“Salsa,” (a term derived from a Septeto Nacional song from 1933 called the title “Echale Salsita”) was first popularized in the 1970s by Jerry Masucci as part of his marketing strategy for Fania Records. It was during this rise of salsa in the early ‘70s that there occurred a back-to-Cuban-roots movement in the New York Latin music scene where jazz and soul were mixed with more traditional Cuban instrumentation and rhythms.

The recordings on Son Cubano highlight this movement and were made over the decade beginning 1972, for the new Salsoul and SAR labels and their sisters Mericana and Guajiro. Because of the more Cuban personality of these recordings, they were suppressed by radio stations - inexcusably dismissed as old-fashioned or unjustifiably accused of having Communist associations. This was still the period of the Cold War - when Eddie Palmieri was accused of 'communist salsa' for his song Mozambique (which isn't even salsa) - and the radio stations did their bit to suppress Cuban culture. But through word-of-mouth these records became underground classics, casting an irresistible spell on dancers in nightclubs like Corsos, Casablanca, Bronx Casino, Ochentas, Club Cabrojena, Carlos Ortiz' Tropicana, and Hunts Point Palace. SAR label co-founder Sergio Bofill recalls, “the success of SAR was due mainly to word of mouth. We didn't get airplay and found that we could do without it and still sell albums in the USA, Europe, and Africa”

Interestingly enough it wasn’t until over 20 years later that this traditional Cuban style became universally accepted via the Buena Vista Social Club. Even a cursory listen to the tracks on Son Cubano will make evident the greater polish and variety that these US counterparts have over those aging Cubans, yet the rhythms prove equally seductive. Now in Son Cubano, Honest Jons brings to light these vibrant and exciting criminally neglected recordings from the Salsoul and SAR record labels.

About the artists…

Rey Roig was an arranger for the Conjunto Casino.

Charlie Rodrigues is a master of the Cuban ‘tres’ guitar, consisting of three double strings in an open D-minor tuning.

Armando Armenteros - 'Chocolate' - is from the town of Ranchuelo in the province of Matanzas. He is an original member of Arsenio Rodriguez' band, and the best-known of all Cuban trumpet-players.

For Henry Fiol, 'son is to salsa as country blues is to rock'. He performs classic Oriente son, in the tradition of his favorite vocalists Miguel Matamoros, Abelardo Barroso, Compay Segundo, and Cheo Marquetti. His signature tune 'Oriente' is dedicated to the music, the beautiful women and the environment of eastern Cuba, where the son montuno comes from.

Though Lita Branda is from Peru, her crisp and clear style is classically Cuban, with local African influences and a touch of Colombia. Like other women vocalists she languished in the shadow of Celia Cruz.

Fernando Lavoy originally settled in Union City, New Jersey, the Cuban colony of the northeast, before moving to Miami, where he was murdered in a case of mistaken identity.

Roberto Torres left Guines, Cuba in the late 1950s. From his uptown base, on Broadway in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, in 1962 Roberto helped found the Orquesta Broadway. Now living in Miami, his style of singing and arranging remain trenchantly ‘tipico’. If any one person is to be credited with keeping the true sounds of afro-Cuban dance music alive in the United States, it’s Roberto.

Angelo Vallaint is still based in New York, where he records and plays the outer boro clubs with a traditional dance-oriented band.

Los Jimaguas are the Cuban twins Freddy and Santi Nieto - one played conga, the other timbale who made only two albums before disappearing from the music business.