Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco’s orchestra has been able to produce one of the most unique sounds of the decade in Cuba thanks to the combination of a charanga and a big band, formed by several sections: two trumpets, two trombones, a flute, two pianos, cello, violin, bass, drums, conga, guiro … ‘I think that what gives more variety to the orchestra is that there are three solo singers of different styles, on the other hand, metals and strings, gives me the possibility to navigate through Cuban music’.
Born in Camagüey, East of Havana, Manolo Simonet, a.k.a. Manolito, is an accomplished musician. He began playing the drums at the age of five. After graduating form the National School for the Arts, Manolito Simonet was the musical director and pianist for the charanga Orquestra Maravilla de Florida. He founded his own orchestra in February 25 of 1993. Since then, Manolito y su Trabuco has become one of the favorite dance bands in Cuba.
Many of Manolito's compositions have been played by top Cuban bands such as Elio Revé y su Charagon and Charanga '86, and have also been used in movie soundtracks.
The group members have all graduated from the National School for the Arts, and have toured internationally. Manolito y su Trabuco has performed in the most important European world music and jazz Festivals. During the 2001 European Tour that lasted for two months we played fifty two shows, we have also been touring in Peru and of course in Cuba, we spent New Year’s Eve working in Italy and January 2002 we performed at the party that Prince Williams of Holland organized for his wedding.
With "Locos Por Mi Habana" the latest CD, put on those seatbelts! Finally a timba record without excuses (you know, uh, sorry about the acoustic guitars, synth strings, rapping...). Simonet had a run of albums a while ago that made us take him for granted; Locos should change that, in that it's as good as any dance record that's come out of Cuba since the Charanga Habanera's "Soy Cubano, Soy Popular." Simonet is in full bloom, and the recording sounds like the work of a road band, tight, loaded with dynamic changes and coros that have been tested for value by the stage and the audience. And there's that long distance dance groove that makes you wish the tunes would last another half an hour. There's even a funk guitar thrown into the tunes (I guess it's a keyboard since there's no credit given for guitar) and oddly enough it sounds great, chugging away along with the rhythm section. The coros, horns and string section mesh perfectly over the percussion, and the lead singers, sounding totally up to date, using a common Havanese stock of melodic and verbal lines, pierce through with their improvisations. This is the real stuff, done well, and long overdue.
In recent years el Trabuco has collaborated with renowned international artists such as Gilberto Santa Rosa, José Alberto el Canario, Gladys Knight, The Supremes, Peter Frampton, Joan Osborne and many others.