Joseíto Mateo (born José Tamárez Mateo, 1920-2018) was an Afro-Dominican singer, composer, and legendary front-man known as “El Rey del Merengue,” an iconic figure of Dominican and Afro-Antillean popular music. Joseíto is one of the most celebrated and accomplished performers that the Dominican Republic has ever produced. He led a career that spanned over 80 years through various successful tours in the Caribbean, South America, and the United States. It is worth noting that today, Joseíto is seen as one of the most complete singers in Latin music with a diverse repertoire of boleros, guarachas, sones, guaguancós, bachatas, boogaloos among others. He also left his mark as a composer contributing classic Dominican merengues such as “Merenguero hasta la tambora” and “Aquí bailamos to.”

Joseíto Mateo began singing as an adolescent in the 1930s with guitar-based groups in his hometown of Villa Juana interpreting mostly boleros and sones and the casual merengue (1). As a result, Joseíto’s popularity grew and he was invited to perform for the radio station HIZ in 1940. By 1947, Joseíto Mateo had formed part of the cast of singers and musicians of the official state radio station La Yoz del Yuna. He soon appeared on 78rpm recordings for the newly founded Dominican Recording Company Caracol label which helped advance his career. From 1948-1958, Joseíto was the vocalist of the legendary Super Orquesta San José, a big band merengue orchestra directed by Papá Molina. The ensemble was one of the most popular bands of the Trujillo era and was employed by the Dictator Rafael Trujillo’s brother José Arismendy “Petán'' Trujillo on the radio station La Voz del Yuna (later renamed La Voz Dominicana). In 1955, Joseíto traveled to Venezuela contracted by Radio Caracas where he stayed for a duration of two months. Then a short time in Haiti before settling in Havana where he performed on the famous radio and television station CMQ program, “Cascabeles Candado'' accompanied by La Sonora Matancera, singing alongside Celia Cruz. Shortly after he returned to the Dominican Republic, he was invited to record with La Sonora Matancera, but could not obtain permission to leave the country due to the travel restrictions imposed by the dictatorship. In 1956, his first solo album with the Super Orquesta San José titled “Merechanga - Pa' La Pachanga'' was released for Riney Records featuring merechangas (a fusion of merengue and pachanga) that Joseíto invented. After Dictator Trujillo’s assassaination in 1961, Joseíto decided to leave the Dominican Republic and go to Puerto Rico due to his disputed association with the dictatorship. He recorded with the legendary Puerto Rican dance-band El Gran Combo in 1962 on their first album titled, “El Gran Combo con Joseíto Mateo-Menéame los mangos.” Joseíto composed their hit guaracha “Menéame los mangos'' and joined the band on their first Panamanian tour to promote the album. In 1963, he traveled to New York to perform as the lead vocalist with his long-time collaborator Luis Kalaff who led the house-band at Club Caborrojeño since 1958.

In 1964, Joseíto began a long relationship with Ralph Perez’s Ansonia Records with the release of the album “Joseito Mateo con Ramón García y su Conjunto Típico Cibao - Merengues Vol. 1” during his stay in New York City. In the subsequent years, Joseíto spent time traveling between New York City and the Dominican Republic. He recorded several albums for Ansonia, one merengue album with a full orchestra titled “Baile'' and two more merengue típico albums with his own conjunto titled Joseito Mateo y Su Conjunto Típico - Merengues Vol. 2 released in 1966 and the thrilling Joseito Mateo y Su Conjunto Típico - Merengues Vol. 3: "Caña Brava'' released in 1967. Joseíto was involved in introducing merengue for the first time in the Latin Music Festival at Madison Square Garden alongside other Dominican artists Alberto Beltran and Primitivo Santos on November 9, 1973. He remained active for the remainder of his career and was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2010, he received the award for Musical Excellence from the Latin Grammys. In 2017, the Ministry of Culture of the Dominican Republic dedicated a tribute concert to the career and life of Joseíto Mateo with the participation of many popular Dominican music artists who paid homage to “El Rey del Merengue.” He died soon after at the age of 98 in 2018.

