ization and sophistication within the genre to accommodate for larger, more cos-
mopolitan audiences. The son cuarteto was soon eclipsed by the sexteto, which
added claves and marímbula (later replaced by the stringed bass), and the septeto
de son, which added a trumpet. Recordings by the leading exemplar of this for-
mat, Ignacio Piñeiro’s Septeto Nacional, and Sexteto Habanera became popular
Son (Cuba) | 373
throughout Cuba and abroad. This international dissemination eventually led to
the emergence of New York and Paris as important centers for performance and re-
cording by Cuban musicians and to contact between son and jazz musicians, which
would affect both genres greatly over the ensuing decades. The immediate effect on
son was the integration of more complex, jazz-influenced harmonies, faster tempos,
and the development of a more percussive, rhythmic sound.
The event that served as a catalyst for the popularity of Cuban music world-
wide was the 1931 release of Don Azpiazú’s ground-breaking recording of
“The Peanut Vendor,” an arrangement of the Moisés Simón-penned son-pregón
“El manicero” (derived from the calls of street vendors in Havana), which, while
it had no connection or similarity to the Cuban genre rumba , was given the name
rhumba . The record was a massive nationwide hit in the United States and trig-
gered a rhumba craze on Tin Pan Alley, on Broadway, and in Hollywood, where
in the hands of American songwriters and musicians it became diluted and Ameri-
canized, even though its exoticism was one of the main reasons for its popular-
ity. The most prominent figure in popularizing rhumba was the Spanish-born
and Cuban-bred Xavier Cugat. Cugat, who, in addition to recording and touring
appeared in a number of Hollywood films, made no claims to the authenticity of
the music he was playing, preferring to point to it as a way of introducing Ameri-
cans to Latin music.
In Cuba, son continued to develop and exert great influence throughout the 1930s
and 1940s. Its capacity for hybridization led to the development of genres such as
bolero-son, son-guaguancó, and even blue-son and its popularity and influence per-
meated Cuban music to the extent that charanga bands—flute and violin orchestras
that had, to that point, mainly been playing danzónes and boleros —began including
sones in their repertoire and, in accordance, incorporating more rhythmic elements
into their music. The son ensemble continued to grow, with tres player, arranger
and composer Arsenio Rodríguez taking the step of adding congas to his band
in 1938. Rodríguez, along with Conjunto Casino, would be a guiding force in the
development of the genre. The inclusion of congas was followed by the addition of
piano and a second trumpet, forming a new ensemble, dubbed a conjunto sonero.
In addition to, and perhaps because of the expanded format, arrangements became
increasingly regulated, including the incorporation of precomposed trumpet parts
and a standardization of the accompaniment patterns played by the rhythm section.
In the process, the son gave up some of its informal, collective looseness.
The 1940s also saw the development of mambo, a combination of Afro-Cuban
rhythms and big band jazz, the development of which is alternately attributed to
Rodríguez in Cuba, Pérez Prado in México, the West Coast of the United States,
and Machito and Mario Bauzá in New York. The genre began as an expansion of
the mambo section, the horn-driven section of the montuno in son and incorporated elements of son, including the common use of ostinato patterns in the saxophones
374 | Son (Cuba)
adapted from the tres patterns of son. The subsequent mambo craze in the United States during the early 1950s was paralleled in Cuba by conjunto sonero ’s period
of greatest popularity, attributable in part to the introduction of television to the
island. This popularity was led by artists such as Beny Moré—a singer who, after
working with many groups including Trío Matamoros and Prado’s orchestra, led
his own group, Banda Gigante, which incorporated mambo elements into son —and
La Sonora Matancera, which featured a four-trumpet horn line and a succession of
singers that included Daniel Santos and a young Celia Cruz.
Son fell out of official favor after the 1959 revolution, being derided by the Castro
government as a vestige of the decadent Batista regime. However, variants on the
genre, including the changüí from Guantanamo, remained popular in the rural areas
of the Oriente. Meanwhile in New York, bands that had been playing charanga and
bugalú (a mix of Afro-Cuban rhythms with rock ‘n’ roll that served as a survival
technique for mambo groups in the wake of the latter genre’s vast popularity) turned
to the conjunto sonero, spurring what was called a típico revival in the mid-1960s.
This revival was partially the result of the influence that Arsenio Rodríguez, who
had relocated there from Cuba in 1950, was having on the local music scene, and
of appearances in the city by La Sonora Matancera.
Around this same time, a brasher, rawer version of son, dubbed salsa in order to
obscure its Cuban origins, was being embraced by Nuyoricans as a musical expres-
sion of their ethnic identity in light of the new social consciousness that was seizing
the racially volatile urban areas of the United States. This new style was exempli-
fied by Willie Colón, a Nuyorican teenager who led a band featuring a trombone
section in the place of the standard trumpets and represented himself as el malo (the
bad boy), the image reflecting the alienated energy of the barrio. Salsa would go
on to attain popularity in many parts of Latin America and be seen by many as
the foremost expression of Latino music in the 1970s, becoming a symbol of pan-
Latino identity in the process.
