Gary Nunez He played the bass, that was his instrument, but to the rhythm of the tambourines he created a life project that remains his greatest legacy in the history of traditional Puerto Rican music. Now his ashes rest in a carved wooden tambourine, a symbol that his commitment to spreading the Plena beyond Puerto Rican shores endures.
The bassist, arranger and composer leaves behind a solid Plena Libre, equally concerned with honoring its founder and leader and, above all, eager to continue flying the flag with the music that gives them identity.
“It will sound, it will sound, the bomb and the Plena, it will sound,” the members of Plena Libre improvised at the emotional farewell ceremony for the musician, who died on October 14th from complications of pancreatic cancer.
“Plena Libre is an institution. Plena Libre is a commitment that my father and my mother made with the culture and music of this country, this is my father’s ditch, a ditch for culture and music, continues Plena Libre.”said son Luis Gabriel Núñez, who now takes over the leadership of the group.
“The commitment is greater and, as we say on the street, we will not allow it,” promised, for his part, Víctor Manuel Vélez Flores, one of the group’s singers and drummers.
The bassist’s son, Luis Gabriel, took over leadership of the group because his father fell ill. (Josian Bruno/GFR MEDIA)During the event celebrating the life and musical work of Núñez, statements were made repeatedly about the enthusiasm with which he had undertaken a musical project “against the tide” in the 1990s, and he defended it until the last moment.
According to widow Valerie Cox, Gary Núñez didn’t have much time to say goodbye or leave anything written, but even though his illness allowed him to, he asked her to give continuity to what became his other family. “I promised him and we talked in the hospital that we would carry on, that Luis Gabriel would take over, that he had taken over since May, and LuisGa has carried on, so I will continue to honor. “He preserves his memory and his legacy and works to continue the life project for which he fought so hard,” Cox said in an aside at Ehret Funeral Home in Río Piedras.
An image of a smiling Gary Núñez with a crowd in the background during one of the many Plena Libre performances at the San Sebastián Street Festival captured attention from the left side of the front of the chapel. Right in the middle was the tambourine-shaped urn designed by artisan Juan Martínez, and on the right side a sequence of images located the musician at various moments in his 71-year life.
“Gary has changed my life since I met him, he was loving, humorous, he went dancing with me and when there was no music, he sang it in my ear. He was a great comrade, a great father, disciplined, demanding but always full of love,” the widow continued.
Widow Valerie Cox vowed to carry on her husband of 36 years’ legacy. (Josian Bruno/GFR MEDIA)Núñez, father of three children and grandfather of four grandchildren, tried to instill values in his descendants through his words and actions. “He showed us that values and ideals are priceless.”. “He taught us self-love, love of family and love of our culture,” said daughter Adriana, Mila’s mother.
He also ensured that his son went into music of his own free will and not out of obligation. “One of the nicest things, he said to me: ‘If you want to be a musician, it’s because you want to be a musician. I’ve already made my life.’ And the best thing about it was that there was never an answer to my decision to become a musician,” said the current head of Plena Libre, who, like his sister, wore the glasses that his father always wore with the message on them He had a tattoo on his left arm that he wrote with the signature of a letter: “I love you.”
Members of the Núñez family arrived at the chapel, including notables such as former governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, producer and comedian Sunshine Logroño and singer Gilberto Santa Rosa.
“Gary is a quixote in the good sense of the word; “He led the betting on Plena at a time when it was not commercially attractive in terms of the industry and he created a very innovative, refreshing concept with musicality, because the quality of the music he made is important, and that “I think.” has value,” stood out “El Caballero de la Salsa,” with which he produced one of Plena Libre’s albums. “It’s definitely a physical loss, but I think that these guys, starting with his son and everyone who makes up Plena Libre, have a clear concept and Gary will be an inspiration for them,” he emphasized.
The Executive Director of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, Carlos Ruiz, began his farewell message by asking for a minute of applause for Maestro Núñez, prompting those in the chapel to rise from their seats to join in the thunderous applause.
“To talk about Gary Núñez is to talk about transcendence and musical sound, and that special and peculiar sound of Plena Libre is Gary Núñez and it is something that we have not only enjoyed, but that will always be with us, namely just like that.” Sound transcends, it changes and stimulates lifestyles and thoughts, and Master Gary Núñez is now part of us for eternity,” emphasized Ruiz on his personal and institutional levels.
The late music director had two Plena Libre projects running that his son wanted to continue. In the same way, the group’s presentations continue, as the setting has not stopped, nor the dedications of cultural events in which Núñez marked the key to the ringing of tambourines one or more times.
The children Luis Gabriel and Adriana had their father’s glasses tattooed on them. (Josian Bruno/GFR MEDIA)