The Boy and his Hero

 

THE BOY AND HIS HERO

(OR, ABOUT DANIEL CORTEZ BELUPÚ)

Daniel Cortez Belupú in 1971 (age 23)

A boy would huddle among a handful of people in front of the gate of a three-story building on the tenth block of Chimbote’s Olaya Street. Inside, every Thursday, an orchestra born to make history was rehearsing. It was the late sixties and early seventies. The boy had to stand on tiptoe to see the musicians and their instruments through the shutter, his eyes fixed in fascination on his hero: Daniel Cortez Belupú, the trumpeter and director of Los Rumbaney.

In 1964, the trumpeter had left Sechura, the “Sand Capital,” to come to what was then the “Fishing Capital of the World”: Chimbote. He was sixteen years old and wanted a big city—one the size of his dreams, with no limits for his precocious musical talent. Upon arriving, he contacted his maternal uncles: Guadalupe, José del Carmen, Víctor, and Máximo Belupú Purizaca. The latter was the financial secretary of the Fishermen's Union and, it is worth noting, his office secretary was Doña Amelia Montero Sánchez—the older sister of a young girl Daniel met the very day he arrived, and with whom he fell in love for life.

The boy lived at the corner of Aviación Avenue and Jirón Unión in Barrio San Isidro. He often walked to the tenth block of Olaya Street to see the orchestra and his hero. These were times when Chimbote was going through a defining moment in its history: the 1970 earthquake, whose forty-five seconds turned a whole generation of children into men; the city’s reconstruction; the national triumphs of Chimbote’s sports teams in volleyball, swimming, and the José Gálvez FBC; and the final years of the great fish bonanza. The rise of Los Rumbaney fit perfectly into this time; they knew how to interpret Chimbote’s soul, creating a sound that beat with the heart of its people. Their hits kept young and old alike in a state of constant celebration.

Daniel Cortez Belupú was born in Sechura on October 9, 1947. He attended elementary school at the Escuela Fiscal No. 23, located across from the town’s San Martín de Tours church. His father was Don Clemente Cortez Chunga, a farmer from Vice, Piura; his mother, Doña Ricardina Belupú Purizaca, a homemaker from Sechura. He was the eldest and the only son among three siblings, his younger sisters being Marina Cortez Belupú and Gladys Dedios Belupú. Orphaned at age two, he had to work from the age of nine to support his family. In the village church, he started with percussion and later moved to brass instruments, earning his first tips with the sweat of his art.

At age eleven, in his beloved Sechura, Daniel joined La Banda Dedios, better known as Los Diablos, owned by Don Máximo Dedios Zapata. This man taught him to read and write music and was his first musical mentor. It was here that he focused on the trumpet, though he also mastered the trombone, taking them on as a professional job that paid the bills. five years later, he needed a larger stage. That was how he landed in Chimbote in 1964.

Daniel’s first stay in Chimbote lasted three years. During this period, his uncle Máximo Belupú Purizaca introduced him to various groups and orchestras of the time, starting with Chiquito La Rosa’s Orchestra, where he played trumpet. In 1967, at nineteen, he moved to Trujillo to study at the Carlos Valderrama Regional Conservatory of Music, while continued his high school studies at the Instituto Moderno, General Salaverry, and San Juan schools.

Parallel to his studies in Trujillo, he joined the best orchestras of the day in town: Alicia Estrada, Dominó, Los Hermanos Silva, and Nueva Sensación, always with his golden trumpet—his faithful, lifelong companion—the one he knew how to whisper to, pressing its valves to draw out the ecstasy of its most beautiful notes. But he hadn't finished his studies when, two years later, he resolved to return to Chimbote. He couldn't stay away from his great love, the one who held his heart in the port of his hopes.

The musician who returned in early 1969 was twenty-one and had reached full personal and artistic maturity. During the first weeks of the new year, he was part of the Quesquén y sus Estrellas orchestra, led by Don Marino Quesquén Puicán. Shortly after, he resumed high school in the night shift at San Pedro school and traveled weekly to Trujillo to complete his studies at the Conservatory. At the same time, he played in groups that headlined the floor shows at the night clubs of the time. And then, something big happened that year…

On the second Sunday of February 1969, five brilliant young musicians from a group called Los Cleaver Swing invited Daniel to join them and begin rehearsals immediately; in four days, they were scheduled for a “mano a mano” musical duel against the famous Lima group Pedro Miguel y sus Maracaibos. These young men were: Germán Electo Luna, Erasmo González Silva, Enrique Vera Pastor, José Luis Oliva Moreno, and Lucio Reynalte Coral.

Daniel accepted and brought his own ideas—and a new name. As he has explained, in the Cuban music of that time, the black rumba was sometimes called “rumba ney.” So, he renamed the group Los Rumbaney. On Thursday, February 13, 1969, the new orchestra debuted, sharing the stage with Pedro Miguel y sus Maracaibos. A year later, at Lima’s Amauta Coliseum, they won a famous salsa festival featuring the best of tropical music. In 1971, they earned their first Gold Record for “El Poncho,” and soon another for “Cumbia India.” A string of hits followed until 1976. That year, Daniel joined Aldo y los Pasteles Verdes as an arranger on a successful tour through Mexico and other countries—a three-month project that stretched into nearly two years.

Daniel’s days were always marked by intense work and study—a pace of life only possible because of the love that took root in his heart from the day he first arrived in Chimbote in 1964. Meeting the young Angélica Montero Sánchez in her sister’s office was the first step of a beautiful relationship destined for the altar. On July 11, 1970, Daniel and Angélica were married. They have four children: Anny Delilah, twins Anyela María and Kelly María, and Daniel Richard. To this day, they have been married for forty-five years and live in the El Trapecio development in Chimbote.

