Arcaño y sus Maravillas was a Cuban charanga founded in 1937 by flautist Antonio Arcaño. Until its dissolution in 1958, it was one of the most popular and prolific
danzón
Danzón is the official genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in USA and Puerto Rico.
Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork ...
orchestras in Cuba, particularly due to the development of the
danzón-mambo
The danzón-mambo (also known as ''danzón de nuevo ritmo'') is a subgenre of Cuban dance music that marked the transition from the classical danzόn to the mambo and the cha-cha-chá. It was also in the context of the danzón-mambo that the Cub ...
by its two main composers and musicians: Orestes López (piano, cello, bass) and his brother Israel López "Cachao" (bass). Such upbeat version of the danzón served as a precursor of the
mambo
Mambo most often refers to:
*Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form
*Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music
Mambo may also refer to:
Music
* Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
popularized by
Pérez Prado
Dámaso Pérez Prado (December 11, 1916 – September 14, 1989) was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized the mambo in the 1950s.''On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture'' Louis A. Pérez Jr. - 2012 ...
, as well as the chachachá created by Enrique Jorrín, a violinist who started his career in the Maravillas. Other important musicians in the Maravillas were pianist Jesús López (unrelated to Orestes and Israel), timbalero Ulpiano Díaz, violinist Félix Reina and flautist Eulogio Ortiz.
Antonio Arcaño, former member of singer Fernando Collazo's La Maravilla del Siglo, founded his orchestra in November 1937 under the name La Maravilla de Arcaño, featuring many of the members of Collazo's group. Collazo himself complained about the similarity in the name, so by 1939 it was changed to Arcaño y sus Maravillas. By then the band had become popular across the island due to hits such as "
Mambo
Mambo most often refers to:
*Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form
*Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music
Mambo may also refer to:
Music
* Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
". Around 1944, they began to play at radio shows in Havana and the group doubled its roster. It became known as ''La Radiofónica'' and Arcaño as ''El Monarca del Danzón'' (The Monarch of Danzón). However, Arcaño had to stop playing in 1945 due to lip problems preventing him from maintaining his
embouchure
Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece (woodwind), mouthpiece of a woodwind or brass instrument. The word is of French lan ...
. He continued as director and hired his cousin José Antonio Díaz as flautist, who was later replaced by Eulogio Ortiz. Cachao left the group by the end of the decade (being replaced by his nephew Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Orestes' son), but returned to record " Chanchullo" in 1957, one year before the Maravillas played their last show in Alquízar.
Several reunions of the group occurred in the 1970s and 1980s featuring some of the original members. These were released on two LPs by Areito.
History
Born in 1911 in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. He later joined Armando Valdespí's group and Orquesta Gris. In 1936, he joined La Maravilla del Siglo, directed by singer Fernando Collazo. The members of this band became the core of Arcaño's new band in November 1937: La Maravilla de Arcaño. This charanga was composed of
Afro-Cubans
Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African an ...
, all except for Arcaño himself. He decided not to have a singer (vocalists were popular in danzón since 1929) and decided to play mostly black venues, which paid significantly less than whites-only clubs. Nonetheless, this allowed the group to learn their trade and became particularly prolific: one year they performed a record 404 shows in total. Every night, las Maravillas would play in a different venue, including casinos, hotels, youth associations, blacks associations, etc.Entrevista con Israel López "Cachao" 2003. In Spanish. Their long sets required them to have a vast repertoire, but thankfully most of its musicians were also composers. The brothers Cachao and Orestes would compose new danzones regularly, totalling thousands over the years. Many of these were dedicated to the venues they performed in, such as " Social Club Buenavista" (in Buenavista, Havana) "Club Social de Marianao" (in Marianao, Havana), " Redención Sport Club" (in Pogolotti, Havana), " Juventud de Pueblo Nuevo" (in Pueblo Nuevo, Havana), "Avance Juvenil" (in
Ciego de Ávila
Ciego de Ávila () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The capital city has a population of about 156,322 and the province 430,507.
Geography
Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway a ...
), "Centro San Agustín" (in Alquízar) and "Bella Unión" (in Güines).
