Pedro Navaja

be Pedro Navaja is a Chanson of Salsa, words of Rubén Blades and music of Willie Colón, published in 1978 on the album Siembra which was sold to more than one million specimens.

The song describes the lifestyle and the fine tragedy d´un small criminal, by taking as a starting point the Lament of Mackie which opens the Opera of quat' under of Kurt Weil and Bertold Brecht, become a Standard of the jazz under the title Mack The Knife (Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong,…), adapted in Portuguese to Brazil (" Opera C Malandro" (Chico Buarque,…).

It marks the beginning of a new style of salsa conveying a social message and becomes traditional at the Latino S of the the United States, as in the remainder of the Latin America.

In 1984, the Fania had sold the rights of Pedro Navaja to Mexican producers of cinema without asking for the opinion of Rubén Blades. For not that it is not forgotten that he was the creator of this character, he revives it in a continuation entitled Sorpresas (Pedro Navaja II) on the album Escenas (1985).

A live version of Pedro Navaja figure on the album Rubén Blades there Its del Solar… Live! (recorded with the Madison Square Garden in 1990). At the time of the intro, Rubén Blades tells that its recording company Fania did not think that the piece would go because it was too long (more than seven minutes).

Another live version recorded figure on the album Encuentro (concert given in 2002 to the Popular Bank value of Puerto Rico, with Juan Shine Guerra and Robi Draco Rosa), and another still on its CD and its DVD Live in Cali (2006).

The account

The song tells a Récit. The Narrateur speaks with the first anybody (" I saw it passing… " , " Believe me… " or not; , " As my grandmother… " said;), as if he addressed himself directly to the listener. He speaks with the past.

Here what he tells us (told here at the present):

I it have seen to pass hands in pockets from sound coat (to mask that which carries its Poignard), a Chapeau on wide board and light Chaussure S (in order to volitilize in the event of pip), of the black glasses (to hide its glance) and a Dent in Or (which shines when he smiles).

With three blocks from there a woman awaits hypothetical customers on the pavement of opposite (a prostitute thus, but the song does not say it).

A car passes very slowly on the avenue; even without inscription, no one is not unaware of that it is the police force.

Pedro Navaja not seeing anybody crosses discreetly.

The woman leaves her coat a Revolver Smith & Wesson, gauges 38, special series which it reloads and arranges in her bag.

Pedro Navaja fall to him above and stabs it when suddenly a shot resounds. They fall dead both. Nobody reacted worried of the noise.

A addicted to drink stumbles on the two bodies, collects the Révolver, the dagger and of the money and sets out again by singing (false) this Refrain: " The life holds many surprises! ".

In the continuation of the song, the chœrs sing " I like to Be in America… " reference to West Side Story where at one time the chœœurs sing: " I like to Be in America… "

Rubén Blades releases a series of short phrases and Proverbe S:

  • Pedro Navaja, killer of the streets: " Who kills by the sword, perishes by the épée"
  • As said my grandmother: " Will laugh well which will laugh the dernier"
  • " Bad fishing, which threw to water a bad hook, instead of a Sardine you hung a Requin. "
  • Eight million stories has New York.
  • When the Destiny order, even more the brave man can nothing change: " If you are made for the hammer, from the sky will fall to you the Clou s"
  • In the districts of caïds, attention on the pavement. " Comrade attention because that which does not run, vole"
  • As in a novel of Kafka the drunkard turned in the dead end.

At the end of the song, one hears a sentence which seems to come from an flash-information (what adds realism to the song), sometimes forgotten in the transcription of the words: " In the town of New York two people were found died. This morning, the lifeless body of Pedro Barrios and Josefina Wilson were found in one of the adjacent streets to the highway New York inside, between the which occurred has and B. The cause of dead is not yet known… " (one hears with difficulty the end of the sentence in the original version because volume drops gradually, but in a live version Rubén Blades pronounces it in entirety).

The continuation

The song Sorpresas (Pedro Navaja II) continues the history:

The drunkard stops singing; a robber emerges from an alley, points on him a Magnum and he says to him: - " Give to me all or I tire" -

The drunkard, trembling, delivers to him what it has just found and the astonished robber asks him where it found that.

Informed by the drunkard, with three blocks in north the robber finds the bodies of a woman and a man in coat, lengthened on the roadway in fetal position .

He shakes the woman of the foot, to see whether she reacts; he leans and excavates it, without anything to find.
Il leans then towards the man in coat, and recognizes Pedro Navaja thanks to her gold tooth. Suddenly a dagger transpierces it and he dies by seeing a miracle occurring: the mouth of Pedro Navaja opens and her tooth rebrille.

Pedro Navaja takes her Indentity card and puts it in the back pocket of the pants of the robber to muddle research. Wounded by bullets, it take his other dagger (it always has two of them on him).

Josefina was a type disguised as a woman, knowing who it was to assassinate.

Pedro looks after himself with Eau-de-vie and extracts the ball only with the teeth.

" Mesdames and Sirs, flash-information: Breaking news, this is incredible! One determined by a typing analysis that the body of the person whom one believed being that of Pedro Barrios, better known as “Pedro Navaja” is actually that of another delinquent identified like Alberto Aguacate alias “El Salao”; In addition, Josefina Wilson proved to be a man, who for reasons still nongiven got dressed with clothing with woman. We will continue to inform, please, remain connected on our antenne."

The title

The patronym be Navaja refers:
  • in Mackie Messer: of '' Messer '' (German) and be '' navaja '' (Spanish) mean knife );
  • in the name of author-interprets, in '' blades '', meaning blades (but is this voluntary?)

