A highly syncretic genre of dance music created by musicians in Eastern Cuba towards the end of the 1800s. In terms of its form, lyrical content, and instrumentation, the son reflects the fusion of African and European elements. Since first achieving national recognition in the 1920s, the son has become a powerful symbol of Afro-Hispanic cultural fusion and of Cuban nationalism.
Cuba; Rhythm; Dance. The Cuban root of today's Salsa. (uw)
One important form the the merging of African and Spanish influences resulted in, it is the root of most familiar styles of Afro-Cuban dance music. A blend of the music of the spanish farmers (campesinos) and African slaves, it is believed to have originated in Oriente (the eastern province of Cuba) toward the end of the 19th century (slavery was abolish in 1878). It was played by small bands, using guitar or tres, maracas, guiro, claves, bongo, a marimbula and a botija. The more urban style played in Havana at the beginning of the century became a national style in 1920.
Throughout the 19th Century, a fusion takes place in the countryside of Oriente between Hispanic and African musical elements, to which French music is added, this latter addition brought over by the colonists escaping Haiti. Toward the end of that Century, this mixture takes on a more stable form and begins to appear among the musical forms used by the trovadores in Santiago de Cuba and Havana. According to some musicologists, the Cuban son is what the blues are to the U.S.: with a simple form and whose basis is firmly tied to its cultures of origin; Spanish melodies framed by African rhythms, alternating between verses and choruses in a question-answer form between the main singer and the chorus, simple lyrics that sum up everyday life. The son is definitely influenced by its countryside "childhood". Even today it still prefers simple and portable instruments, fixed up guitars and light, easily built percussion instruments.
(sown) is a partner dance and music from Cuba. Traditional instrumentation is guitar, tres (a Cuban rhythm guitar with three sets of double strings), marimbula (large bass "thumb piano") and voices with a percussion section of claves, maracas, bongo and campana (cow bell). Son was some of the first music recorded on Edison's primitive phonograph and received wide dissemination in America through the radio. The music was incorrectly called "Rhumba" and created quite a stir in the US during the 1930's. The conga drums of Rumba, the timbales of Danzon, and the horn section of the Conjunto were later added to the Son by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians in America to create the style we now know as Salsa. Son is sung in Spanish.
Most influential Cuban style initiated in the second half of the nineteenth century in the eastern province of Oriente. It combines Spanish elements of the Canción style and instruments with African rhythm and percussion. Early forms were interpreted by the Campesinos and developed by the Changui groups.
A style of music where the performers originally improvised their lyrics as social commentary. Based on melodic lines from the west, particularly Spain, and rhythms from Africa.
A style of popular dance music of the peasant or working-class, combining several Spanish and African elements. The son began to take shape in the latter half of the 19th century in Cuba 's Oriente province, and gave birth to several hybrids including the afro -son, guajira -son, son- pregón and son-montuno. The son is perhaps the most important form at the root of today's popular salsa music.
A generic from identifying a regional sound music. The sound is usually a very traditional instrumental, vocal or danced piece
a musical genre from the Cuba that is intended to be danced. It developed in the eastern part of Cuba (Oriente province) and reached Havana, in the west, around 1909. Its musical structure combines African and Spanish elements. Although there is a great variety in its instrumentation, it is traditionally played by a tres accompanied by a gÃ1/4iro and bongos. It is the foundation of modern salsa. There are several hybrids of Son, including Son-montuno, Afro-son and Guajira-son.
The son is perhaps the oldest and certainly the classic Afro-Cuban form, an almost perfect balance of African and Hispanic elements. Originating in Oriente province, it surfaced in Havana around World War 1 and became a popular urban music played by string-and-percussion quartets and septetos. Almost all the numbers Americans called rumbas were, in fact sones. "El Manicero" ("The Peanut Vendor") was a form of son derived from the street cries of Havana and called a pregon. The rhythm of the son is strongly syncopated, with a basic chicka-CHUNG pulse.
Afro-Cuban music genre originating in eastern Cuba in the early 20th century; slow to mid-tempo antecedent of today's salsa music that blends African and European elements.
Song style of eastern Cuba characterized by string accompaniment of guitar and related instruments such as the tres.
With roots on the island of Cuba, Son is a style of music that became popular in the second half of the 19th century in the eastern province of Oriente. The earliest known son dates from the late 1500s (the oldest known son is "Son de la Má Teodora", from about the 1570s in Santiago de Cuba). It combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and the Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of Bantu and Arara origin.