Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades acknowledged that with the death of fellow countryman and trumpeter Victor “Vitín” Paz, the world is losing “a titan of music, an example of iron discipline and dedication to perfection”.
“The Titan of the Trumpet and one of the best musicians in the world, leaves us his seriousness, professionalism and quality to serve as an example, now and always,” Blades said on his social networks.
Paz, always considered a ‘living legend’ of Panamanian music, who accompanied great artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Las Estrellas de Fania, passed away last Saturday at the age of 89, without knowing the cause of his death. .
Blades lamented that Paz has “moved to the other neighborhood” and confesses that it is “difficult to write about the departure of loved ones week after week.”
The Panamanian film composer and actor indicated that in an environment ‘as competitive’ as New York, where he has also developed much of his artistic career, ‘Vitín’ ‘gave him the seat of trumpet and his excellence gave him the admiration and respect. yielded. from all his peers, plus access to opportunities to join bands that don’t normally hire Latino musicians. ”
He then emphasized that “when the best trumpet was needed, the sentence was: ‘look for Vitín'”.
The author of “Pedro Navaja” remembers Paz as “an eternal student of his instrument” who “practiced daily throughout his life” without allowing “his fame made him forget that only discipline can help create and maintain of excellence “.
“He knew that in order to maintain his pristine reputation, he always had to maintain a regime of constant training and study and he did so until the end of his days,” said the Panamanian singer-songwriter, film actor and composer.
Blades recalls ‘Vitín’ from the legend, who with the perfect solo in (the melody) ‘Puerto Rico’, by Eddie Palmieri, the member of the best orchestras, musical accompanist of ‘Tito’ Rodriguez and Frank Sinatra, the narrator of anecdotes, connoisseur of musical truths and possessor of a dry, sometimes destructive humor ”.
He also saves Paz’s friendship with his family as a ‘musical colleague’ who, along with his mother, the singer and pianist Anoland Bellido de Luna, was a member of the orchestra of the Panamanian musician Clarence Martín, and remembers that ‘Vitín ” his trumpet with my mother’s voice and not with the piano, as usual. ”
“I asked him why he did that and he came up with one of his many accurate answers: ‘I’ve heard pianos out of tune, guys, but I’ve never heard your mother out of tune,’” Blades said.
Blades closes his obituary and says “thank you Master ‘Vitin’. Here we will continue your route as you advised us to always provide ‘oil'”.
‘Vitín’ Paz was a musician who has performed on the best stages along with relevant artists and singers in Caracas, New York and Panama, be it in theater, salsa, jazz, but also in films like ‘Mambo Kings’, in which he played the trumpet by actor Antonio Banderas, according to his resume.
Paz, who was always first trumpet, married and the father of four children – none of them a musician – returned to Panama in 1999 after spending 36 years in New York.
In 2011, the Panama Jazz Festival (PJF) dedicated its eighth edition to Paz for his career in global music history.
EFE