groups that developed later in Havana. Their repertoire included boleros and other Cuban genres such as guarachas, a genre which owed its origin to the theatre. One that has been reissued by Harlequin reveals a funky number which is hard to categorize. Listed as a rumba, it is perhaps better described as a guaracha-son. The artists singing are Colombo and Claudio García, the guitar probably Alberto Villalón, plus an unknown musician playing what may be a tres guitar; there is also a clavé. All three named players were white, yet the number is creole, almost Afro-Cuban, in style.