Boleros at the Sans Soucis by Raul Gutierrez presents: Ernesto Tejeda (CD)

Legend has it that Marlon Brando’s first night in the mystical Havana in the 1950s was a bohemian and, of course, ethylic visit to the famous cabaret Sans Souci. It was a prayer of alcohol and madness, which ended up scratching the dawn together with two new friends, Chilean bartender Donato Buscatierra and a divine passion: the bolero. Brando and Buscatierra met long after in the four seasons of happiness and although the cabaret “Sans Souci” only existed in nostalgia because it was burned and looted by the anger of the people on that tumultuous December 31, 1958 when the bearded Fidel Castro arrived on the island, boleros followed and lasted not only in the soundtrack of Brando and Buscatierra, but in an entire generation of bohemians and music lovers.
Many years later, the globetrotter Buscatierra met a fellow countryman of his, a musician and lover of Cuban music, Raúl Gutiérrez Villanueva, in a jazz club in Munich.
That night, among Chilean piscos and exclusive rums, Buscatierra would evoke that time when Havana danced and laughed. With his ebullient voice full of experiences and history of the seven seas of the world, Buscatierra told the magic of one of the most important cabarets in Havana. Great and unique performers like Mario Moreno (Cantinflas), boxing champion Rocky Marciano, Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas, and the divine Libertad Lamarque were among the many luminaries who attended and performed there.
Many Cuban stars shone in the cast of the cabaret Sans Souci, such as Norma Chaviano, vedette Rosa Fornés, composer and singer Cesar Portillo de la Luz and Cuarteto Las De’Aidas. After that meeting in Munich, nothing remained the same for the musician Raúl Gutiérrez, he sounded in boleros, he sounded with Sans Souci and it was such a success that he took the first plane to Havana. Upon his arrival he took an old 1955 Chevrolet as a taxi and set off for Arroyo Arena Km 15. They arrived at a rural and rough environment of the Cuban capital. Where nothing was left of what was one of the greatest cabarets in Cuba, Sans Souci, like a Roman coliseum worn out by time and insidiousness, only sand and mud remained, but the aura of its greatness was still there, intact and sacramental, and it took over Gutiérrez Villanueva forever, He only had to close his eyes to see Ana Gloria and Ferran’s dance couple with a choreography by Alberto Alonso, to hear Dorothy Dandridge’s angelic voice followed by a powerful chorus of 14 voices, to feel the feeling of Cesar Portillo de la Luz’ guitar in the wonderful “Tú mi delirio”.
Raúl Gutiérrez Villanueva had definitely fallen ill with love for the magic of the former cabaret Sans Souci and could only be cured under the axiom of the oracle of Caribbean musicians: with music.
This album is the antidote to the nostalgia of Sans Souci. For this endeavor, he chose an exceptional singer, Ernesto Tejeda, with a unique timbre that makes each bolero a delirium, filling us with nostalgia and memories. Two extraordinary voices joined this musical journey: the already consecrated lady of the bolero, Maritza Montero, and the young and talented Yamile Wilson, who brought color and tradition to the record.
“Boleros at the Sans Souci” disarms the soul in every song, makes us toast to love in all its equinoxes and tells us together with the troubadour that “life is much more than you can reach, that’s why living happily is not forbidden.”

Nestor A. Proveyer Deruich (Poet and Writer), Miami FL, February 2020

CV > Ernesto Tejeda
After singing at school events in Primary, Secondary and Pre-University school,
in 1993 Tejeda started working at the Cabaret Tropicana in Havana Cuba as a choir singer. Without leaving the cabaret, in 1994 he began to work as a vocal soloist in the cabaret.
In 1996 he traveled to Madrid where he worked at the Teatro Nuevo Apolo, during that tour he had the opportunity to work with the singer Jose Feliciano in the program TV5.
In 1997, he worked in London at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall Theatre.
In 1998 he toured Germany.
In 1999 he sang as a soloist at the opening of a ”Bodeguita del Medio” in Palmas de Gran Canarias.
In 2000 he toured Canada, including Montreal and Toronto.
In the same year 2000 he recorded for the Chilean producer Raúl Gutiérrez in his production ”Saxophones and Voices”.
In 2001 he did an extensive tour in several cities in Spain, among the most important: Valencia, Barcelona, Murcia, Seville, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca.
In 2002 he opened the Sala Bon Aire in Tenerife.
In April 2006, he sings as a soloist in the city of Toronto for the opening of the Niagara Falls View Casino.
Ernesto Tejeda has worked with important interpreters of Cuba, such as the singer Omara Portuondo, Pedrito Calvo, the popular group Wena Onda, Chispa y sus Cómplices, the soloist Beatriz Marquez, Las D’Aidas, the important composers and interpreters Ondina Mateo and Alina Torres, as well as his collaborations with the composer José Valladares and the singer Coco Freeman.
Currently, Ernesto Tejeda is the main soloist of the Cabaret “Tropicana” Havana Cuba.
Writer.
Miami Fl