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| Photo by Kristi |
Photo by Rita |
Photo by Michael Johnson |
SON: THE MUSIC
Son was created by Afro-cubans in the Oriente (eastern region) province of Cuba, in communities like Santiago and Guantanemo. Son is the music of the rustic countryside and is the grandmother of current day salsa. Son emerged in the late 19th century and “…is a Cuban synthesis: Bantu percussion, melodic rhythm, and call-and –response singing melding with the Spanish peasant’s guitar and rhythm”(Sublette 2004 pp333). Many authors suggest that Son as well as other aspects of Oriente’s music, dance and culture were significantly influenced by the freed African slaves who emigrated into the region after their emancipation following the Haitian War for Independence.
The sounds of the early Son were earthy and informal and the music could be played with little more than vocals, tres, guitar and hand percussion. But as it traveled into Havana, the sound became more urbanized. Son probably appeared in Havana around 1909, reportedly brought in by Cuban soldiers from the countryside. By 1920, the ensemble Sexteto Habanero, introduced the formal six instrument lineup called the sexteto. Sextetos are comprised of guitar, tres, contrabass(replacing the marimbula and/or the botijuela in musical style changui), bongo, maracas and claves. In 1927 the legendary group Septeto Nacional lead by Ignacio Piniero added the trumpet (creating a conjunto) further expanding the melodic and improvisational possibilities. Later son groups expanded, folding two to four trumpets and more singers. In the 1940’s Arsenio Rodriguez a conjunto) transformed the Conjunto instrumentation by adding a piano and conga drum and emphasis to a musical section of the typical Son form called the montuno(vamp) section.
GUITAR: Spanish stringed instrument, with strong roots in Arabic culture, was brought to Cuba in the late 15th century |
TRES: Cuban instrument adapted from Spanish guitar with three sets of double strin |
MARIBULA: Large wooden box withcircular opening under a row of of keys of sheet metal of different sizes which produce diffrent notes when played with the fingertips.. |
BONGO: A percussion instrument developed in Cuba consisting of small drums connected by a strap or piece of wood played while seated. |
MARACAS: Wooden gourds filled with pebbles used in music in Africa and all over the Caribberan |
CLAVES: Two wooden sticks used to play clave patterns |
BOTIJUELA: a clay jug, originally used to transport oil from Europe, became the bass instrument in son |
CONTRABASS: took over the bassline from the marimbula or botijuela during the 1920s. |
Over the years, the son has merged with other musical styles and produced other musical forms such as afro-son, rumba son, son montuno, son-guajira.
SON: THE DANCE
Salsa’s sensual body movements and dynamic interaction between leader and follower are derived from Son. According to Isiais Rojas (Cuban dancer, choreographer and founder Ban RaRa, Havana based dance troupe) Son introduced the social dance embrace (the man facing his partner, encircling her back with his right hand and clasping her free hand with his left hand) to Cuban society.
The follower’s outside turn and the sensual torso and hip movements of the dance (now called Cuban or contra-body motion) are fundamental elements of dancing Son.
In Son, the leader steps back on beat 2, forward on beat 3, back on beat 4 and holds in place on beat 5. The leader then steps back on beat 6, forward on beat 7 and back on beat 8. Son can be danced forward and back or side to side. The follower faces the leader, mirroring his footwork but in the opposite direction. The African influenced close body contact and flirtatious interplay of Son were initially deemed lewd and immoral by Cuban society but over the years has a key attraction for dancers all over the world.
- Musiques cubaines, Maya Roy. 1998
- Fairley, Jan. "Troubadours Old and New". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 408-413. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Fairley, Jan. "¡Que Rico Bailo Yo! How Well I Dance". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 386-407. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Manuel, Peter, with Kenneth Bilby and Michael Largey. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (2nd edition). Temple University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59213-463-7.
- Mauleon, Rebeca. Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble. Sher Music Co. 1993
- Sublette, Ned Cuba and Its Music. Chicago Review Press. 2004
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