Malaguena

Blue Devil · Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2003 9:25 am Post subject:

Besides Stan Kenton's version being one of the greatest jazz pieces ever written (o.k. fine, that's just my opinion, but I haven't found too many trumpet players who would disagreee!), does anyone have any idea what the word "Malaguena" means in Spanish? I have tried a little in the past to find out the meaning without much success.

Mike Trzesniak

bachstrad72 · Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2003 10:33 am Post subject:

I always had heard that it meant 'at the crossroads'. Could be wrong though

short_n_squeaky · Regular Member Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 42

Well, the prefix 'mal' in Spanish means bad, but I don't think that Malaguena is an actual word in the spanish language. It may be slang, but I couldn't find anything in my books.

senea · Veteran Member Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 131

The word 'malaguena' refers to a woman from Malaga, Spain. The song itself describes one man's love for her. It was originally written in 1927 by one of Cuba's greatest composers Ernesto Lecuona, and it is the last of six songs from his "Andalucia Suite" for piano.

Hope that helps. I have to give credit to my dad though. He should be given an honorary doctorate for his exhaustive work in Latin music literature and history.

Jam_Man_Tpt · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2003 7:24 pm Post subject:

I have looked up Malaguana (with a ~ over the n) in a Spanish Dictionary at school. the literally meaning is someone from Malaga.
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AccentOnTrumpet · Heavyweight Member Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 878

Yep...Senea said it perfectly. I love the "Malaguena" chart. How about another great Kenton chart: (actually Shorty Rogers arranged it) "Viva Prado"!!! PRADO LIVES! It's a shame how under-rated he was. People mention Tito Puente but often forget Perez Prado as a mambo king. Too bad in the "Easy Go" liner notes they said Prado was Mexican grrrr he's Cuban (he did die in Mexico though).

klorenz · Regular Member Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 57

The only malaguena i have heard is the one by Maynard and his band. THis is one of his most impressive pieces i have heard him play. He's got like a minute and a half amazing cadenza at the end! AWESOME!

pedaltonekid · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Nov 2001 Posts: 1711

Doc Severinsen has an awesome arrangement of this as well.
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ejaime23 · Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 8:17 am Post subject:

ejaime23 · Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 8:19 am Post subject:

I never really appreciated that piece until for our last jazz band concert we went all out and got the school orchestra to play with us and we played that chart, the crowd was going nuts!! It was truly an awesome experience and an even more awesome chart to be able to play.

usernamehere · Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 10:00 am Post subject:

I believe the town is MALaga (as in Málaga, con accento sobre el 'a'). So should a feminine inhabitant not be Málagueña?

And it should be noted that in this case, the "u" is only included to preserve the sound of the "g". Otherwise it would be like malajeña (or malaheña). It is NOT mal-uh-gwain-yuh, but rather mahl-uh-gain-yuh.

~Benjamin Heintz