Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez (May 21, 1888 – March 12, 1969) was a Cuban musician, bandleader and composer whose career started in

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. ...

and flowered in the rise 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 ...

. He was one of the most important composers of son music; in total he wrote about 327 numbers, mostly sones. Piñeiro was a brilliant rumbero who worked with musical groups from 1903 onwards. In 1906, was a member of the Timbre de Oro '' coro de clave y

guaguancó Guaguancó () is a subgenre of Cuban rumba, combining percussion, voices, and dance. There are two main styles: Havana and Matanzas. Percussion * battery of three conga drummers: the ''tumba'' (lowest), ''tres dos'' (middle, playing a counter-c ...

'' (a vocal group precursor of contemporary guaguancó), and later directed Los Roncos, another famous ''coro de guaguancó''. He was taught the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

María Teresa Vera María Teresa Vera (February 6, 1895 in Guanajay – December 17, 1965 in Havana) was a Cuban singer, guitarist and composer. She was an outstanding example of the Cuban trova movement. Career She started her career as a singer in 1911 in a th ...

, and in 1926 he was a member of her band, Sexteto Occidente, which recorded 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 ...

. In 1927 he founded the Sexteto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro, later simply known as Sexteto Nacional, in which he was the director and songwriter. With the addition of a trumpet the band became 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 ...

. For financial reasons, Piñeiro quit the group in 1935; it was then led by trumpet player Lázaro Herrera until the group disbanded in 1937. Piñeiro became for some years the leader and principal songwriter of Los Roncos. The Septeto Nacional was recreated several times from 1954 onwards, initially under Piñeiro's direction, and it continues to perform. Piñeiro's composition "Échale salsita" (written on a train to Chicago in 1930, and the first song use of the world "salsa" in

) influenced

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

's ''

Cuban Overture ''Cuban Overture'' is a symphonic overture or tone poem for orchestra composed by American composer George Gershwin. Originally titled ''Rumba'' (named for the Cuban rumba musical genre), it was a result of a two-week holiday which Gershwin took ...

''. The two met when Gershwin visited Cuba in February 1932. Many of Piñeiro's songs have been performed by other artists like Ray Barretto ("Don Lengua") and

René Álvarez René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminin ...

("A la lae la la"). In 1999, Piñeiro was posthumously inducted into the

International Latin Music Hall of Fame The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre. In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the a ...

Compositions

*"Dónde estabas anoche" (1925) *"

Asturias, patria querida "" (, ast, Asturies, patria querida) is the official anthem of the autonomous community of Asturias, in Spain. This adaptation of a much slower song from the neighbouring lands of Cantabria ("") was appointed as official anthem after a contest ...

" (lyrics, 1926) *"Don Lengua" *"A la lae la la" *”Esas no son cubanas" *"Mentira" *"Bardo" *"Mayeya, no jueges con los santos" *"Las cuatro palomas" *"Noche de conga" *"Coco mai mai" *" Suavecito" (1929) *"Échale salsita" (1930) *"Lindo yambú" *"Guaguancó callejero" *"Lejana campiña" *"Buey viejo" *"Llegó la tora"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pineiro, Ignacio 1888 births 1969 deaths Cuban bandleaders Cuban songwriters Male songwriters Cuban bassists Rumba musicians Cuban people of Asturian descent People from Havana Son cubano musicians 20th-century male musicians