04 Sep
The Spanish influence in Cuban music, and Afro-Latin music (including all the Caribbean countries), was contributed by the Spanish guitar, as well as the bongos that arrived from North Africa, the maracas (one of the few native indigenous instruments), and a type of guitar imported by immigrants from the Canary Islands, which had 3 double strings called “Timple”. There is also “El Cuatro” from Puerto Rico, and “El Cuatro” from Venezuela, “El Charango” from the Andes, as well as “El Tiple” in Colombia. They all have similar sounds, but they are not the same. Surely the grandfather of all these instruments was the “Spanish Vihuela” which was very popular in the renaissance in Spain and Portugal around the 16th century.
“El Tres” appeared in the rural areas of northern Cuba, and became popular from the end of the 19th century, using folkloric genres such as the Changüí and the They are whose roots come from the Nengon and the Kiribá of Baracoa, among others. There are references of this instrument in the “campaign diaries” since 1868, in the wars of independence where they were celebrated in the fields of Cuba “...".“peasant gatherings”which was used to entertain the women who were troops mambisas.
It is basically a modified guitar with six strings divided into three double lines. Some ethnologists argue that this instrument is not a Cuban invention but already existed in medieval Spain.
It is important to recognize the importance of this instrument in order to understand the function of the piano in salsa.
Its beginnings date back to 1816 when the French pianist Juan Federico Edelmann, considered the “father of pianistics in Cuba”, inaugurated the Santa Cecilia Academy. During those first decades of the 19th century, pianists of Italian and Spanish origin settled in the country and, although they were not professionals, they excelled and devoted themselves to pedagogy. Some taught in that institution and others taught informally in their residences.
The piano in its beginnings tried to imitate the rhythmic figures and guajeos of the tres, but little by little it evolved by adding melodic lines with 2 voices, arpeggios and block chords, as well as octaves and an endless number of rhythmic and harmonic possibilities.
Around 1920 in Cuba popular music was formed by sextets that had: tres, guitar, double bass, bongos, and two singers who played maracas and claves. Later the septet appeared and added the trumpet.
It was probably Arsenio Rodríguez who first recorded a new format in the 1940s that included piano and congas, as well as multiple trumpets. Creating a new format called typical set. This is the first time that the piano begins to form part of the groups and ensembles that interpret Cuban rhythms.
Playing complete chords with several voices was not easy for a three, The piano gained prominence for its countless possibilities.
While all this was going on, the piano was already a very popular and fundamental instrument in the Big bands jazz in the United States and was also beginning his foray into the tango from Argentina. He was here to stay and to consolidate his position as the leader of the harmony and basic instrument for composition and arrangements.
THE FIRST PIANISTS in Cuban music
- Manuel Samuell Robredo (1817-1870): Cuban pianist, then a Spaniard, specialized in contradictions and in the adaptation of operas. He played the piano in churches, gave reviews in the press and gave classes to people close to him. The music conservatory in Havana was named after him. In some contradictions of his authorship appear, for the first time, the keys of Cuban popular music heard in the 19th century.
- Ignacio Cervantes (1847-1905): Born in Havana. Considered the most important influence in Cuban music of the 19th century. A child prodigy, he studied at the Paris Conservatory. He was expelled from the island for having performed concerts to raise money for the separatist cause, he went to the United States where he developed his musical career, writing operas, chamber symphonies, zarzuelas and his famous Cuban Dances. He used his music as a weapon of struggle showing a nationalist sentiment.
- Antonio María Romeu Marrero (1876-1955): Born in Jibacoa, Cuba. Cuban pianist, composer and orchestra conductor. Specialized in the interpretation of the dhook, led the genre in the charanga for more than 30 years. He was invited to play in the “Orquesta Cervantes” one of several charangas founded at the beginning of the 20th century, it was the first known formation to incorporate the piano in Cuban popular music. He founded his own orchestra in 1910. He wrote more than 500 danzones. Some were originals and others adaptations of existing works. His most famous work was the danzón “Tres lindas cubanas” an arrangement of an old song.
- Maria Cervantes (1885-1981): Born in Havana, she was a pianist and composer, daughter of Ignacio Cervantes.
- Ernesto Lecuona, Ernesto Sito de la Asunción Lecuona Casado (1895-1963) was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. He gave his first recital at the age of 5, and at 13 he wrote his first composition. After graduating from the National Conservatory of Havana, he went to New York where he studied with Maurice Ravel. He is considered one of the most outstanding Cuban musicians. He had a great contribution in zarzuela and orchestral composition.
- Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, “Bola de Nieve”.”. (1911-1971) Born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. Singer, composer and pianist, he internationalized Cuban popular music all over the world thanks also to his appearances on television and radio.
- Anselmo Sacasas (1912-1998) Manzanillo Cuba, was a bandleader, composer and arranger. As a pianist he took the inspiration of the Cuban treintas such as Arsenio Rodríguez adapting it to his language as a soloist in Cuban music orchestras.
- Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodriguez, “Peruchín”.”. (1913-1977). He was born in Holguin, Cuba. He began his artistic career with the “Chepin Orchestra” in 1933. He integrated orchestras in Havana. He worked with his group at the Cabaret Tropicana. His piano solos were very popular and admired, collected in several records. He also worked as arranger and orchestrator for Benny Moré's orchestra.
- Lino Frias, Ezequiel Lino Frias Gomez (1915-1983). He was born in Matanzas, Cuba. He was a great composer, founded the group “Son de la Loma” and worked with “La Sonora Matancera”. One of his best known compositions is “Mata Siguaraya”.
- LilÍ MartÍnez. Luis Martinez Griñan (1915-1990). Cuban pianist specialized in son montuno, He worked with Arsenio Rodriguez and the Conjunto Chappottín. He participated in the development of the modern piano style in the 40's. He has been a great influence for pianists such as Eddie Palmieri, Pappo Lucca and Larry Harlow among others.
- José Curbelo. (1917-2012). He was a Cuban pianist and bandleader. He played a fundamental role in the development of son montuno and mambo, as an important figure in the music of the “Latin” band scene in the United States.
