La Sonora Matancera

The historic Cuban tropical act La Sonora Matancera has been a working band since 1924 and hosted hundreds of members. They have recorded more than 4,000 songs in a repertoire comprised of various Cuban and Latin rhythms, their trumpet- and percussion-heavy sound, and the prominent use of coro (backing singers). They began playing together in 1922. In 1927, the group moved to Havana and signed with Victor. Their recordings were played constantly at radio during the 1930s and '40s and sold exceptionally well. After signing to Seeco in 1950, their music reached the Americas. In 1960, La Sonora Matancera emigrated to Mexico City and began touring Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the U.S. In 1986, they performed with singer Celia Cruz in front of 240,000 people in Tenerife, and in June 1989 they played 65th anniversary concerts at Carnegie Hall and Central Park with 13 former singers.

This group was established in Matanzas, Cuba in 1924. Founded by tres guitarist Valentín Cané, the band was called La Tuna Liberal after a local political party. Their earliest gigs were at party headquarters, trying to liven up meetings. The first lineup included singer and guitarist Don Rogelio Martínez, who became the band's first music director. Other personnel included bassist Pablo "Bubú" Vázquez and timbalero Manuel "Jimagua" Sánchez. Following numerous personnel changes, the group renamed itself Septeto Sonora Matancera in late 1926 before relocating to Havana in January of 1927. There they gained vocalist/percussionist Caíto, and his falsetto became one of the band's most unique features. They performed at many of Havana's prestigious venues, including the Alhambra Theatre, Galician Centre, Havana Sports Club, and the fabled night meccas La Tropical and Marte y Belona. They were also regular performers on Cuban radio. They pioneered the use of stage uniforms -- even though they took critical and audience abuse for it early on. They were one of Cuba's first co-operative bands, which helped underpin their internal cohesion and longevity, and have never felt the need for written contracts within their organization.

In demand all over Havana, they signed to Victor and made their recording debut in the middle of 1928. Between 1929 and 1932, they were frequently hired to perform by the Cuban ruler General Gerardo Machado Morales. In 1935, Calixto Leicea became Sonora's first trumpeter, but was also a notable composer and arranger. Between 1937 and 1939, future mambo pioneer Pérez Prado played piano with the group, leaving for his solo career just before the band entered their golden era.

Popular singer Bienvenido Granda joined in the early 1940s and remained until 1951. He was the first truly important sonero to perform and record for La Sonora Matancera. His membership made the band a household name across the Caribbean. In 1942, pianist, composer, and arranger Lino Frías joined the band and remained for more than 50 years. In 1944, as Conjunto Mantancera, they issued the shellac 10" "Pa' Congrí" b/w "Coquito Acaramelad" -- the record became a hit across the Caribbean and was their last for Victor. Cané left in 1946, ushering in a period during the late '40s where the band boasted its greatest lineup: Don Rogelio Martínez (director, guitar, and backing vocals); Calixto Leicea (first trumpet); Pedro Knight (second trumpet); Pablo "Babú" Vázquez Gobín (double bass); Ezequiel "Lino" Frías (piano); José "Manteca" Rosario Chávez (timbalitos, bongó, and cencerro); Ángel "Yiyo" Alfonso Furias (tumbadora); Carlos Manuel "Caíto" Díaz Alonso (maracas and backing vocals), and Bienvenido Granda (lead and backing vocals, and claves). They cut many singles that earned them continual radio and concert appearances.

They signed with U.S.-based Panart in 1944, and issued no less than 52 sides before 1950; during this time they also recorded multiple singles for the newly born Ansonia and Stinson Records of New York City. One of their most prominent singers was vocalist Daniel Santos, who fronted the group for five years between 1948 and 1953, and made numerous recordings with them including the 1949 smash "Yo La Mato." Given his heady reputation, La Sonora Matancera temporarily expanded into an orchestra.