The band's first big hit came with "
Mambo
Mambo most often refers to:
*Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form
*Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music
Mambo may also refer to:
Music
* Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
", a ''danzón de nuevo ritmo'', or as it would be called later,
danzón-mambo
The danzón-mambo (also known as ''danzón de nuevo ritmo'') is a subgenre of Cuban dance music that marked the transition from the classical danzόn to the mambo and the cha-cha-chá. It was also in the context of the danzón-mambo that the Cub ...
. This style, created by the López brothers, added an improvised section to the end of the danzón structure. This section, the "mambo", proved to be very popular with dancers, as it allowed them a certain freedom not present in the rigid structure of the danzón. New genres would later emerge from this section, such as the fast-paced mambo and the slower chachachá, both of which became
dance craze
''Dance Craze'' is a 1981 documentary film about the British Two-tone (music genre), 2 Tone music genre.
The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness (band), Madness, whom he met during th ...
s in the 1950s. They made their first recordings in April 1940, and in 1944 the group expanded its lineup for the radio, where they had their own program on
Radio Mil Diez
Radio Mil Diez (or Radio 1010) was a radio station broadcasting from Havana, Cuba, owned by the Popular Socialist Party (PSP). Radio Mil Diez broadcast for five years, between 1943 and 1948, and played an important role in shaping contemporary Cu ...
, sponsored by Gravi toothpaste and Dermos soap. This group was known as ''La Radiofónica''. At this point, the group was competing with the most popular ensembles of the island, and together with Orquesta Melodías del 40 and
Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; August 31, 1911 – December 30, 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4, p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandl ...
's conjunto it formed ''Los Tres Grandes'' (The Big Three).
In 1945, circulatory problems related to his lip prevented Arcaño from maintaining his
embouchure
Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece (woodwind), mouthpiece of a woodwind or brass instrument. The word is of French lan ...
, which was the end for his playing career. He continued as director and hired his cousin and former teacher José Antonio Díaz as flautist, who was later replaced by Eulogio Ortiz. It was Ortiz who recorded the 1951 version of "Mambo". Cachao left the group by the end of the decade (being replaced by his nephew Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Orestes' son), but returned to record " Chanchullo" in 1957, one year before the Maravillas played their last show in Alquízar. Both Cachao and Orestes were playing in Havana's Philharmonic Orchestra at the same time as they were members of the Maravillas. In fact, many of their compositions were arrangements of classical pieces, and even film scores, such as Cachao's "África viva", which quotes " Somewhere over the Rainbow".
In the mid-1950s, Arcaño signed with
Panart
Panart was one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Cuba, founded in 1944 by engineer Ramón Sabat. In 1961, its studios were seized by Fidel Castro's communist regime and the label was nationalized, becoming "Panart Naci ...
, Cuba's first independent record label, and recorded twelve songs, some of which featured the Cuarteto Musicabana (with young vocalist
Omara Portuondo
Omara Portuondo Peláez (born 29 October 1930) is a Cuban singer and dancer. A founding member of the popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, Portuondo has collaborated with many important Cuban musicians during her long career, including Julio G ...
) and blind pianist Frank Emilio Flynn (these were his first recordings). Nonetheless, in the 1950s mambo and chachachá contributed to the decline of the danzón, and by 1958, Arcaño decided to put an end to his charanga after two decades of concerts and recordings. The final recording of the original band, and the only one for Gema Records, was " Chanchullo" by Cachao. The tumbao in the song was imitated by
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...
for his hit " Oye cómo va".Sublette (2004). p. 451.
Discography
Several of the group's RCA Victor singles (1940–1951) have been released on the ''Danzon Mambo'' CD.
*1957: ''Latin Fiesta'' (Kubaney)
*1958: ''Danzones de ayer, de hoy y siempre'' (Maype)
*1959: ''Pita Arcaño, dale Dermos'' (Modiner)
*1976: ''Arcaño y sus Maravillas'' (Areito)
*1980: ''Arcaño y sus Maravillas'' (Areito)
*1995: ''Danzon Mambo'' (Tumbao) - compilation of 1944-1951 recordings
*1996: ''Orquesta Arcaño y sus Maravillas'' (Discmedi) – archival radio recordings