Mario Patterson

Cuban trumpeter (b. 1915, Holguín, d. Santiago de Cuba, 1989). Mario Patterson trained as a trumpeter in his hometown of Holguín with José Ochoa and his Boy Scouts band. When the son septets reached their peak in the early thirties, Patterson joined "Septeto La Tropical" which was founded a few years earlier. In 1936 Patterson organized his own training which he abandoned two years later to settle in Santiago de Cuba where he joined "Los Trovadores de Toño" who were popular on the radios and in the dances in Santiago. While the group dissolved and several members left for Havana, Mario stayed in Santiago and joined the "Chepín Chóven" orchestra, to which he remained faithful until 1959 when he himself organized and directed several groups ranging from small combos to the "Jazz Band" type (a big band orchestra featuring a large brass section), having the most success with his "Orquesta Oriental" on the recently nationalized Panart Records from 1960 to 1961 with the voice of Ibrahim Ferrer on tracks like "Cariño falso," "No la lleves" and “Como me siento ahora”. The orchestra lineup generally included two trumpets, a saxophone, pailas (timbales), congas, double bass, piano and three voices. For the recording of the LP "Mario Patterson y su Orquesta Oriental" Patterson invited the two Peñalver brothers on alto and tenor saxophones and Virgilio Vixama on baritone saxophone. Fernando Álvarez, Rolando "Tim Mc Coy" Borrero and Mon Brooks were the vocalists for the subsequent recording, "Mi Santiaguera Bonita" in 1961.