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,FIU Libraries. Florida International University/The Díaz Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music, Sección 04 M. Chronology of personnel changes and recordings based on the two-volume book Historia de la Sonora Matancera by Dr. Héctor Ramírez Bedoya. Discography compiled with the assistance of Ramírez Bedoya, Carlos Deiby Velásquez, Humberto Corredor, and Osvaldo Oganes. Data assembled by Dr. Cristóbal Díaz Ayala.Ramírez Bedoya, https://sonoramatancera.com/s-m/artistas-grabaron-con-la-sm.html.Ramírez Bedoya, https://sonoramatancera.com/s-m/historia.html. 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, 1924Corredor, Humberto. Liner notes to 50 Años de la Sonora Matancera. Various lead singers. Seeco Records, Double Album SSD 4001. Compilation issued in 1975. in Barrio Ojo de Agua, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas.The New Encyclopædia Britannica in 30 Volumes, Micropaedia, Volume VI, Matanzas, p. 683. 1979. 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 (director, tres, guitar and tumbadora, or as it is commonly called, conga. He was also a songwriter and later on a singer) and Pablo "Bubú" Vázquez Gobín (contrabass). The other original members were Manuel "Jimagua" Sánchez (timbales), Ismael Goberna (cornet/trumpet), Domingo Medina, José Manuel Valera, Julio Gobín, Juan Bautista Llopis (guitarists), and Eugenio Pérez, vocalist.Rivera, Bernardo. Notes to La ola marina. Various lead singers. Tumbao Cuban Classics, Compact Disc TCD 114. Compilation released in 2002. 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 (according to one source), 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.P., J. (The author of these notes did not use a full name, just the cited initials). Notes to Se formó la rumbantela. Various lead singers. Tumbao Cuban Classics, Compact Disc TCD 045. Compilation issued in 1994. A third source posits that Caíto and Rogelio joined the collective in 1926; both had recorded with pianist and bandleader Antonio María Romeu.Unknown author. Cristóbal Díaz Ayala, in the first source cited in the References section, says that the author is Osvaldo Oganes. Notes to Sonora Matancera Live on the radio 1952–1958. Various lead singers. Harlequin Compact Disc HQ CD 79.
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,Liner notes to 40 Años de la Sonora Matancera. Various lead singers. Seeco Records, Seeco Sonic Sound Series, Double Album, SSD 1001. intending to stay one week.Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music. From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago Review Press. An A Cappella Book. Part V, The Plattist Republic. Chapter 25, The Son Boom, p. 376. 2004. 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 (one source asserts that this ensemble was a sexteto, not a septeto, at this time), 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.Leicea, Calixto and Humberto Corredor. Liner notes to Sonora Matancera. Recorded in Cuba apparently in 1950. Stinson Records, SLP 92, Volume I, Collector's Series. 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.P., J. (The author of these notes did not use a full name, just the cited initials). Notes to La Sonora trae un tono. La Sonora Matancera en CMQ, 1957. Cantan Celio González y Carlos Argentino. Translated into English by Mike Baillie. Tumbao Cuban Classics, Compact Disc TCD-096.
The 1930s Son ensembles 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 1929Ledón Sánchez, Armando. La música popular en Cuba. Ediciones El Gato Tuerto. Una colección de InteliBooks Publishers. Oakland, Ca. Capítulo IV, El son y la guaracha, página 83. 2003. 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 (son of Valentín 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 (led by Ignacio Piñeiro), Chaveo y Su Grupo, Juventud Habanera, Sexteto Guarina, and María Teresa Vera.Corredor, Humberto. Liner notes to Sonora Matancera, Se formó la rumbantela. Recorded most probably in Cuba apparently in 1950. Stinson Records, Volume II, Collector's Series, Grabaciones Mundiales C. A. 200–3018. 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 (prior to embarking on a career as a professional musician), 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 (later, in the 1950s, famous as El Rey del Mambo) 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 (but especially since 1942) 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 (it would later become a conjunto), 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 (or simply CMQ) for a series of live broadcasts.
The 1940s Bienvenido Granda 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 Gómez 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: