Background
Lorenzo Santiago ("Chago") Alvarado Santos was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on October 26, 1920. He was the son of the musician Julio Alvarado Tricoche (1886–1970) and Georgina Santos.
Lorenzo Santiago ("Chago") Alvarado Santos was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on October 26, 1920. He was the son of the musician Julio Alvarado Tricoche (1886–1970) and Georgina Santos.
He became internationally famous with Johnny Albino and Félix ("Ola") Martínez as part of the Trío San Juan during the years 1949-1957. Among his best tunes was the 1956 bolero named “Siete notas de amor”. In 1939 he was part of the “Tribuna del arte”, a WNEL radio program
Winning the first award in that program marked the beginning of his career.
This took him to New York City after getting a contract with Chico Club of Greenwich Village. In New York City he joined Celso Vega"s quintet, obtaining exposure in the Columbia Broadcasting System and National Broadcasting Company radio networks.
In 1944 he joined the Flores Sextet, led by composer Pedro Flores. He went on his first international tour with this group in 1946.
After the breakup of the group, he returned to Puerto Rico and was contracted by WEMB (Radio El Mundo), in 1947.
He returned to New York City and joined Cuarteto Yalí, headed by Félix Rodríguez «Corozo», in 1948. He joined Trío San Juan, marking the beginning of a new stage in his musical career. Many music experts judged this group to be the best Puerto Rican trio.
Trío San Juan was highly regarded in México and Colombia, even better than Trío los Panchos.
lieutenant was also highly regarded in Venezuela, Brazil, Perú and Argentina, in addition to the United States. The group enjoyed many hits, but none more successful than “Siete notas de amor”, which has made the soundtrack of the Mexican movies including “El amor que yo te di” and “Louisiana cigüeña dijo sí” (1958), plus “¡Viva Jalisco, que es mi tierra!” (1959).
lieutenant also enjoyed French, Japanese, Italiano, and English versions.