Sonora Matancera
La Sonora Matancera is a Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Founded in 1924 and led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Rogelio Martínez, musicologists consider it an icon of this type of music. Notable singers to have sung and recorded with the band include Bienvenido Granda, Daniel Santos, Myrta Silva, Miguelito Valdés, Leo Marini, Celia Cruz, Nelson Pinedo, Vicentico Valdés, Estanislao "Laíto" Sureda, Alberto Beltrán, Carlos Argentino, and Celio González.
Early history: 1920s to 1940s
The founding of Tuna Liberal
The group was founded on January 12, 1924 in Barrio Ojo de Agua, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas. Culturally and demographically, this seaport is located in the most African region of Cuba. The ensemble was initially named Tuna Liberal for political reasons. The co-founders were Valentín Cané and Pablo "Bubú" Vázquez Gobín. The other original members were Manuel "Jimagua" Sánchez, Ismael Goberna, Domingo Medina, José Manuel Valera, Julio Gobín, Juan Bautista Llopis, and Eugenio Pérez, vocalist. One source believes Valera and Bautista Llopis were the vocalists while a second source holds to the position that Eugenio Pérez was the sole sonero. At this point, the band was just a commonplace group and had not yet developed its distinctive sound.The 1920s
In 1925, Gerardo Machado, then Cuban President, invited Tuna Liberal to play at a party for his birthday. This marked a new acceptance for Afro-Cuban groups and a style of music that had previously been barred from certain restaurants and hotels.Personnel changed in 1926, and the name of the band was changed to Septeto Soprano, due to supposed new singer Eugenio Pérez, though he left a few months later. A different source credits the new name to the vocal range of the singer and maracas player, Carlos Manuel "Caíto" Díaz Alonso, who became a member the same year.
Rogelio Martínez joined the group in 1926, after Caíto recommended him to Valentín Cané. Another source indicates that Rogelio recommended Caíto to Valentín Cané, and that Caíto and Rogelio became members in 1927. A third source posits that Caíto and Rogelio joined the collective in 1926; both had recorded with pianist and bandleader Antonio María Romeu.
The group lost Domingo Medina, Julio Gobín, and Juan Bautista Llopis in their attempt at a more modern sound. In 1927, at the suggestion of Valentín Cané, the ensemble moved to Havana, intending to stay one week. It remained there for the next thirty-three years.
Havana was home to a thriving music scene in the 1920s. Septeto Soprano played their first engagements in La Habana at such popular nocturnal haunts as El Teatro Alhambra, El Centro Gallego, El Centro Asturiano, La Casa de los Médicos, El Club de los 20, El Club de los Anaranjados and other dance clubs. The group alternated at these nightspots with other ensembles of the day, including the likes of Sexteto Habanero, Sexteto Munamar, Sexteto Boloña, Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, Sexteto Pinareño, and Sexteto Gloria Cubana. At first the collective did not have an easy time due to the professionalism of the other tríos, cuartetos, sextetos, and septetos active at this time, but carved out a niche for itself in the Cuban capital.
The move to Havana proved to be consequential. In 1928, the collective made its first recordings, for its first label, RCA-Victor. The ensemble would eventually record for thirteen different labels.
In 1929, the band signed a contract to perform live on the airwaves of Radio Progreso, making appearances on this station for many years.
The 1930s
of this time added pianos to broaden their contrapuntal and harmonic vocabulary. Trumpets, sometimes as many as three, replaced cornets. The additional instruments meant sextetos and septetos evolved into conjuntos. Septeto Soprano added a piano during this decade but did not expand its brass section until the 1940s.Septeto Soprano made only one recording during this decade. It was for RCA-Victor.
Some of the individuals important to the group's success began their long association with the collective in the 1930s. In 1932, Rogelio Martínez was appointed co-director. He was influential in determining the destiny of the conjunto. Juan Bautista Llopis returned for a brief period, and a new percussionist, José "Manteca" Rosario Chávez, became a member. Three more sources say that Manteca joined in 1929 while one other source states that this happened in 1935. Manteca filled the vacancy created when Jimagua left.
The collective changed its name to Estudiantina Sonora Matancera in the early 1930s. Each change in the group's name was indicative of a change in instrumentation and its corresponding stylistic change.
In 1935, vocalist Manolo Barquín occasionally sang with the group. That year it adopted its formal name, Conjunto Sonora Matancera. Calixto Leicea and Humberto Cané became members in this year. Another source claims Humberto Cané joined in 1929.
Calixto Leicea replaced Ismael Goberna, who retired because of poor health and died a few months later. By then, Calixto had played and made his name with Sexteto Nacional, Chaveo y Su Grupo, Juventud Habanera, Sexteto Guarina, and María Teresa Vera. As was common with musicians of his generation throughout Latin America, he had been a member of a government-sponsored municipal band, La Banda Municipal de Matanzas, getting a firm musical education in the process. Calixto Leicea was an excellent songwriter and arranger. The band recorded many of his compositions as well as arrangements. The collective's theme song "Traigo un tono" is a guaracha composed in 1947 by Calixto.
