In the early 1900s, a musical fusion of Spanish guitars and African drumming emerged in eastern Cuba, giving birth to the vibrant and rhythmic genre of son cubano. With its infectious beats and soaring melodies, son cubano quickly captured the hearts of music lovers across the island and soon became a sensation that swept through Cuba. The Spanish word son means a pleasant sound.
Due to the lack of proper documentation, the exact origins of son cubano cannot be determined. Nevertheless, son is a relatively recent musical invention.
Despite the traditional tendency to attribute the origins of Cuban son to the eastern region of Cuba known as Oriente (Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo), for some time now, certain musicologists have taken a more inclusive stance. Although Alejo Carpentier, Emilio Grenet, and Cristóbal Díaz Ayala support the “eastern origin” theory, Argeliers León does not mention it in his fundamental work “Del Canto y del Tiempo,” and neither does María Teresa Linares in “La Música entre Cuba y España.”
Danilo Orozco also takes a more open position when he says, “… In this way, hundreds of eastern territories have an objective generative, but not exclusive, importance, and this includes early rural-urban interrelation.” Meanwhile, Radamés Giro asserted on this subject: “If son was an artistic phenomenon that developed from the second half of the 19th century, and not only in the province of old Oriente, it is logical to suppose, but not affirm, that long before 1909 it was heard in the capital city (Havana), due to the aforementioned reasons…”
An expert in contradanza, musicologist Peter Manuel, proposes a well-documented theory that much of the structure of son originated from the Spanish contradanza in Havana around the second half of the 19th century. Contradanza includes many of the characteristics shown in son, such as melodies in parallel thirds in the form of a “duet,” the presence of a clave rhythm, small verses borrowed from popular songs, distinctive syncopation, as well as the two-part song form and the ostinato known as montuno.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the appearance of the son significantly increased the interaction between Afro-derived and Hispanic-derived cultures. Many former black slaves, recently freed after the abolition of slavery in 1886, moved to “solares” in low-income neighborhoods in Havana, and numerous workers also arrived from all over Cuba, including rural areas, in search of better living conditions. They brought with them their traditions of Afro-Cuban rumba and Hispanic rooted styles. In Havana, rural and urban genres met, and the result was a fusion of both styles into a new genre called son.
Lots of trovadores (singer-songwriters) also arrived to Havana in the early 1900s. These singers brought their repertoires of songs and boleros, which also included rumbas and rural genres. Some famous trovadores and soneros such as Chico Ibáñez and Miguel Matamoros began composing their own music during this time.
Numerous groups of semi-professional musicians played son in Havana’s neighborhoods. In 1917, the Cuarteto Oriental recorded the first documented son in Columbia Records’ catalog. Later, the Sexteto Habanero Godínez was formed and recorded several songs for RCA Victor. Trovadores and groups such as Sindo Garay, Manuel Corona, María Teresa Vera, Alberto Villalón, and others also recorded rumbas, guarachas, and sones during this time.
In 1920, the Cuarteto Oriental became a sextet and renamed themselves as the Sexteto Habanero. This group established the “classic” configuration of the son sextet composed of guitar, tres, bongos, claves, maracas, and double bass. The popularity of the son genre took off in the mid-1920s, helped in part by the arrival of radio broadcasting in 1922 and Havana’s reputation as a haven for Americans evading alcohol prohibition laws. The son experienced a transformation in this period, going from a marginal musical genre to perhaps the most popular type of Cuban music.
This transformation was aided by the acceptance of the son as a popular music genre in other countries, which contributed to its increased acceptance in mainstream Cuban culture. President Machado’s public request for La Sonora Matancera to play at his birthday party was a significant turning point in this process. Many new sextets were formed during this time, including Boloña, Agabama, Botón de Rosa, and the famous Sexteto Occidente directed by María Teresa Vera.
Later in the 1920s, son sextets became septets, and the popularity of the genre continued to grow with artists like the Septeto Nacional and its director Ignacio Piñeiro. The Trío Matamoros, with members Miguel Matamoros, Siro Rodríguez, and Rafael Cueto, was founded in Santiago de Cuba and became an essential part of the history of Cuban son. They synthesized the style of the sextets and septets, adapting it to their ensemble, and created a unique sound by distributing the different rhythmic layers among their three voices, guitars, and maracas. In 1928, the Trío Matamoros traveled to New York and became nationally and internationally famous after releasing their first album on RCA Victor.
Overall, the son genre evolved significantly in the 1920s, moving from a marginal musical genre to one of the most popular types of Cuban music. The expansion of instrumentation, from guitar, tres, bongos, claves, maracas, and double bass to include cornets, trumpets, pianos, and more percussion, further contributed to its evolution.
