Cuba, sadly isolated these days both politically and economically, has a proud musical history that to a large extent evolved from a fusion of Spanish, East African and indigenous influences. Its geographic isolation has allowed a distinctive sound to emerge and grow into the Son Cubano which has incubated a wealth of dances, including Mambo, and Cha-Cha-Chá. This distinctive blend of song and dance has reached out and influenced samba and even American jazz.
Numerous recordings of historic and cultural value are found in a 1997 box set titled Cuba: I Am Time, revealing a number of musical styles unlike any other in Latin America. The early music of Cuba speaks in rhythm and chant, illustrated by Merceditas Valdes, who would establish herself among the earliest recorded Cuban performers. She later went on to work with composer and pianist Ernesto Lecuona.
Merceditas was a practitioner of the Afro-Cuban Yoruban religious tradition of Santeria.
Cuba, even in hard times, still celebrates often. “Con Su Pin Pin” is music from a festival in Santiago de Cuba, called Mamarrachos, which celebrates the day of the Apostle Santiago.
Of interest pertaining to “Con Su Pin Pin” is the influx of immigrants, some arriving as slaves from Africa and others coming from much more distant, culturally exotic places. Just as Chinese laborers arrived in both Mexico and the western United States, many of them building railroads, they also came to Cuba, bringing not only their own customs and cuisines, but also musical instruments then totally foreign to Latin America.
In this rare recording we hear a double reed instrument called corneta china. We can hear, but must also use our imaginations to picture the costumes and dance of Cuban Carnival, related to the Semana Santa parades in Spain.
Cuban music broke free of its boundaries with the emergence of composer Ernesto Lecuona. If one seeks to know Cuban music beyond its folkloric roots, Lecuona is a must-hear. Many regard Lecuona the most important Latin musical figure of the early 20th century. His sister taught him piano when he was young, enabling his successful career as a concert pianist.This experience enabled Lecuona to begin writing both concert music, such as his rich catalog of pieces for solo piano, and then to begin writing in a popular style as he toured Cuba and beyond as Ernesto Lecuona's Cuban Boys.
This short miniature of Cuban musicians and their music would be incomplete without mention of Sarah Willis, a member of the Berlin Philharmonic who has over the past decade become one of the best friends of Cuban musicians. Sarah chose the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and conductor Pepe Mendez to accompany her in three recordings published as Mozart y Mambo. Let's cha-cha-cha these final moments of today's episode of Momentos Musicales with the inimitable Sarah Willis.