Humberto Cané succeeded his father on tres and, as well, sang. Valentín Cané, having ceded to his eldest son the tres chair, remained a valuable member of the collective, as he still sang, composed and — in a new role — played tumbadora. The departure of Humberto Cané in 1944 signaled the end of the tres as part of the permanent instrumentation of the group.
Dámaso Pérez Prado was the band's first pianist and one of its earliest arrangers from 1936 to 1939. Severino "Refresquito" Ramos was the primary arranger, as well as pianist, from 1939 to 1944 and, as such, principal architect of the sonic identity of this conjunto. After 1944, he limited himself to arranging and composing.
In this decade, La Sonora Matancera faced strong competition from such ensembles as Sexteto Guarina, Juventud Habanera de Joseíto Fernández, Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, Sexteto Segundo Nacional, Trío Matamoros, Sexteto Casino, Sexteto María Teresa Vera, Conjunto Kubavana, Belisario López, and Orquesta Antonio María Romeu. There was a rivalry between Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro and Sonora Matancera.
The ensemble terminated its association with Radio Progreso by the end of the decade. In 1939, it was signed to a contract by the ownership/management of Radio CMQ for a series of live broadcasts.
The 1940s
sang lead vocals from 1940 to 1954, the first truly important sonero to perform and record with the conjunto. Another source says that he joined La Sonora Matancera in 1942 while a third source says it was in 1944. Whatever the case may be, his association with Sonora Matancera made it famous throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. No one recorded more tunes with the ensemble than Bienvenido Granda, as he made over 200 recordings during his time with the ensemble.In 1942, La Sonora Matancera left CMQ. It would now broadcast — with Bienvenido Granda as lead singer — over the airwaves of RHC Radio.
Pedro Knight and Ezequiel "Lino" Frías left Arsenio Rodríguez's conjunto to join Sonora Matancera on the same day in 1944. These two steered the collective towards a more modern sound. The one gave the brass section more heft while the other enhanced the rhythm section. Pianist Lino Frías anchored La Sonora's rhythm section until 1976. He was also a superb composer and arranger.
In 1944, the conjunto made its next-to-last recordings for RCA-Victor. It also was signed to a recording contract by the newly established Panart Records.
Original director Valentín Cané led the group till an asthmatic condition forced him to retire in 1946. He continued to receive pay as if he were an active member of La Sonora Matancera till he died two years later. In 1946, in place of Valentín Cané, Tata Güines, who was a member of the groundbreaking ensemble led by Israel "Cachao" López in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, became the conguero for a short time. Carlos "Patato" Valdés also held this position for a few months.
Ángel "Yiyo" Alfonso Furias took over the tumbadora chair in 1948 and thus completed the quintessential lineup. From 1948 to 1954, it consisted of:
- Calixto Leicea: first trumpet chair;
- Pedro Knight: second trumpet chair;
- Pablo "Bubú" Vázquez Gobín: contrabass;
- Ezequiel "Lino" Frías: piano;
- José "Manteca" Rosario Chávez: timbalitos, bongó and cencerro ;
- Ángel "Yiyo" Alfonso Furias: tumbadora;
- Rogelio Martínez: Director, guitar and coro ;
- Carlos Manuel "Caíto" Díaz Alonso: maracas and coro;
- Bienvenido Granda: lead vocals, coro and claves.
In the 1940s, the conjunto more than held its own against such important groups as Orquesta Casino de La Playa, Arsenio Rodríguez, Orquesta Ideal, Cheo Belén Puig, Antonio Arcaño y sus Maravillas, Conjunto Jóvenes del Cayo, and Orquesta Almendra. Together with this cooperative these bands made Cuba "El Paraíso Musical de las Américas".
From the mid-1940s till the end of the 1950s, the collective had a program as "artistas exclusivos" on Radio CMQ called "Cascabeles Candado".
In the period 1947–1948, the group made a number of recordings as Conjunto Tropicavana or Conjunto Tropicabana. The name change was to avoid legal problems, since the band was still under contract to Panart Records.
As this decade drew to a close, Sonora Matancera decided on a course of action that would become standard practice: the incorporation of non-Cuban lead singers into its ranks. The first non-Cuban singers were Puerto Ricans, singer/composer Daniel Santos and guarachera/songwriter Myrta Silva. Some of these vocalists were featured lead singers. Others were invited to record a limited number of songs during a brief period of time.
Daniel Santos performed and recorded with the collective beginning in 1948. His five-year stay with La Sonora helped it achieve world-wide fame. The cooperative returned to airing live broadcasts at Radio Progreso in 1948 with Daniel Santos as the featured lead vocalist.
Myrta Silva was the first woman to join the musical collective. Over a short time in 1949, she recorded four studio sessions with the conjunto. She left by 1950. Myrta returned in 1952 and made a number of live recordings.
In 1949, the ensemble recorded twenty-two songs for Ansonia Records. The conjunto made said recordings using its real name. That same year, moreover, it signed with Seeco Records, which was owned by New York City-based Sidney Siegel. The first recording for this label was made on November 25, 1949, the guaracha "Tocando madera", with Bienvenido Granda as sonero. The association with Seeco Records lasted until 1966, with the last recordings having been made in the prior year. The source does not indicate if the group was still contractually obligated to Panart Records when it recorded for Ansonia and when it signed, as well as recorded, with Seeco.