"Merengues Vol. 3: Caña Brava" (ALP 1428) is recognized as one of the best albums by “El Rey del Merengue'' and an important reference for anyone interested in Dominican music. This album features the perennial classics “Caña Brava'' and “El Negrito del Batey'' that are still beloved by fans today. Due to his urban upbringing, Joseíto was influenced by merengue típico, which he skillfully interprets on this album. It was recorded in the Dominican Republic with a traditional merengue típico ensemble consisting of button accordion, güira, tambora, and alto saxophone. The album was released in 1967 and features the talents of Dionisio Mejía (1911-1979), known as Guandulito, who was one of the most popular accordionists in the Dominican Republic, and features the unique sound of the virtuoso Tavito Vásquez (1928-1995) who is one of the most important Dominican saxophonists of all time (2). “El Negrito del Batey'' is one of the best-known merengues on this album. It is composed by Héctor J. Díaz, (who originally wrote the song for Joseíto) and arranged by Medardo Guzmán. Joseíto debuted the song in 1942 to little success (3). In 1954, Dominican singer Alberto Beltran recorded the song with La Sonora Matancera, earning him the nickname “El Negrito del Batey,” which was initially meant for Joseíto. The international success of Beltran’s version of this merengue helped popularize the genre internationally in the 1950s, leading to many more interpretations. Joseíto’s version of “El Negrito del Batey” on this album helped reestablish the association and nickname back to Joseíto for many decades to come.

“Caña Brava,” composed by Antonio Abreu and Hipólito Martínez in 1928 or 1929, is a popular tune created for the Brugal rum company who were then selling a rum with the same name (4). This merengue has stood the test of time and has been interpreted and danced to internationally by many throughout the years. This updated merengue típico version is a hard-driving and highly danceable tune where the saxophone and the accordion excel in their jaleos (riffs) to motivate dancers. Another standout tune is “Jovinita” by the accordionist Guandulito. It is a two-part merengue that has a great pace and rhythm to the song structure, allowing for Tavito to improvise around the accordion's melodies. The energetic “Aquí Bailamos To’” merengue, composed by Joseíto himself, was the most popular song on the album when it was released. According to Record World magazine, it was number 9 on the Latin American Single Hit Parade in December of 1967. This catchy merengue features lyrics brazenly inviting everyone to the dancefloor: “Everybody dances / we will break the jukebox.” The album features other amazing merengues including, “Fiesta Cibaeña,” “El Gallo Floriao,” “Compay que fiesta,” and “Sin Merengue,” which are all done in the infectious merengue típico rhythm. The merengues “Carmencita,” and “Ramonita” are original compositions by Guandulito and are great cuts on this album with rhythmic harmony that will keep you dancing. The pambiche “Debilidades” is a slower merengue and slightly easier to dance to. The last cut on the album is “El Sancocho de Pumarejo,'' a fun merengue about “sancocho,” a traditional Dominican stew made with a variety of meats that was made for the then-renowned radio and television producer Gaspar Pumarejo. Joseíto met Gaspar on the Myrta Silva show “Una hora contigo” on channel 47 in the early 1960s in New York City (5).

This historically significant album is a must-listen for any fans of Dominican music. Joseíto does not disappoint with his masterful interpretations on standout tracks “Caña Brava,” “El Negrito del Batey,” “Jovinita,” and “Aquí Bailamos To.”

(1) Hutchinson, Sydney. "Mateo, José “Joseíto”." Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography: Oxford University Press, 2016.

(2) Méndez, Alexis. “Prosa para un rey en su despedida.” Radio Gladys Palmera, 4 de junio 2018, gladyspalmera.com/coleccion/el-diario-de-gladys/prosa-para-un-rey-en-su-despedida/

(3) “Una leyenda de la música tropical, El Negrito del Batey.” YouTube, uploaded by MegaTV, October 9, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIktd9-A9oA&ab_channel=MegaTV

(4) Mercado, Dálmaso. “Memorias de un músico rural dominicano.” Eme Eme: Estudios Dominicanos, vol.6, no. 35, Marzo-Abril 1978, 137.

(5) Jáquez, José. El Merengue Tiene Un Rey: Biografía De Joseíto Mateo. Santo Domingo: Editorial Argos, 2017, 93.

-Jhensen Ortiz