McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
British Columbia. Provincial. Land Commission.
British Museum (Natural History)
Cuban Alfredo Brito, born Alfredo Valdez Brito Ibanez in Havana, was the eldest of three musical brothers, the other two being Carlos and Julio. He studied with Armando Romeu, proving to be talented on the clarinet, saxophone and flute. Around 1910, he founded his own jazz band, one of the first in Cuba; he composed, arranged music, played the flute and conducted the band. In 1927 he went to New York with Don Azpiazu’s orchestra, playing the saxophone; while there he arranged Moises Simon’s “El Mansiero” for RCA Victor, a release of a million copies. On his return to Cuba, he founded the Siboney orchestra and toured Spain, Portugal and France. He joined the American Paul Whiteman’s orchestra which he directed for a few months. In the 1930s, he created soundtracks for such films as “Yo Soy el Heroe” (1938), “Profugos” (1939), and “Tam-tam o el Origen de la Rumba (1940). Later he became musical director of the television channel, Canal 2.
Louise Weibel Britton, born in the United States in 1900, was educated in Montreal at the Montreal High School, and graduated from McGill with a LLB in 1922 and a LLM in 1923. She did not practice law in Quebec or elsewhere. In 1924 she married Dr. Sydney Britton (BSc. 1922 MD 1924, McGill) and they lived in Virginia whee she raised and a family and painted as a hobby. Louise Britton passed away in 1988.