Toñin Romero

A native of the Coabey sector of Jayuya. Born in 1919, he was an adopted son of the city of Ponce, where he arrived at the age of ten and where he died and was buried. He was a bastion of the décima and also especially of the plena music. He was a great promoter of our traditional music by means of his radio programs, such as La Hora Campesina (The Farmer's Hour) on Ponce radio station WPAB; Fiesta en el Batey (Backyard Party) on WISO; and on his own record label, JARM. We performed on a radio program in Ponce with Gelo Febles' group every Sunday. His brothers Moisés and Esteban and his son appeared together on the television program Borinquen Canta (Borinquen Sings). Toñín didn't record very much but he wrote several musical treasures such as the plena "Ni De Madera Son Buenas" (Even The Wooden Ones Are No Good) recorded by Odilio Gonzalez; "Con El Casco Del Juey" (With The Shell Of The Crab) that he recorded himself; "El Charlatán" recorded by Ismael Rivera with Lito Peña's orchestra; and "El Cofresito" (The little Coffer) recorded by Ruth Fernandez.