Cuban musician Ricardo Abreus, cofounder in 1959 of Los Papines, passed away last Tuesday from a stroke at age 75 in Havana. Ricardo began his career at a very early age and became popular with his group Papín y sus Rumberos performing at the Tropicana Cabaret and other venues. Following, he founded Los Papines with three of his brothers. The popular vocal and percussion quartet debuted at the Salon Parisién of the Hotel National in a production directed by Amaury Pérez.
They went on to develop a repertoire of Afro-Cuban songs, especially rumba, marked by a mastery of percussion, for which they gained international recognition. Los Papines have played on important stages in more than 50 countries and have recorded numerous CDs. They were recently the subject of a documentary by EGREM.