Abelardo Barroso Dargeles (21 September 1905 – 27 September 1972) was a Cuban bandleader and singer, the first sonero mayor (lead singer of the

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

) to be recognized as such by the Cuban public. Born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, he was the lead singer of the

Sexteto Habanero The Sexteto Habanero was a Cuban son sextet founded in 1920 in Havana. It played an important part in the early history of the genre, contributing to its popularization all around Cuba. In 1927, the band incorporated a cornet player becoming the S ...

from 1925, recorded with the Sexteto Boloña in 1926, and joined the

Septeto Nacional Septeto Nacional (National Septet), or the Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, is a Cuban group credited with expanding the Son musical style before Arsenio Rodríguez. It added the trumpet to percussion, vocals, and strings. The group started as ...

Ignacio Piñeiro Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez (May 21, 1888 – March 12, 1969) was a Cuban musician, bandleader and composer whose career started in rumba and flowered in the rise of the son. He was one of the most important composers of son music; in total he w ...

in 1927. With each of these top bands he made a string of recordings in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and for the rest of his life his voice was in demand. In 1929–1930 he joined the stage variety group Salmerón, with whom he toured Spain. Returning to Cuba in 1931, he joined the Orquesta Ernesto Muñoz. In 1933 he founded the charanga ''López–Barroso'' with

Orestes López Orestes López Valdés (August 28, 1908 – January 26, 1991), nicknamed Macho, was a Cuban multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. As a double bassist he was a founding member of the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, and later a member of th ...

. He appeared alternately with this band and with the Sexteto Universo, and in 1935 founded the Sexteto Pinin. There followed spells with the bands of Andrés Laferté and Everado Ordaz before, in 1939, he joined the important charanga Maravillas del Siglo and performed on ''Radio COCO''. During the 1940s he worked at the cabaret Sans-Souci until 1948, when he directed and sang for the National Police Band. After a short hiatus, he joined Rolando Valdés' Orquesta Sensación, which would spearhead the second great charanga movement (the first wave included Antonio Arcaño y sus Maravillas and Melodías del 40). They won the Disco de Oro for a recording of "En Guantánamo" and "Arráncame la vida". With La Sensación he appeared in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in 1957 and in New York in 1959 and 1960. He retired in 1969.

Discography

* ''Cha Cha Chá,'' album, World Circuit (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barroso, Abelardo 1905 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Cuban male singers Cuban bandleaders Cuban charanga musicians People from Havana

Discography

See also

References