The life and death of Celso Pina
It was with great sorrow that the fans of Celso Pina learned about his death. The Mexican musician, popularly known as the 'rebel of the accordion' died on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019 at his home town Monterrey.
Source: UGC
The cumbia musical legend was famed for his intricate ability to blend the traditional Colombian cumbia with eclectic styles, and in so doing, he grew in popularity across the world.
Celso Pina
Celso Pina was a Mexican singer, arranger, accordionist and music composer. The accordionist was born on April 6th, 1953 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He had a short height and chubby figure accompanied with a brilliant smile on his visage. Celso Pina stood out in the entertainment media thanks to his ability to fuse the Mexican cumbia with modern music styles such as Reggae, R&B, Hip-Hop, Ska and many more.
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Before his musical career and at the tender age of about seven years, Pina involved himself with the task of retrieving thrown fruits from supermarket dustbins and wealthy neighbourhood, washing them and then reselling in his home town to fend for a living. Additionally, he also worked as a smelter, corn miller, upholsterer and as a tortilla delivery boy.
Celso first began playing music in his hometown alongside his three brothers Reuben, Enrique and Eduardo.
Source: UGC
In an interview, the singer confessed that he was not attracted to music since his childhood, but when he discovered that he had good ears for music, his interest in music began then.
I can't say that I was attracted to music since I was a child because it's not true.
Celso Pina once said in an interview,
What I did find out, later on, is that I had a good ear for music, but like many others who have a good ear, I could have lived my whole life without knowing it.
His first musical instrument was the guiro. Celso Pina did not pick up the accordion until in his 20s when he started to learn the vallenato style. He is said to have bought his first accordion in 1980 and taught himself how to play it without formally training. In the mid-1980s, the Mexican shifted his style of play to tropical music with his group Celso Piña y su Ronda Bogotá.
The musician had an interest in several genres. The genre ranged from Hip-Hop, Ska and R&B and as a result, he produced music with several major Mexican artists among them Lila Downs, Café Tacvba and Julieta Venegas.
With his music group, the Mexican has recorded Como El Viento, La Cumbia de la Paz and a cover of La Piragua by José Barros. Throughout his career, he has produced more than 20 albums with the latest one being in 2017, which he collaborated with Baja California orchestra.
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During his career, Celso was nominated for two Grammy awards in 2002 for the categories: Best Contemporary Tropical Album and Best New Artist From the North.
The death of Celso Pina
Pina's death occurred on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019. According to a statement released by his record label La Tuna Group, the musician died of a heart attack at a hospital in his home town.
Today is a sad day for La Tuna Group, with deep pain we communicate the unexpected departure of a family member, our friend, and professor Celso Piña who died today in Monterrey at 12:38 p.m. due to a heart attack.
The La Tuna Group said in an announcement on social media:
Our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and followers. We are left with an intense emptiness, but he leaves us his great legacy forever. We appreciate respecting the privacy of the family.
The musician's popularity had risen far and wide; he had toured several countries such as America, England, Morocco, and German.
The American embassy in Mexico took to Twitter to eulogize him as someone whose music united Latin American cultures and got the attention of Americans:
The rebel of the accordion has left us. His music united Latin American cultures and captivated Americans.
The rebel of the accordion died at the age of 66 years. However, his funeral arrangements are yet to be made public.
Hours before his demise, he portrayed his love of cumbia in his last Twitter post on which he wrote,
"There is no one who can resist cumbia."
As a musician, Celso Pina's contribution to the music industry will remain as a legacy.
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Source: Legit.ng
