On June 22nd, I received the news in an email. My brother informed me of the death of Pedro Martín, in Lanzarote. I was saddened, as we had recently resumed contact, he had sent me a recording of the ...
On June 22nd, I received the news in an email. My brother informed me of the death of Pedro Martín, in Lanzarote. I was saddened, as we had recently resumed contact, he had sent me a recording of the Ajei Group from when he was in it. We would call each other on the phone a couple of times a year. I wrote this then, but I archived it, I didn't like it, until now.
It has been 40 years since the birth of "Los Gofiones", and Pedro Martín, from Lanzarote, participated in the group's presentation. Why was he with Los Gofiones? Pedro Martín came to Las Palmas with his family because his children were going to pursue higher education, and they did not have that possibility in Lanzarote. Every week he went to Lanzarote where he had his carpentry shop, and whenever his obligations allowed it, he came to Las Palmas, to the rehearsals and performances of Los Gofiones. He needed to be in contact with our music, our folklore, and he joined us, integrating completely.
I remember Pedro Martín as an honest, modest man who made little fuss, he liked to go unnoticed, there were never any problems with him. He was the oldest of us, and for everyone a peacemaker, a calm and affectionate person.
As a member of Los Gofiones, Pedro contributed his experience and knowledge of folklore in Lanzarote, and taught us to sing the seguidilla of Lanzarote, which was recorded on the group's first album. He also sang the folía in a particular way. Pedro whispered while singing, he didn't shout, even in the seguidillas, his fine voice gave the tone very well, but without great volume. And the Isa conejera was melody, it came out with great ease. Pedro was a peculiar singer of feeling. He never showed off, nor competed to sing. I think that here, in Las Palmas, we forgot about Pedro as a singer. I don't know if in Lanzarote, where he returned, he participated in any group.
Five years ago he came to Las Palmas, invited by Los Gofiones, and we met on the occasion of the tribute that was paid to Perico Lino. He came to sing some seguidillas from Lanzarote to participate in said tribute. He was already 80 years old, and he looked very good. Pedro was always a great singer, he did it as he was used to in Lanzarote. He sang the seguidilla very well, he was our teacher, and Los Gofiones learned with him, although we played it somewhat slower than in Lanzarote. Pedro sang in the Plaza de Santa Ana, in the tribute to Pedro Lino, and we accompanied him singing, Víctor Batista, director of Los Gofiones, and I, who had often sung with him.
So that some may learn of things that were important in the long life of this group, I am going to detail some memories in which Pedro Martín participated, and that I believe few Gofiones know or remember.
The group Los Gofiones was unfairly criticized by a journalist who was a correspondent for the newspaper el Día de Tenerife, and who wrote in the Eco de Canarias, in Las Palmas, where he even called us "Copiones", possibly due to his economic dependence on El Día, and due to ignorance regarding folklore and popular music. This and differences with our director caused the group to break up three years after its presentation, as many tensions, disappointments, and disharmony were created among us.
Given the disillusionment and disinterest that was seen among the members, after a few months that we did not meet or rehearse, I remember that I called Pedro Martín, and I invited him to meet in the Pueblo Canario, with other members whom I would call later. But Pedro Martín and Juan Falcón were two mainstays, due to their character and their influence on the rest of the group. I also think I remember Roberto Hernández, Perico Lino, Manolín Padilla, I think Sergio García-Beltrán, and a server were at that meeting. The purpose was to continue with the group, as what seemed most difficult had been done. We had a group of friends, and we had recorded the first album, which has always been celebrated as an anthology for Canarian folklore.
We didn't have a rehearsal space. We didn't have a director. It was a situation in which the group could disappear. It needed a strong push to continue. Pedro Martin, was the person who when he spoke, we all listened to him. That is why it was important that he be at that meeting and that he take part, that he get involved. When he had to say something, he waited for everyone to have given their opinion first, and then, he took the floor and avoided going against any opinion, and almost always he would come out with a story, or some event that he had lived previously, with which he illustrated and made us understand what he thought. He left no one hurt. He displayed a common sense, "out of the ordinary".
I think I remember that we left there with the spirit ready to look for the solutions we needed. We got a rehearsal space at the Real Club Náutico, as the recreation president was in love with popular music, folklore, and especially Los Gofiones. He provided us with a room to start, and then the disco. This gentleman was my father, Lorenzo García-Beltrán de Miranda.
We needed a director to set the guidelines, correct us and bring us to fruition. There was no one to take charge in the group. We proposed Pedro Lino, who didn't want to, but Juan Falcón, Manolo Padilla, Pedro Martín, Roberto Hernández, and some others, agreed, and we met in Juan Falcón's offices, in Los Tarahales, and there we prepared the rehearsals.
Juan Falcón prepared the picks with M. Padilla, Perico accompanied on the guitar, I think Roberto played the double bass, I helped in the arrangements and voices. Among all of us who went, we contributed, and then Perico Lino, in the rehearsal, marked the entrances and directed. The group was consolidated, increased, and better people than we were entered. Thus, in 1976, we arrived at the recording of the second and third albums with the Columbia label.
In all these matters we always had the presence and prudent advice of Pedro Martín, together with his good humor, his wry smile, and once again his great common sense. Some will always remember him.
Until we meet again Pedro.