In the late 1930s, jazz bands and amplified groups were becoming more popular than the sextets and septets that had previously enjoyed commercial success.
During the 1940s, Arsenio Rodríguez rose to prominence as the preeminent figure in the realm of Cuban son.
Beny Moré (also known as El Bárbaro del Ritmo) advanced the genre by incorporating elements of guaracha, bolero, and mambo, earning him the title of the greatest sonero alongside Roberto Faz, another notable sonero.
In 1948, Lorenzo Hierrezuelo and his cousin Francisco Repilado established the widely acclaimed Duo Los Compadres, where they assumed the monikers of Compay Primo and Compay Segundo. The Duo enjoyed immense popularity until the mid-1950s, when Compay Segundo departed, and Hierrezuelo later resurrected the group as Los Compadres, leading them well into the early 1960s.
The arrival of salsa music in the late 1960s brought son cubano back to the spotlight. Although salsa incorporated various genres from Cuba and Puerto Rico, son cubano was one of its core roots. Indeed, the most popular salsa performers were known as soneros.
The Buena Vista Social Club album and film, released in 1996, as well as La Vieja Trova Santiaguera, the efforts of Cuba’s highly influential Juan de Marcos González (Afro-Cuban All Stars), and Spanish record labels Nubenegra and Discos Manzana/Eurotropical, sparked a renaissance in traditional son cubano in the late 1990s. Notably, there was a renewed interest in overlooked older son cubano artists such as Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Reinaldo Hierrezuelo (Rey Caney), Reinaldo Creagh, Artistóteles Limonta, Pancho Cobas, Ricardo Ortíz, and Faustino Oramas Osorio ‘El Guayabero.’
Through these initiatives, son cubano has found a new audience among younger generations worldwide who were previously unfamiliar with the genre, while also providing foreign audiences with a vital glimpse into the rich history of Cuban music.
Today, although no longer as popular, traditional son has been assimilated by other genres and is present in them. The most significant contribution of the son is its influence on current Hispanic American music. It is considered the foundation upon which salsa was created.
Son Cubano Recordings:
Arsenio Rodríguez – Primitivo
Arsenio Rodríguez – Quindembo
Barbarito Torres – Havana Café
Beny Moré – Beny Canta y Cuba Baila
Beny Moré – El Bárbaro Del Ritmo
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club Presents Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal
Celia Cruz con la Sonora Matancera – Sabor y ritmo de pueblos
Compay Segundo – Calle Salud
Compay Segundo – Lo mejor de la vida
Compay Segundo – Yo vengo aquí
Compay Segundo – Huellas Del Pasado
Compay Segundo – Balcon De Santiago: 1956-1957
Compay Segundo – Las Flores De La Vida
Duo Los Compadres – Sentimiento Guajiro
El Guayabero (Faustino Oramas) – Sones Del Humor Popular
El Guayabero (Faustino Oramas) – Faustino Oramas El Guayabero
El Guayabero (Faustino Oramas) – El Tren De La Vida
Eliades Ochoa – Estoy como nunca
Eliades Ochoa y el Cuarteto Patria – Sublime Ilusión
Eliades Ochoa y el Cuarteto Patria – Tributo al Cuarteto Patria
Ibrahim Ferrer – Buenos Hermanos
Los Compadres – Huellas del pasado
Los Compadres – Compay Segundo y Compay Primero
Los Compadres – Llegaron Los Compadres
Omara Portuondo – Flor de amor
Polo Montañez – Guajiro natural
Septeto Nacional – Sones de mi Habana
Septeto Nacional – Sones Cubanos
Septeto Nacional – Más Cuba Libres
Septeto Nacional – Aquellos Tiempos Del Septeto Nacional
Septeto Nacional – Ignacio Piñeiro and his Septeto Nacional
Septeto Santiaguero – Septeto Santiaguero –
Septeto Santiaguero – La Pulidora
Septeto Santiaguero – La Chismosa
Septeto Santiaguero – Para Los Bailadores
Septeto Santiaguero – Los Mangos Bajitos
Septeto Santiaguero – Oye Mi Son Santiaguero
Septeto Santiaguero – Vamos Pa’ La Fiesta
Septeto Santiaguero, José Alberto ‘El Canario’ – Tributo a Los Compadres – No Quiero Llanto
Septeto Santiaguero – Raíz Egrem
Septeto Santiaguero & José Alberto ‘El Canario’ – A Mí Qué – Tributo A Los Clásicos Cubanos
Sierra Maestra – Tíbiri Tábara
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – Vieja Trova Santiaguera
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – Gusto y Sabor
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – Hotel Asturias
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – La Manigua
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – Boleros de toda una vida
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – Domino
Vieja Trova Santiaguera – El Balcón del Adiós
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.