During the 1970s, the dual trends of experimentalism and traditionalism typified
son in Cuba. The decade’s experimental movement was preceded by the formation
of Los Van Van in 1969, led by Juan Formell, bass player and former musical di-
rector of Orquesta Revé, a charanga that specialized in changüí and incorporated
experimental elements, such as the inclusion of an expanded set of timbals, trom-
bones, and batá drums. Los Van Van, also a charanga, infused son with elements from rock, rhythm and blues, jazz and Brazilian music, including the addition of
electric guitars, synthesizers, and a drum set, and abandoned traditional standard-
ized rhythmic patterns in the bass and piano, naming the new hybrid songo . Follow-
ing in this same vein was singer-songwriter Adalberto Alvarez’s group, Son 14. The
leaders of the movement toward traditionalism were tres player and former rock
guitarist Juan de Marcos González, who formed Sierra Maestra along with future
¡Cubanismo! founder Jesús Alemañy in 1976 with the goal of keeping the torch of
the great septetos alive for a younger generation, and guitarist and singer Eliades
Son (Cuba) | 375
Ochoa, who took over the leadership of Cuarteto Patria, a group that had existed
since the 1940s, in 1978.
In 1988, former Los Van Van and Irakere flutist José Luis “El Tosco” Cortés
formed NG (Nueva Generación) La Banda, a g
roup that combined songo with
funk and rap influences, spawning the new genre timba . With NG La Banda, El
Tosco’s aim was to combine the flavor of Los Van Van with the musical aggres-
siveness of the Latin jazz giants Irakere. Timba continued its popularity into the
mid-1990s, when the son of the conjuntos soneros of the 1950s was given unex-
pected and unprecedented exposure and popularity at an international level with
the 1997 release of Buena Vista Social Club. Begun by musical director and organ-
izer Juan de Marcos González and producer Ry Cooder, the American guitarist,
as a tribute to the artists of the past, the album went on to sell four million copies,
win a Grammy Award, and spawn international tours, a host of solo albums by
musicians featured on the original recording, and an Academy Award–nominated
documentary.
While Cooder insists in his liner notes to Buena Vista Social Club that “this
music is alive in Cuba, not some remnant in a museum that we stumbled into,” di-
rector Wim Wenders’s documentary posits the endeavor as a salvation project, not
merely of the careers of singer Ibrahim Ferrer and pianist Rubén González, both
of whom had retired from performing, but of the genre. Wenders focused the at-
tention of the film on the older musicians, such as Ferrer, González, Pio Leyva,
and Compay Segundo (whose participation was secured only after he returned to
Cuba from an international tour) and gave much screen time to the white American
Cooder—who has always downplayed his role in the recordings—while almost
completely ignoring the original impetus of the project, the black Cuban Juan de
Marcos González. Buena Vista Social Club and its many offspring served to fuel
a roots movement among musicians in Cuba and nostalgia for an imagined pre–
Castro Cuba in the United States that dovetailed with the retro-lounge trend of the
late 1990s and with a more sympathetic and open attitude toward Cuba on the part
of both the Clinton government and a good portion of the American public.
Further Reading
Cooder, Ry, Nick Gold and Nigel Williamson. Liner notes, Buena Vista Social Club.
Nonesuch Records 79478-2, 1997.
Manuel, Peter with Kenneth Bilby and Michael Largely. Caribbean Currents: Carib-
bean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995.
Olsen, Dale A, and Daniel E. Sheehy. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Vol-
ume 2. New York: Garland Publishers, 1998.
Public Broadcasting System. “Interview with Juan de Marcos González,” last modified Au-
gust 17, 2003, http://www.pbs.org/buenavista/musicians/bios/demarcos_edited_int_eng.html.
Public Broadcasting System. “PBS presents Buena Vista Social Club,” last modified
August 17, 2003, http://www.pbs.org/buenavista/film/index.html .
376 | Son (Mexico)
Robbins, James. “The Cuban son as Form, Genre, and Symbol.” Latin American Music
Review, 11, no. 2 (December 1990): 182–200.
Roberts, John Storm. The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the
United States. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Rodríguez, Olavo Alén. “Cuba.” The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 2 —
South America, Mexico, Central America, Central America and the Caribbean. New York:
Garland Publishers, 1998.
Rondón, Cesar Miguel. El Libro de la Salsa. Caracas: Impreso por Editorial Arte, 1980.
Steward, Sue. ¡Musica! Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, and More. San Francisco: Chronicle
Books, 1999.
Ramón Versage Agudelo
Son (Mexico)
Son is a secular folkloric music genre that originated in rural Mexico from a fu-
sion of Spanish, African, and indigenous music. The term son (Spanish for tune or
sound) usually refers to a string-dominated genre of mestizo music, but can also be
applied to certain indigenous and folk melodies.
