Biography
During the 1910s, Sexteto Bolona stood among the leading acts shaping son, the dynamic Afro-Spanish fusion of musical traditions. The genre rests on two distinct layers: an African-rooted rumba pulse that supports spontaneous improvisations by assorted percussionists, paired with a Spanish-derived foundation supplied by tres guitars and a makeshift bass. Over these instruments, vocalists deliver Spanish lyrics in the classic decima pattern of rhymed octosyllabic lines. The ensemble broadened its roster in the 1920s by adding Felix Chapotin on trumpet and Arsenio Rodriguez on tres. This change yielded a more compact texture that broke from earlier son conventions through the adoption of swing influences from American music. Their work is documented on The Roots of Salsa.