Papi Oviedo

"Papi" Oviedo (Gilberto Oviedo la Portilla, Havana, Cuba, 9 February 1938 - 31 October 2017) was a Cuban tres player. The tres, a distinctive type of plucked instrument in Cuban music, has three sets of double strings. A veteran of many son bands, Papi was the tres player in Elio Revé's band for 13 years. He has been on tour and recorded with Ibrahim Ferrer and Rúben Gonzáles with the Buena Vista Social Club, exposing the son style to wider audiences. Papi Oviedo was born Gilberto Oviedo La Portilla in 1937, son of tres player Isaac Oviedo (born 1902). Papi Oviedo began playing tres in 1952 and worked his way up through local bands to be the primary tres player for singer Orlando Contreras. Between 1957 and 1969, he was the featured tresero for Conjunto Tipico Habanero, Conjunto Chappottín and Estrellas de Chocolate. Between 1980 and 1995, he teamed up with Elio Revé in a re-formed version of charanga outfit Orquesta Revé. In 1995, Papi left Orquesta Revé to release his own solo LP Encuentro Entre Su Soneros. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.