Sexteto Habanero

In the early years of the twentieth century, three Cuban musicians launched Trio Oriental to play folk traditions native to the western part of the island. Expanding their roster and adopting the name Sexteto Habañero, the group became the first and most influential exponents of son, a dynamic Afro-Spanish synthesis of musical idioms. Son unfolds across two distinct stylistic strata. One stratum, African in derivation, centers on a rumba rhythm that supports improvisations by assorted percussionists. The second stratum, Spanish in derivation, arises from the tres—a trio of three-string guitars—paired with a makeshift bass. Spanish lyrics unfold over these instruments in the classic décima pattern of rhymed octosyllabic lines. Throughout the 1920s, Sexteto Habañero remained Cuba’s definitive son band. Their recordings appear on the compilations Cuban Counterpoint: History of the San Montuno and Cuba - El Son Es la Mas Sublime as well as The Roots of Salsa.