Miguel Angel Santiago Alcaide, is without any doubt, the greatest guitarist of the twentieth century. He was born on November 13, 1934, in Hatillo, Puerto Rico. It was noticed from a very young age that Miguel had extraordinary musical talents. He started to perform professionally at the young age of fourteen, and the rest, as they say is history. What makes this story so astonishing though, is that Miguel was completely self-taught on the guitar. When Andres Segovia visited Puerto Rico in the 1950s he asked specifically for Miguel to play for him. Segovia was so impressed with Miguel that he offered him an all expenses paid scholarship to study with the maestro in Spain. Regretfully Miguel had to decline as he was already supporting his family by playing music professionally. I had the great privilege to have had extended telephone conversations with Miguel in the early 1980s. I sent him a copy of my latest guitar album, and Miguel responded by sending me one of his. It was from these conversations that I learned that Miguel was not able to read, or write music. This certainly was not a handicap to Miguel in his long and illustrious career. In the mid 1980s Miguel suffered from severe medical problems, and succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver due to chronic alcoholism. Miguel died in the Rio Piedras Medical Center, on July 25, 1988 at the relatively young age of fifty-four. I still mourn for Miguel, and I cannot help but weep whenever I hear his beautiful music. We will never see a guitarist like him ever again. Miguel was in a class all of his own. He was buried in the old cemetery in Rio Piedras, however, his remains were later moved to his hometown of Hatillo, and re-interred in the Pantheon of the Illustrious Hatillanos, on July 25, 1990. In that cemetery there is a beautiful statue of Miguel holding his beloved guitar. The monument was designed by Chiqui Moreno. In this edition of Heart Of The Guitar I am featuring Miguel Alcaide in a cool selection of songs. The topmost video was recorded in the late 1950s and features Miguel with the musical group Trio Los Borincanos. That group later renamed themselves to The Four Amigos. The members of the group were, Pedro Berrios, the late German Salinas, José (Guito) Vadis, and of course, Miguel Alcaide. They play three selections: "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing", the tango "Jealousy" with Miguel playing a solo guitar , and the American pop-classic "Mr. Sandman". The guitar solo that Miguel does in the middle of "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" is totally out of this world. The next video features the reconstituted Trio Los Borincanos, with Papo Valle as the lead singer, Jorge Julia second voice and guitar, and Miguel Alcaide playing the requinto. They perform "Los Ejes De Mi Carreta (The Axles Of My Cart)", that was written by Argentinian composer Atahualpa Yupanqui. Safe journeys to all the fans of Heart Of The Guitar, wherever you may be.