Regional Styles
The use of the word son for rural folk music comes from a colonial distinction
made between música (formal, harmonically complex music of the church and
court) and the more derogatory son (tunes passed by oral transmission). Since the
late 18th century, most sones have a compound meter and a rhythmic drive ap-
propriate for social dancing; audiences and professional dancers often contribute
foot-stomping zapateado patterns to emphasize rhythmic shifts. This music is per-
formed by groups of 3 to 12 instrumentalists, many of whom sing décimas (verses
of ten lines) arranged in coplas (couplets).
The modern son has developed into several regional styles, differentiated by in-
strumentation, singing style, repertoire, and use of language. Mestizo son traditions
include the son jalisciense (from the lowlands of Jalisco and Colima), the brisk
son jarocho (from Veracruz), son arribeño (from the Sierra Gorda), son calen-
tano (from the Balsas River basin in southern Mexico), son de arpa grande (from
western Mexico), and the popular trio-based son huasteco (adapted from the
Huastec people). Mestizo sones are usually structured around partly improvised ver-
sos (sung poetic stanzas) alternating with instrumental interludes.
In contrast, Indian or indigenous sones tend to consist of one or two short me-
lodic phrases, performed instrumentally and repeated at length. Indigenous Mexican
Son
(Mexico)
|
377
son traditions include the son abajeño (from the Purépecha people in Michoacán)
and the bilingual son istmeño (from the Zapotecs in Oaxaca).
African Infl uence
By 1580, the African population in New Spain outnumbered the European popula-
tion, and African Americans played a major role in mestizaje (Spanish for the cul-
tural amalgam resulting from the mixing of races). They were active in the official
musical activities of the colony; the choir of the Oaxaca Cathedral included profes-
sional African American singers throughout the 17th century, and even an African
American choir director (by 1648). In spite of laws designed to limit cross-cultural
interaction, syncretic religious festivals existed as early as 1669, including African
Americans and indigenous people playing local percussion instruments like the hue-
huetl and singing songs for dances accompanied by harps, guitars, and drums; these
were precursors to later son and jarabe gatherings. Modern sones jarochos still show discernible African influence through complex polyrhythms and responsorial singing style. Harp trios in Veracruz often feature African American musicians.
Castas and Banned Sones
During the Spanish colonial period, Spaniards developed complex castas (a sys-
tem of castes based on race). Both the Peninsular (Spaniard born in Spain) and
the Indio/India (indigenous person) could be a recognized member of an aristoc-
racy, but Indios were legally treated as minors. The term Negro/Negra referred to
people of sub-Saharan African descent, but quickly divided into groupings that
recognized mixed ancestry (including Zambos —African/indigenous; Mullatos —
Spanish/African; Mestizos —Spanish/indigenous; and Pardos —Spanish/African/
Indian). The term Criollo/Criolla referred to a person of Spanish descent born in
the New World and was historically appli
ed to both white and black nonindigenous
persons born in the Americas.
The first written records of the son in Mexico were documented by the Inquisi-
tion and have been collected in the Ramo de Inquisición. In 1766, an early example
of son jarocho named Chuchumbé became the first Mexican song to be banned (it
depicts soldiers and friars fighting to seduce women). Particularly popular among
the mestizos and pardos, many of whom served in the Spanish army, Chuchumbé
was performed in the port of Veracruz by vulgar people and sailors, and to young
ladies in Mexico City with illustrative obscene gestures. The rhymed text for the to-
nadilla (folk melody) ridiculed the authorities; they issued an edict banning its
“lascivious sones and obscene coplas. ” The dance encouraged physical proximity
of bodies ( abrazos y dar barriga con barriga/touching belly to belly) and of racial
groups ( de gente de color quebrado . . . soldados, marineros . . . /of people of broken
378 | Son (Mexico)
color . . . soldiers, sailors . . .). Four trials resulted in excommunications for per-
forming or witnessing the son. It was not legal to destroy copies of the text, as the
inquisitors collected them for use as evidence.
By 1787, the organist of Xalapa Cathedral had been denounced for playing the
Chuchumbé tune during mass, and many people were reprimanded for singing new
(less offensive) coplas to the original tonadilla. A 1779 document from Zacat-
lán preserves 40 early verses, beginning with the following two coplas: En la es-
quina está parado/ Un fraile de la Merced/ Con los abitos alzados/ Enceñado el
chuchumbé (On the corner is standing/ A friar from the Merced/ With his habit
raised up/ Showing his chuchumbé) and Esta vieja santularia/ Que va ibiene a
San Franco/ Toma el Padre, daca el Padre/ Y es el Padre desus hijos (This saintly
woman/ Who comes and goes to St. Francis/ The Father gives, the Father takes/
And he is the father of her children).
While the spirited, humorous tone of the son was muted as it entered the mu-
sical mainstream, many coplas with doble sentido (double meaning) have been
preserved. In modern times, son texts might draw from oral tradition, be impro-
vised, or be published by professional song composers. Contemporary texts show
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 64