Composition

The musical composition is characterized by
  • progressive l´introduction of new instruments and the increase in volume to the manner of what returned the popular Boléro ;
  • change of tonality all two verses while keeping the melody.

Musicians

References to the song

  • the words of Juan Cuchillo of Jose Fajardo say: Escóndete Pedro Navaja that Juan Cuchillo you anda buscando (Hides Pedro Navaja because Juan Cuchillo left to seek you)

  • the words of Juanito Alimaña of Héctor Lavoe says: Vengo of a velorio, brother, el of Pedrito Navaja (I return from a burial my brother, that of Pedrito Navaja). Juanito Alimaña is a gangster who attacks a bank with a knife.
  • the words of That cosas holds emptied it Pupy there los that Its, Its (the group of Cesar Pedroso, pianist of Los Van Van) says emptied It you da sorpresas, sorpresas you da emptied it (words of the refrain of Pedro Navaja ). The words of Desengaños of emptied of Alma Latina say (after the solo of piano): Sopresas you da emptied it… . Even thing for No me molestes farmhouse of the group of salsa of Bordeaux Bataola (towards the end, 2mn 56).
  • Familia RústiKa sings at the end of Dani Navaja : emptied It the da sorpresas, sorpresas the da emptied it .

Adaptations

Music

Bernard Lavilliers took as a starting point Mack the Knife and Pedro Navaja for her song Pierrot the blade (album O' Gringo , 1980. (to read the words)).

Cinema

The song Pedro Navaja inspired the Mexican Blockbuster S Pedro Navaja carried out in 1984 by Ramón Obón with Andrés García in the main role and are '' El Hijo of Pedro Navaja '' (the son of Pedro Navaja) carried out in 1986 by Alfonso Rosas Priego (see poster).

Musical comedies

The song also inspired the musical comedies:
  • Verdadera Historia of Pedro Navaja (true story of Pedro Navaja) of Pablo Will pull up (Puerto Rico) (music of Pedro Rivera Toledo, with Gilberto Santa Rosa in the role of Pedro Navaja, Elvis Crespo, Yolandita Monge, Tego Calderón and Gisele)

  • will otra It historia of Pedro Navaja (other history of Pedro Navaja) presented to theater ABA with Panamá (Text of Edgar Soberon Torchia, based on Pedro Navaja of Rubén Blades, Opera C malandro of Chico Buarque and the Opera of the gueux of John Gay.
    Sous direction of Edgar Soberon Torchia. Product by Aurea Horta. Choreography of Fabian Baeza).
    Distribution: Fabian Baeza, Aurea Horta, Jeico Castro, Priscila Moreno, Felix Gum, Carlos Serrano, Lucia Moreno, Samuel Ibarra, Idania Ceville, Leda Ovalle, Jade Vasquez, Denis Guerra.

Televised series

At the beginning of 2006 Buena Vista - Miami (subsidiary company of Disney) announced to want to adapt the history to our time, in the form of minis Televised series (5 20 minutes episodes to 1 a.m.) which tells the parallel lives of Pedro Navaja and Josefina Wilson, a inhabitant of Barcelona which will travel to New York.

Buena Vista proposed to join Tepuy (Venezuela) (known for its Telenovela S Pasión de Gavilanes , Los plateados , Amarte así ,…) and Endemol - Spain ( Operación Triunfo (the Star Academy Spanish), Gran Hermano (the Spanish Loft Story…).

The role of Josefina was proposed with Paz Vega and Pénélope Cruz.

Estimated data sheet:
Director of the production: Braced Kaufman (nominated with the Emmy Awards and Tony Awards).
Artistic director: Brigitte Broch (Oscar for Moulin-Rouge! and nomination with the Oscars for Romeo + Juliette ).
Scenario: Rodrigo García, wire of Gabriel García Márquez.
Budget: 2.500.000 euros

Recovery S

  • Los Cheers (1979)
  • Mike Dogliotti (1983)
  • Gerônimo (1989)
  • Gato Pérez, singer of Rumba Catalan (year?)
  • Orquesta Platería (1991)
  • Chayanne (1994, be Influencias )
  • El Lupe (1996, Macarena Mix )
  • Roman Palomar - Album Cumbia S Con Sabor has Mariachi (1997)
  • Dosis - Album Radio Acapulco (1997)
  • Pozze Latina, version Rap (1999)
  • 101 Strings (2000, album Strictly Mambo )
  • Johnny Quintana (2000)
  • 3 Its Salsa (2002)
  • Los Joao (2002)
  • Emmanuel (2003)
  • Vicente, Israel and Jose (2003, Operación Triunfo season 3)
  • Jorge Bernal - Album Salsa & Mas Salsa (MINOR ROAD 1)
  • Tony Touch (2004, in The Piecemaker II )
  • Pepe Arevalo (2005)
  • Charly Paz (2005)
  • Caco Senante (2005)
  • Orquesta ¡ Mira quién yawned! (2006) - the dancers were the actress Emma Ozores and the humorist Pedro Reyes.
  • Francisco Diaz - album Salsero Sax - Tributo has Ruben Blades , Hugo Liscano Y Javier Galue - album Salsa (years?)

See too

Related articles

Articles in other Wikipédias

  • , series of cartoon inspired by in '' Mack the Knife '' published in the Spanish newspaper be '' [[El Jueves]] ''

External bonds

  • Pedro Navaja on the site MaestraVida.com
  • Pedro Navaja (words and translation) on the site BuscaSalsa.com

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