If Alcides plays it properly, that organ sounds as sharp as a fighting rooster. That's what the dancers in Buenaventura used to say when an instrument sounded out of tune. And that's what the great Tony Taño confirmed at the Pinomar cabaret when he used an electronic tuning meter. Upon seeing Alcides' work, he hugged him and said, "You're a genius."
Not a single note was off. But Alcides told him he'd left a little bit of chrome underneath. "That was perfect," Tony said. That's how Pepe Ajo's son won the admiration of Celia Sánchez, who would send for him whenever her organ, La Espiga, needed the expert ear of Buenaventura to work its magic.
Alcides loved to play dominoes every night at the social club with Vive Verá, and at nine o'clock he enjoyed Ramone's colada. He even had a free pass at the Hotel Nacional and something more, because his wife Delia would go wild whenever she heard Pablo Milanés's song "Yolanda." But her husband's favorite song was "Así es la vida querida" (That's Life, My Dear). He was the lead musician of Los Ajo, the conga player, and the great tuner alongside Tuto Peña. His five children remember him as jovial and cheerful. They haven't forgotten the time he arrived with a briefcase bearing the Aeroflot logo and a gift for each of them.
It was in 1970 that the stars of Tropicana participated in the Carnaval 70 tour. Alcides was the lead singer, performing "La batea." Along with the percussionists of Los Van Van, Los Bravo, and Las de Aida, Alcides brought the Cuban party to Paris and other European cities. And although Teté said that the conga with the organ made them burst out dancing to that delight in high heels. That's how the fine rooster crowed even in Japan. And today Marlon, the great-grandson of the family, a dancer and a gossip, inherited the good vibes of the Ajo family. And let the conga play, because Cuba is a party.
