Cuatro Owned and Played by Yomo Toro
date: label: date made
content: 1980
name: label: user
content: Toro, Yomo
label: maker
content: Yomi Matos
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This cuatro belonged to Puerto Rican musician Yomo Toro. Born and raised in the southern town of Guánica, Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro established himself as a musician in 1950s New York playing cuatro and guitar with multiple bands. In 1970, he played cuatro on Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe's hit Christmas salsa album <i>Asalto Navideño</i>. His innovative playing combined traditional Puerto Rican seises and aguinaldos with Cuban son and jazz. He went on to tour with the Fania All-Stars, playing this cuatro alongside artists like Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Larry Harlow, and countless others.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>This instrument was made in the 1980s by Diómedes "Yomi" Matos, a Puerto Rican luthier and 2006 National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellow. The top is yagrumo while the back and sides are made of guaraguao. It is fitted with a Gibson electromagnetic pickup, which allows the cuatro to be amplified so it can be heard over a loud salsa band by crowds of thousands.</p>
label: Description (Spanish)
content: <p>Este cuatro le perteneció al músico puertorriqueño Yomo Toro. Nacido y criado en el pueblo sureño de Guánica, Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro se estableció como músico en Nueva York en los años 50, tocando cuatro y guitarra con varias agrupaciones. En el 1970 tocó cuatro en el álbum de salsa navideño <i>Asalto Navideño</i> de Willie Colón y Héctor Lavoe. Con su estilo innovador combinó los seises y aguinaldos puertorriqueños con el son cubano y el jazz. Poco después se unió de lleno a la Fania All-Star, usando este cuatro para tocar junto a artistas como Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Larry Harlow, entre muchísimos otros.</p> <p>Este instrumento fue fabricado en los años 80 por Diómedes "Yomi" Matos, lutier puertorriqueño nombrado National Heritage Fellow por el Fondo Nacional para las Artes (National Endowment for the Arts). El tope está hecho de yagrumo y los lados y el fondo de guaraguao. El cuatro también está equipado con una pastilla electromagnética Gibson que permite amplificar el sonido del instrumento para que se escuche por encima de una banda de salsa ante públicos de miles de personas.</p>
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey
topic: label: Subject
content: Music
label: Subject
content: Puerto Rican music
label: general subject association
content: Salsa
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Cultures & Communities
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Yomo Toro
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2002.0350.01
label: accession number
content: 2002.0350
label: catalog number
content: 2002.0350.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cuatro
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: yagrumo (soundboard material)
label: Physical Description
content: guaraguao (back, sides material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal; plastic (tuning machine heads material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (strings material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (strap material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (pickup material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (adjustment knobs material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 1/2 in x 12 1/4 in x 4 in; 87.63 cm x 31.115 cm x 10.16 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: scale length: 20 3/8 in; 51.7525 cm