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The Kirsty MacColl web site
History of Cuban Music
Kirsty's snapshot history of Cuban music, recorded with Jan Fairley and a BBC Radio team in late 2000.
In these pages we hope to provide a further boost to the Cuban music which Kirsty loved by providing additional information and links to the artists' websites for your further explorations!
Broadcast
on BBC Radio 2, 14th March 2001
For many people the Buena Vista Social Club is their introduction to Cuban music, but there is much more to discover. From the verandah of Havana's most famous hotel, the Nacional, Kirsty and expert musicologist Doctor Jan Fairley discuss the best of Cuban music available in the UK. From Los Van Van to Trio Matamoros to Rojito y su Orchesta, Kirsty and Jan provide an essential beginners' guide through the complex styles and sounds of the island of music.
2004,
"Singer-songwriter Jorge Luis Rojas, Rojitas,
recently released his latest album Tierra Santa, in Havana. The album is
the first he has produced with Cuban recording company EGREM. Without detaching
from the salsa line, Tierra Santa offers a new approach of the musician who
has played it for so long. This time, Rojitas includes ballads, pop, Latin
sounds, Cuban dance music, with techno-conga elements, flamenco, in an amalgam
of modern sounds. Half way between Cumbia and Ballenato, the song Tierra
Santa is dedicated to Cuba, "to our smile, the magic of Cuba's
joy", the singer
stated during the release of the album."
The Story of Cuba / Hemisphere 7243 5 24337 2 8. Composed by J.L. Rojas/ Kike Alvarez.
Led
by Miguel Matamoros, a guitarist and composer from Santiago, the Trio
Matamores was one of the most popular (and influential) groups of
the 1920s and '30s. Matamoros, along with percussionist Siro Rodriguez and
guitar player Rafael Cueto, revolutionized the sound of the small Cuban ensembles
bringing a richer, more complex style to both the vocal and instrumental
arrangements. Their style of "bolero-son" -- mixed rich harmonies
and melodies, as well as a stronger rhythm, into the traditional romanticism
of the bolero ballads. The group changed its size and sound many times over
the years, either to try out new ideas or to adapt to newer trends; at various
points Matamoros performed as a trio, a septet, an orchestra, or a conjunto.
In the 1940s, Miguel Matamoros began suffering from voice problems, and recruited
a series of talented singers to fill his place in the group's sound -- of
these, the most famous was the legendary bolero/mambo singer Beny More, who
went on to become Perez Prado's featured vocalist. One of the longest-lived
Cuban groups, the Matamoros ensemble performed from 1925 until it disbanded
in 1969.
Cuba Tobacco and Music [IMPORT] / Legacy Latino
The
musical concept at the heart of Timba, combining Cuban music with modern
creative songwriting, began in the 60s with Los
Van Van. Juan Formell, former musical director of Orquesta Revé,
absorbed the influences of jazz and the explosion of creativity in rock
and R&B in late 60's/early 70's en route to forming Los Van Van -
Cuba's most popular group ever since, with music stemming from
his fusions of Cuban rhythms with synthesizers, all types of rock, rap,
Brazilian music, merengue, and just about anything else that caught his
interest.
The Best of Los Van Van / Hemisphere 7243 521390 2 6
Oscar D'León is a salsa and Latin music star from Venezuela. Besides from being a great sonero, he is also showman who knows how to entertain people. He has more than 20 years experience in show business and has recorded 60 albums. His career started in 1972, when he was part of the popular orchestra Dimensióon Latina. His first recording and first hit was a 45 called Pensando En Tí. Four years later, he formed his own band, La Salsa Mayor. Since then, he has always played with his own orchestra. On one hand, he is influenced by famous Cuban musicians like Beny Moré and La Sonora Matancera, on the other hand, by the sound of the 1960's in New York and stars like Eddie Palmieri and the Fania generation.
Mi Cubita Bella
Through
four generations, virtuoso family band Familia
Valera Miranda from Santiago de Cuba has created
and preserved the trova/son music traditions of Cuba's easternmost
Oriente province,
where two of the crucial styles of music, son and bolero, come
from. Throughout this time, members have been collecting
and keeping the tradition of authentic sounds alive, influencing
the entire musical culture and showing its vitality. The current
group consists of Felix Valera, his wife Carmen Rosa Alarcón,
his sons, Raúl, Ernesto and Enrique, as well as, a family
friend - Radamés Gonzalés. Anybody who would like
to delve into authentic Cuban music can experience the purity and
charm of this unaltered traditional music, which has developed
organically, without commercial constraints.
Rough Guide to Cuban Son / World Music Network RGNET 1046 CD.
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