Born Manuela Josefa Cabrera (September 18, 1944) and known asFefita la Grande "'La Vieja Fefa'" or La Mayimba, she is the most prolific and respected female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 merengue

Merengue music

Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...

 accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

ist of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

. She is also one of the most well-known representatives of the Perico Ripiao

Perico ripiao

Merengue típico is a musical genre of the Dominican Republic. Merengue tipico is the term preferred by most musicians as it is more respectful and emphasizes the music's traditional nature.-Introduction:Merengue típico is the oldest style of merengue still performed today Merengue típico (also...

 or Merengue tipico music genre, along with artists like Tatico Henriquez

Tatico Henriquez

Tatico Henriquez , considered one of the best accordionists of merengue tipico,was born in Nagua, Dominican Republic. His career began in the 1960s and the early 1970s. He was known for his skill on the...

, El Ciego de Nagua, El Prodigio

El Prodigio

Krency Garcia, better known as El Prodigio, is a famous merengue tipico accordionist from Cabrera, Dominican Republic. He is known throughout the genre for his rapid instrumental solos, his origination of fusion in merengue tipico with genres like jazz, and his rivalry with fellow accordionists,...

, Rafaelito and Raul Roman

Raúl Román

Raúl Basilio Román Garay is a Paraguayan football striker currently playing for Tacuary.- Career :Román was the member of Paraguay U-20 National football team in 1997 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final...

, Geovanny Polanco

Geovanny Polanco

Geovanny Polanco is a merengue tipico accordionist from Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Nagua, Dominican Republic...

, Francisco Ulloa

Francisco Ulloa (accordionist)

Francisco Ulloa is a famous merengue accordionist, specializing in merengue típico. He is known for his skill and improvisation technique on the accordion, and started his career around the same time as Tatico Henriquez, which some consider to be the godfather of merengue tipico, in the 1970s. He...

, and others.

Life

"Fefa", as referred to by her closest friends and relatives, was born in San Ignacio de Sabaneta

San Ignacio de Sabaneta

San Ignacio de Sabaneta is the capital and a municipality of Santiago Rodriguez in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic. It is usually called only Sabaneta or Santiago Rodríguez.-Population:...

, Santiago Rodríguez, located in the Cibao Region

Cibao

Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country.The Taíno word Cibao, meaning "place where rocks abound", was originally applied to the central mountain range, and used during the Spanish conquest to refer to the rich and...

 of the Dominican Republic, the birthplace of the merengue and where almost all merengue tipico musicians hail from. Fefita taught herself accordion on her father's squeezebox, and was already playing concerts for people as respected as Petan Trujillo (Dictator Rafael Trujillo's brother), and appearing frequently on television and radio shows, as early as the age of 9.

1995

Fefita La Grande in 1995 recorded a Cd with Rafelito Roman called Merengues Tipicos Vol.1 in which Rafelito Roman was playing the accordion and Fefita was singing. They played the following songs such as:
1.Recuerdo A Ramona
2.La Botija
3 Yamaza
4.Linda Mama
5.La Maya Pendia
6.Se Murio Mi Padre
7.La Magdalena
8.Mi Mujer De Oro
9.Mañana Me Voy De Aqui
10.A Mi Ay Que Llorarme
11.Radhames Guerra
12.Yo Vivo Mi Vida
13.Debajo De La Ceiba
fefita was born 1933

1996

Fefita And Rafelito played again together. They recorded the Cd called Merengues Tipicos Vol.2 in which Rafelito played the accordion and Fefita was singing. They played the following song such as:
1.Maria La Del Padre
2.La Mecedora
3.Consagracion De Cariño
4.Chicha
5.Nonito En La Loma
6.El Pequeñuelo
7.Agua De Tu Fuente
8.El Puente Seco
9.La Balacera
10.El Refran
11.
12.La Culebra

Innovations and Style

Cabrera had a unique style of playing merengue tipico, a kind that only she was able to produce. Along with the early exponents of "new" merengue tipico, such as Tatico Henriquez

Tatico Henriquez

Tatico Henriquez , considered one of the best accordionists of merengue tipico,was born in Nagua, Dominican Republic. His career began in the 1960s and the early 1970s. He was known for his skill on the...

, Samuelito Almonte, and El Ciego de Nagua, she added conga

Conga

The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...

s, saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

s, and electric bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 to the tipico ensemble, which was originally composed of three musicians: an accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

ist (using a diatonic 2-row accordion), a tambora

Tambora

Tambora may refer to:* In music:**Tanpura, an instrument used in Indian classical music for continuous production of consonating reference notes **Tambora , an Afro-Caribbean percussion instrument...

 player ("tamborero"), and güira

Güira

A güira is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic, generally used in merengue, bachata, and its subgenres, that sounds like a maraca or hi-hat but in fact is a sheet of metal—in practice, often from a five gallon oil can—evenly perforated with a nail, shaped into a cylinder or...

 player ("guirero"). La Mayimba was also the first to bring merengue tipico to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an audiences.

Collaborations

La Mayimba's success is also partially achieved because of her ability to stay with the times and constantly reinvent her sound with the help of new tipico artists. Performing with the likes of Krisspy

Krisspy

Krisspy is a well-known Dominican Merengue singer who has appeared on a number of compilations, including 100% Dominicano: La Nueva Sangre del Reggaeton and Bachata Tipico. He has also performed with Ingco Crew, a prominent Dominican reggaeton group, and Grupo Aguakate, another merengue tipico group...

 and El Prodigio

El Prodigio

Krency Garcia, better known as El Prodigio, is a famous merengue tipico accordionist from Cabrera, Dominican Republic. He is known throughout the genre for his rapid instrumental solos, his origination of fusion in merengue tipico with genres like jazz, and his rivalry with fellow accordionists,...

, she continues to appeal to the young.

Discography

• Fefita la Grande (2006)
• La Mayimba (2001)
• Todo los Hombres Son Buenos (1994)
• Merengues Tipicos Vol.1 (1995)
• Merengues Tipicos Vol.2 (1996)

Sources

Short biography of Fefita

Biography from www.afropop.org

See also

• Merengue tipico