Dominican singer ‘Puerto Plata’ releases his debut CD at 85

Many musical debuts are long in coming. But rarely do we see a delay of 60 years — the time it took José Manuel Cobles, known as Puerto Plata, to record his first album, “Mujer de Cabaret” (Cabaret woman).

At 85, the Dominican guitar player - and carpenter - is a living tribute to early bachata, dating back to a time when the genre was forbidden in the Caribbean island.

“I’m thrilled with life and I’ve forgotten about death,” says Cobles, who moved to Seattle 14 years ago and released his first record on the independent label iASO last month.

Born in the coastal town of Puerto Plata, Cobles says, he bought his first guitar when he was 20 — for 24 Dominican pesos, less than a dollar — and learned to play in Panama, where he worked for several years.

He learned the guitar chords thanks to a friend who would mail them to him, he says.

“I had the opportunity to record years ago in the Dominican Republic,” he says, “but I had a commitment with the United Fruit Co., for which I worked as a carpenter.”

Also partly responsible for Puerto Plata’s late bloom was the 30-year ban of bachata by Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo (1930-1961).

“Guitar music was frowned upon, especially the kind we would play,” he says of the Trio Primavera, which he started with guitar player Ernesto (Sanabia) Almonte and the singer and baseball player Daniel Rodríguez.

“We would play in brothels and also we would make a couple of bucks doing serenatas [romantic ballads],” says Cobles.

Back then, he remembers, when an Army officer stepped into a cabaret, they had to stop playing bachata and quickly switch to merengue. It was a matter of life and death, he says.

“I would shout, ‘Viva el jefe,’ for Trujillo, and we had to play merengue no matter what.”

Cobles’ life is an amazing source of stories.

“I lived near the slaughterhouse in Santiago, in a neighborhood called La Jolla,” he says. “Near my house, there was a bar owned by one of the worst criminals in the neighborhood, but I would just hang out in the street, drinking with my buddies.”

Some of the stories are reflected in the songs of his debut CD, but not all are based distant memories. The merengue “Los Piratas” was inspired by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I was in Seattle,” he says. “I immediately remembered the Dominican dictatorship. I’m an enemy of all dictators, so without even planning it, I started writing ‘Los Piratas.’”

Cobles says that the 11 songs included in “Mujer de Cabaret” are only a tiny portion of his repertoire.

“I’m going to New York in January and I plan to record some more for a new CD,” he says.

“I keep writing songs almost on a daily basis, although I don’t really see myself as a professional musician,” he says. “I’m a carpenter, and an amateur musician.”

Puerto Plata has written several new songs dedicated to his family. “I’ve written two to my wife,” he says, and starts singing. “She has four daughters and I wrote a song for each,” he says, and begins another tune that he abruptly stops.

“You know what? ... I’ve forgotten the lyrics,” he says, and bursts into laughter. “You see, el tiempo no pasa en vano (time doesn’t pass in vain).”

By: Pablo Calvi