Jose Fajardo, 82; Popular Cuban Flutist-Bandleader

Jose Antonio Fajardo, the flutist and bandleader who rode the crest of the cha-cha-cha craze of the 1950s in Cuba and later emerged as a mentor to leading salsa musicians during his long exile in the United States, has died. He was 82.

Fajardo, who died of an aneurysm Dec. 11 at a hospital in New Jersey, continued performing in the last months of his life, despite his deteriorating health, including open-heart surgery in July.

The influential flutist felt re-energized by his recent role in Cuban Masters, an all-star group of fellow veterans who staged a successful concert in Miami in June and just released an album, “Los Originales,” featuring a Fajardo solo that would be the final recording of his six-decade career.

“He was extremely happy and he was looking forward to going on tour with the band,” Horacio Garcia, executive producer of the concert and album, said Thursday.

“It was like a breath of fresh air for him.”

Fajardo was born in provincial Pinar del Rio in 1919, and played the traditional five-keyed wooden flute in his father’s band.

His well-connected family included his cousin, Jose Manuel Fajardo, the father of singer Gloria Estefan.

He worked as a policeman in Havana before joining one of the most important bands of the 1940s, Arcano y Sus Maravillas.

Soon, he started his own group, Fajardo y Sus Estrellas, in the classic charanga format of flutes and violins floating on gentle percussion.

During the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, he issued a series of albums on Panart, the premiere Cuban label of the pre-Castro era.

At his peak, Fajardo was in such great demand that he led three bands from one end of the island to the other, hopping from city to city by helicopter to appear at simultaneous engagements on the same night.

In 1959, the year Castro came to power, Fajardo performed for John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria.

Two years later, while on tour in Japan, he decided to defect.

He first settled in Miami, but also lived and worked for extended periods in New York and Puerto Rico.

Once on U.S. soil, Fajardo didn’t miss a beat, catching the quick-stepping pachanga dance craze, which was popular in New York in the early 1960s.

For a while, he had two bands, in Miami and New York, recruiting the cream of the young crop of salsa talent, including violinist Alfredo de la Fe and pianist Sonny Bravo, best known as leader of Tipica 73.

Fajardo went on to record with major salsa labels, including the legendary Fania Records, co-founded by Dominican bandleader Johnny Pacheco.

During the 1970s, he helped lead a charanga revival with a series of four albums on Harvey Averne’s Coco Records, once again collaborating with top musicians such as percussionist Ray Barretto, who produced Fajardo’s “El Talento Total” in 1978.

As a songwriter, Fajardo is probably best known for “Los Tamalitos de Olga.”

He was also an arranger and remained in constant demand as a studio musician, working with Israel “Cachao” Lopez and many others.

Although he never regained the level of popularity he enjoyed in Cuba, Fajardo continued to earn respect from more high-profile colleagues, such as Pacheco and flutist Dave Valentin.

“It was with his help that I became a flutist,” Pacheco told the (Bergen County, N.J.) Record last week during a service at a New Jersey funeral home.

“And through the years, he was always my best advisor. He was really my teacher, my maestro.”

During the open-casket service, the late musician clutched the black wooden flute he played for the last time Nov. 28 at La Manganette in New York City.

He was laid to rest near his parents’ graves at a Florida cemetery.

Along with his wife of 42 years, Miriam, he also is survived by a sister, Neyda; brother, Alberto; and children, Ines Maria, Maria Elena, Marta, Maximo, Jose Jr. and Armando, who will take over his father’s band. Fajardo also leaves behind several grandchildren.