One of Santiago’s most versatile groups, unusually comprising of six men. Formed after their director, Amando visited the Canaries with Eliades Ochoa, and named after the island’s indigenous people.
Maria Ochoa
Known as the first lady of Cuban country music. Maria sings
the songs she heard growing up, songs that were passed down from generation
to generation.
Morena Son
Formed in April 2002, this all female band are unusual in the male dominated world of Cuban music.
Septeto Contemporaneo
Formed in 1992, this band offer a more contemporary version of the traditional Son, fusing Jamaican and Latin American themes with their native music.
Septeto Moneda Nacional
Originally led by Daniel Castillo the famous trovador, and now led by his grandson Gustavo Reve.
Sones de Oriente
A very powerful band that fuses the more contemporary rhythms of Timba and Salsa with the traditional Son and Changüí.
Septeto la Botija
Named after the popular musical instrument and founded in 2001, this band has stuck to the traditional rhythms and instruments of Cuba, helping to keep the routes of that music alive.
"The shadow of the trend is always dilution. We are witnessing it, tragically, in the rampant excess of ethanol plants cropping up before a sustainable economic and realistic formula has been developed. Musically we've watched it happen to Son, that runaway Cuban song that has exploded internationally a decade ago. Since then every possible take on Cuban folk has saturated markets worldwide, to the point where even the term "world music" is associated with Son as much as that other dominating form, Reggae. There is good reason for son's popularity: beautiful guitar work, simple percussion patterns, uncomplicated and effective melodies and that dusky, hearty singing by its troubadours. So when placing this recent compilation into the computer, open-eared yet slightly skeptical, a pleasant surprise occurred. Soon that surprise turned into fond appreciation. The fourteen tracks by half as many bands are all worthy of replay, making it an excellent collection in both scope and flow. The crisp tres playing on La Botija's two tracks, "Roxanna" and "Malia," along with the stunning and clear vocal performance, marks the albums highlights. This is not to detract from Maria Ochoa's hearty songwriting, or Septeto Contemporaneo's commendable balladry. Morena Son's upbeat, conga-driven songs are also worthy of note. It is just that sometimes one thing comes to define something larger than itself. Within this excellent compilation, La Botija is the one to remember. As the subtitle suggests, those are the songs to cradle you longest, to hold closest to your heart." - SING OUT MAGAZINE
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INSPIRATION
The music on this album is performed by musicians who understand the tradition of Son, and who are now developing the forms and traditions for the next generation. Santiago De Cuba, the capital of Eastern Cuba is where Son was born, and Son is also the music of Floridita.
These groups have played at Floridita and have thrilled our audiences with their skill and musicianship. It is they who have inspired this album. The songs demonstrate the spirit and soul of the people of the countryside, their traditions, the love of the land, nature and their own vision of the world. For information on music tours to Cuba, visit www.floriditatravel.com
CHANGÜÍ AND SON
Changüí is a style of Cuban music which originated in the early 19th Century in the eastern region of the Guantánamo Province, from the style called Nengón. It arose in the sugar cane refineries and in the rural communities populated by slaves. Changüí combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of the Bantu Arara origin. Changüí is thought to be the predecessor of Son.
The Cuban Son and the salsa derived from it are recognised to be among the most important forms of Caribbean music of the 20th Century. Son Cubano is a style of music that became popular in the second half of the 19th Century in the eastern province of Oriente. The earliest known Son dates from the late 1500’s.
Early Son was a vocal music accompanied by tres, guitar and maracas. This was followed by a sextet instrumentation using tres, vocals, guitar, bass or marimbula, bongó, maracas and clave – providing the heartbeat of this syncopated music.
By the 1920’s this instrumentation was augmented with the addition of a trumpet thus creating the standard septeto style. The Son Montuno further incorporated a three trumpet horn section, a piano, and a conga drum, or tumbadora, as it is called in Cuba.
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