When the virtuous trumpeter lived in Trujillo, he began signing his name as “Santos D.” His name, in truth... is not Daniel. When he was born, his parents consulted the Calendar of Saints and saw “October 9, Day of Saint Dionysius.” Following tradition, they named him Santos Dionisio. So it was that his friends in Trujillo began to tease him, asking: “Are you Santos Daniel?” They were referring, of course, to the famous Puerto Rican singer Daniel Santos, known as “El Inquieto Anacobero.” Time and fame eventually cemented the name Daniel Cortez Belupú, and that is how we have known him ever since.

The first house where Daniel lived in Chimbote was on 28 de Julio Street in the Barrio Magdalena Nueva; it belonged to his uncle Guadalupe. He lived there from 1964 until 1970, when he moved to his mother-in-law’s home in Aviación Avenue in Barrio 12 de Octubre. Both locations were near the home of the boy who admired him. So it was common for him to see his hero on the neighborhood streets. When greeting him, he would repeat in his mind: “The important Daniel...” This phrase had been etched into his memory since the first time he heard the guaguancó written by Luis Álvarez Mesías for the trumpeter in 1971. The lyrics said: “The important Daniel has his philosophy; the important thing for him is not having a lot of money.”

In the boy’s home, the first record player was bought second-hand in 1972—a Philips that ran on six batteries. That was how the first family parties came to life. In the collection, the Andean cumbias “El Poncho,” “Granizo,” and “Cumbia India,” which catapulted Los Rumbaney to stardom—were ever-present. He would bring home the music he heard on Olaya Street, and so new records arrived, like “A Chimbote,” “Te Quiero Te Quiero,” and “Llora Corazón”—a more tropical, coastal, orchestral sound. In every corner of Chimbote, this music was sung and danced to. An endless echo reverberated through the city: “To Chimbote I sing... In music, the Rumbaney; in volleyball, our city's team; in soccer, José Gálvez—José Gálvez is the champion.”

That boy is now nearly fifty-five years old—and he is the one writing these lines. And the hero of my childhood is now a great friend. We have always shared an interest in the things that matter, and all roads lead us back to Chimbote. A few years ago, I wrote about the history of the song “A Chimbote,” which Daniel composed and is now the city’s unofficial anthem. Today, I just wanted to share a few notes on how it all began for this “Living Cultural Heritage of Ancash,” as he has been officially recognized. Half-joking and half-serious, he likes to say: “As the song by El Gran Combo says, whatever they are going to give me, let them give it to me while I’m alive.” And he is right.

Every time I go back to Peru, I see him again. “Hello, important Daniel,” I say. “Eduardito of my heart,” he always replies. Whether in his sharp suit or athletic gear, he walks the streets with me as we breathe in Chimbote together. People show him affection everywhere. We walk into restaurants he knows as well as the brass of his own trumpet, and then I... break my diet and my rule of not drinking. When I am there, at my mother’s house, I reunite with my elementary school class, and Daniel always comes to gift us a recital.

During our last talk in Chimbote, I told him I wanted to write about his start in music. We talked about many things, and I finally asked about the lyrics to “Cholito,” an emblematic Los Rumbaney record written by Joel Estrada Delgado in 1973. “Listen, Daniel,” I said, “I understand that the character in the song is you. A cholito from Sechura who arrived in Chimbote. He worked hard and studied hard. He attended San Pedro high school at night and would travel to Trujillo to the Conservatory of Music. The moral of the story is: Cholito, study and triumph.” Daniel paused, holding back tears, and with a voice gripped by emotion, he replied: “...and it is also a legacy for all the youth.”

A Personal Message for Daniel:

Life is finally doing justice to you, and you are receiving the honors you deserve. You are not one to rest on your laurels, and I know you will keep fighting like a Quixote to see your dream come true: a Municipal Theater and a School of Music and Art for Chimbote. Today, October 9, is your birthday. You gift us friendship, talent, and affection. On your day, I want to give something back the only way I know: by writing. This is a small sketch of your beginnings in music and of our friendship... Happy birthday, Important Daniel!

P.D.: To read the story about the song “A Chimbote,” click the following link: http://josegalvezfbc-chimboteperu.blogspot.com/2011/01/chimbote-los-rumbaneys_29.html

New Hampshire, USA 

October 9, 2015

1962 —Daniel Cortez Belupú (first on the left), 

age 14, with his friend “Chaca” from Sechura

Don Máximo Dedios Zapata, 

Daniel’s first musical mentor

1963 —The Dedios Band (“Los Diablos”) of Sechura. 

Daniel, age 15, is the second to last standing

1964 —Standing in the center is Daniel (age 16) among his uncles José del Carmen, Víctor, and Guadalupe Belupú Purizaca, and Julio Temoche Purizaca.  Seated:  his sister Marina Cortez Belupú, his grandfather Emilio Belupú Antón, his grandmother Petronila Purizaca Benites, and his mother Ricardina Belupú Purizaca

1970 —The wedding of Daniel Cortez Belupú and Angélica Montero Sánchez. On the left: Máximo Belupú Purizaca (best man). On the right: Ricardina Belupú Purizaca (Daniel’s mother)

1972 —Daniel, age 24, at Aliro Zúñiga’s Recording Studio in Lima

2015 —Daniel Cortez Belupú and Eduardo 

Quevedo Serrano in Chimbote, Peru

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