In 1950, the band signed with the U.S.-based Seeco label. Their first two sides were backing Celia Cruz on "Cao Cao Maní Picao" and "Mata Siguaraya." Cruz remained a bandmember until 1965. The group won airplay in the Caribbean and across Latin America, Mexico, and the Western U.S. They made live shortwave broadcasts from the studios of Radio Progreso, Radio CMBG, and Radio CMQ. In 1955, the band, whose lineup was changing almost constantly, undertook concert tours of Panama, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Four years and dozens of hit records later, they toured Peru, Chile, and Uruguay. La Sonora Matancera literally released hundreds of singles, including the hits "Tristeza Marina"/"Caribe Soy" with Leo Martini the Palm eras Tropicalizes EP with Cruz.

After the political upheaval caused by 1959's Cuban Revolution, the band signed a lucrative contract to perform in Mexico City. Accompanied by Cruz, they left Havana in June of 1960 and never returned to Cuba. Matancera toured Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Curacao that year. In 1962, they played a week-long residency in New York City, and stayed there 39 years. In addition to Cruz, 11 vocalists were associated with La Sonora Matancera during the '60s, but only two remained for any appreciable amount of time, Willy "El Baby" Rodríguez and Justo Betancourt. The decade marked some of the band's most forward-thinking music as they wove boleros and son with danzon, guaracha, rhumba, guaguancho, trova, plena, bomba, and more. In 1961 they issued the four-song En Caracas EP with Cruz, and in 1963, the smash "Tu Significas Todo Para Mi." Albums including 1963's La Tierna, Conmovedora, Bamboleadora, and 1967's La Niña De Guatemala En Ritmo De Guantanamera charted internationally. Following 1968's Sonora Boogaloo and 1969's cumbia and bolero offering Dama Rebelde, the band toured and then went on a year-long hiatus in 1970.

During the '70s, La Sonora Matancera evolved stylistically, yet always returned to their core sound. They continued to record at a breakneck pace, performing at dance clubs in New York City, and touring overseas. Throughout the decade, they would travel to Europe, playing in Spain, France, Germany, and Finland.

Betancourt left for a solo career in 1970 as personnel changes occurred with astonishing regularity while Latin music's popularity exploded across the western hemisphere. Between 1973 and 1977, the brass section comprised six different trumpeters including Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros. By the time they recorded 1977's Salsa Con La Sonora Matancera and Amar y Vivir ‎(the latter with Marini up front), they were employing electric pianos and guitars, and an organ. Though the band was appreciably larger and younger than they had been, five of its members from the glory days of the '40s and '50s remained.

La Sonora Matancera kicked off the '80s as a 12-piece orchestra. Cruz returned in 1980 to front the band on the live Celia Cruz con La Sonora Matancera: Vol. III. Among the stylistic innovations were the replacement of double bass and piano with synthesizers (temporarily). In 1982, Cruz returned for a final album with the collective titled Feliz Encuentro. In 1984, Sonora Matancera y Ismael Miranda appeared on Fania. In 1989, La Sonora Matancera celebrated its 65th anniversary with concerts at New York City's Carnegie Hall and in Central Park. The latter was recorded and released as 65 Aniversario on Orfeon. Of the 14 soneros who appeared on this recording, nine were veterans of the band's golden era.

In 1990, after 63 years with La Sonora Matancera, Caito passed away and was replaced by percussionist and coro singer Fernando Lavoy. In 1994, the band recorded De Nuevo in Mexico with Adalberto Santiago on lead vocals. That same year, Willy "El Baby" Rodríguez rejoined La Sonora Matancera. He retired as the longest continuous singer in the band's history. 75 Aniversario Haciendo Historia: Tesoros Matanceros appeared in 1998, followed by numerous hit compilations and live recordings.

For many, La Sonora Matancera ceased to exist when Don Rogelio Martínez died in May of 2001, but that wasn't the true end of the story. Arranger and music director Javier Vázquez sought and won the blessing of Rogelio Martínez, Jr. to continue leading a new version of La Sonora Matancera in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2008, 80 Aniversario arrived in two separate volumes, and in 2016, Peerless issued a remastered, five-disc, 100-track overview of the band's recording career. A painstakingly curated compilation of hits, it barely scratched the surface of La Sonora Matancera's stylistic diversity and deep catalog. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi