(CNN Spanish) -
Armando Manzanero died at dawn on Monday, December 28 in Mexico City, days after being hospitalized for complications from the coronavirus.
The musical legacy left by maestro Manzanero is more than 400 songs.
It includes big hits that were performed by celebrities like Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick Perry, Frank Sinatra and Luis Miguel, to name a few.
Zona Pop CNN took on the task of speaking with various music experts, each one of their genre, to find out what Manzanero was like in private and professionally.
Everyone agreed that the simplicity of the singer-songwriter from Mérida, Yucatán, was his main characteristic.
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Manzanero leaves romanticism an orphan
Among the best-known themes of the maestro Armando Manzanero are "I don't know you", "This afternoon I saw it rain", "Under the table", "With you I learned", "We are boyfriends" and "Nothing personal" .
And these declarations of love made into songs led Manzanero to occupy a place of honor along with another legend of Mexican music, Agustín Lara, as the kings of romanticism.
Rosalinda Palomeque, editor of the entertainment section of the newspaper
El Sol de México
, said in Zona Pop CNN that “with the departure of Armando Manzanero, romanticism is orphaned.
He was the king of romanticism.
«From the media, Armando Manzanero's name was very big.
Everyone knew the songs he had written, which is not always the case.
The president of Mexico, in his morning conference, was the one who confirmed his death.
At that level, Armando Manzanero was in the lives of Mexicans, "added the journalist.
A living tribute to Manzanero
Perhaps one of the last times that maestro Manzanero was seen on stage, along with his faithful piano, was at the Billboard Latin Music Awards ceremony, held in Miami on October 21.
In front of his piano, Manzanero was honored by four singers of the contemporary romantic ballad, who performed some of his hits.
Pablo Alboran sang "With you I learned", Luis Fonsi interpreted "Under the table", Jesús Navarro, vocalist of the Mexican group Reik, did his thing with the song "Como yo te amo" and Joy Huerta, of the musical group Jesse & Joy He closed the tribute with "I don't know about you."
«It was very emotional.
It was a great success because we must remember that the Billboard Latin Music Awards were going to be held as every year in April, but they moved to October and maestro Manzanero was able to attend, "said Tere Aguilera, Mexico correspondent of the magazine Billboard.
«He loved life and took so much risk.
He was very excited and enjoyed it very much.
He, being an artist of that size, wanted new generations to hear his songs and the interpretations of Fonsi, Alboran, Joy and Jesús.
That is where the most important part of that tribute was based, ”added Aguilera.
Manzanero: simple, joking and down to earth
Armando Manzanero received in 2014 the Grammy for Musical Career from the American Recording Academy.
He also won two Latin Grammys, one of them in recognition of his career and was awarded the Billboard Artistic Career Award (and the list goes on).
One would think that an artist of this caliber would have more than enough reason to become unattainable.
But quite the opposite.
He was someone very simple.
He loved to speak high-sounding words, he was a first-rate rogue, and he liked to joke.
The singer-songwriter José Manuel Figueroa knew him very closely and lived with Manzanero repeatedly because the teacher was married to Laura Elena Villa, a cousin of Figueroa's father, Joan Sebastian.
"Is awesome.
I've always said it.
The great ones, when you get to know them in person, they are the simplest, the most natural, the most joking.
Those who, apart from having the genius to be able to compose or draw in a sentence and add notes, the feeling of love, have the ability to turn something serious into something funny and that surprised me about the teacher », said Figueroa.
Something that also characterized Manzanero was that he had the time to listen to the talents and advise them.
“I always had the time and the patience and asked myself, 'What are you doing?
What are you composing, brat?
You are in love?
Are you composing in love? '
He didn't want me to compose out of commercial necessity.
He told me to compose because it was born in my soul, "recalls the eldest son of Mexican singer Joan Sebastian.
Armando Manzanero: fundamental piece of the musical world
Working with Armando Manzanero in a recording studio became a school and a privilege for many.
One of those chosen was Alejandro Abaroa, musical director of Warner Music México, who related on Zona Pop CNN how the recording of the double album Master Class was like, one with the complete production and the other with the “demos”.
He explained that Manzanero himself gave instructions on how he wanted the arrangements.
«In 2007 I had to make a Manzanero album with new songs and working with him was a delight.
First because of the music he gave you and then because the character was a born poet.
Everything he said was in the form of poetry, friendly, talkative, rude, mischievous.
He was a great guy, he was Armando Manzanero ”, said Abaroa.
Of course, it was impossible not to feel nervous having the work of a composer like Manzanero in your hands.
«I felt very nervous and with a lot of respect.
He had a very particular way of recording.
He would give you a CD and he would sit at the piano and tell you the name of the song.
I was telling you about the details of the introduction.
And that the charango instrument moved like this and played on the piano how he wanted it to be heard.
And the same with the violins and so on until the song is finished.
It lasted 40 minutes where he explained to me how he wanted the songs to be constructed at the level of arrangements ».
«I hope that this type of romantic music never dies and that the new generations discover this type of songs and that, in some way, they take the value that each and every one of the songs has and bring them out again for a a new generation that I am sure does not know, "added Abaroa.
Always open to new generations
Armando Manzanero always sought to keep up with the new generations of performers and composers.
A clear example is the Mexican singer Paty Cantú, who lived and learned from the teacher.
To say goodbye to him, he thanked him with an emotional message on his Instagram account for everything he did for romance and more.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Paty Cantú (@patycantu)
«I never went unnoticed how affectionate, tender and simple he was.
The 'dad with his daughter' that he made me feel.
And it was impressive that he did not forget anything or anyone.
He knows all the changes that have to be generated and that he cares about my opinion as a human being and thinking and with that respect and joy that characterized him, ”said Cantú.
And perhaps one of the most influential aspects of Manzanero is composition, especially for artists like Cantú.
For her, she commented on Zona Pop CNN, passion and her legacy became crucial elements.
«What I was discovering about him and what made me respect him more as a person.
Someone his age so lucid, active, passionate makes you think like a human being.
This person knows something and it would be worth raising awareness of all his music that is part of our lives and internalize and review his work over and over again because each time you find something new.
«His themes are stories of love affairs that unleashed happiness in entire families.
That power has the pen when someone writes from the heart as did the teacher Manzanero, "added Cantú.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Armando Manzanero (@armandomanzaoficial)
We invite you to listen to this special episode with great guests who lived together personally and professionally with Armando Manzanero.
What was your favorite song?
What was it like in a recording studio?
What was it like to be at a bohemian party with the teacher?
What did the teacher tell Camilo Egaña about the quarrels with Luis Miguel?
What would have happened if you were up to the height of José Manuel Figueroa?
You will find all the answers to these questions and more in a special episode in which we pay tribute to maestro Armando Manzanero.
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