This unusual dance orchestra consisted usually of one or two saxophones, violin, piano and marimba, directed by Celso Hurtado, a Guatemalan marimbist. He toured and recorded with his brothers (in a combo named the Hurtado Brothers' Royal Marimba Band or, on other occasions, The Hurtados) when they came to the United States and was considered as an exceptional soloist who used, among other techniques, a single-handed roll to accompany his right-hand melody in the Guatemalan style. After the original combo disbanded in 1928, in New York, Celso Hurtado managed to keep remnants of the band together, performing at hotels in New York and Canada, and also continued to make recordings. In the early 1930s, the band, under new management, played for debutantes Gloria Vanderbilt and Brenda Fraser, and in 1935 and 1936 performed at the famous Pre-Cat Club near Times Square. Towards the end of the 30s, the band reunited to play on special events. Celso Hurtado and his brothers were contracted to play for the 1939 and 1940 Treasure Island (Golden Gate) Exposition in San Francisco. Afterwards, the members of the Hurtado family adopted San Francisco as their home, while playing only special club dates in and around the Bay area. By 1943, the group was playing as many as three engagements in one day. By 1944, Celso Hurtado had established a reputation in his native country and the United States as a virtuoso marimbist, although in Guatemala it is rare for a solo performer to gain recognition for his talent because of the emphasis on marimba ensembles. In May of 1944, Celso Hurtado returnedhome to Guatemala after an absence of twenty-nine years. He perform ed a solo recital (with piano accompaniment) on 12 May 1944 in the Lux Theatre, playing a marimba which he had designed and built in San Francisco. On 7 April 1947, Celso returned to New York where, billed as "the World's Greatest Virtuoso of the Marimba," he gave a recital in Carnegie Hall, the first recital on that stage of a solo marimbist. This biography is a short excerpt from a fascinating article about the marimba and its performers (http://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5090&context=gradschool_disstheses). As for the present recording, it was made in 1929, featuring a vocal by Henry Burr. Unfortunately, this disc was quite worn; I did my best to restore surface damage but could not avoid some distortion; yet I considered this rare performance too important to discard.
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