The Lecuona Cuban Boys was a popular Cuban orchestra which toured the world for over forty years. The band was founded by

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

, whose role was that of a patron-entrepreneur. He did not actually play with the band, but sometimes gave a piano recital before the band played. The core of the band was put together in 1931 as ''Orquesta Encanto''; the band changed name early in 1934. On tour in Europe, in 1934, Lecuona returned to Cuba, and Armando Oréfiche took charge of the band in Europe. Ernesto gave them the gift of his name, which, at the time, was a property well worth having, and the right to use a number of his compositions. The LCB was exceptionally strong in arrangements, compositions and instrumental quality (most of them could play two or three instruments). Their only weak spot was the lack of a really first-rate Cuban singer, but that was not so important as might seem because they played so often to non-Latin audiences. Some of their pick-up singers could sing in English, and many of their numbers were instrumentals. The band played the full range of Cuban popular music, but their speciality was the ''

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

''. Though it was perhaps

Eliseo Grenet Eliseo Grenet Sánchez (12 June 1893 in Havana – 4 December 1950) was a Cuban pianist and a leading composer/arranger of the day. He composed music for stage shows and films, and some famous Cuban dance music.Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionar ...

who first composed a conga in its ballroom dance style, it was certainly the LCB who took it round the world and made it famous.''Harlequin Records'' put out on CDs the complete sequence of the LCB 78rpm recordings with detailed liner notes; the conga features in six numbers on the first CD. The LCB was therefore the first conjunto to use the

drum regularly in its performances, and ''not''

Arsenio Rodríguez Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; 31 August 1911 – 30 December 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 bandleader ...

, as is often supposed. The band initially organized itself as a collective, but in practice

Armando Oréfiche Armando Oréfiche (Havana, Cuba 5 June 1911 – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, December 2000) was a Cuban composer and pianist in the mid-20th century. Oréfiche was one of many artists who played with the Lecuona Cuban Boys between 1935 and 1938. ...

(composer, arranger, pianist) was the leader. Other band members were Ernesto 'Jaruco' Vázquez (trumpeter, guitarist, composer, arranger); Adalberto 'Chiquito' Oréfiche (tenor sax and bongo); Agustin Bruguera (timbales, conga, voice); Gerardo Bruguera (tenor sax and clarinet); Jesús Bertomeu (trombone); Jorge Domínguez (alto sax, clarinet, violin); Daniel González (alto sax, clarinet, violin); Guillermo Hernández (guitar, tumba, guiro, maracas); Enrique López Rivero (trumpet) 1932-34;

Alberto Rabagliati Alberto Rabagliati (27 June 1906 in Milan – 8 March 1974 in Rome) was an Italian singer. Early career Alberto Rabagliati was born in Milan in 1906 and was the son of piedmontese spouses: his father Leandro Valentino Rabagliati and his mothe ...

(voice) engaged 1934; later Fernando Díaz and Luis Escalante were engaged as replacement trumpeters. In 1947 Bob (Irv) Mesher joined the group after a brief stint with Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Pupi Campo. Irv took over the lead chair when Jaruco Vazquez left the band... The band toured throughout the world: the USA, Latin America and Europe were the main tours. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out, the band went to Latin America and continued their touring there. After World War II there was a dispute within the band, which ended in a split. Armando Oréfiche left with a few members, and started the ''Havana Cuban Boys''; the rest stayed under the old name, based in New York until 1960. The Lecuona Cuban Boys continued to tour, and finally retired in 1975.

References

Movies

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Aimée & Jaguar ''Aimée & Jaguar'' is a 1999 German drama film set in Berlin during World War II. It was written and directed by Max Färberböck and based on Erica Fischer's book chronicling the actual lives of Lilly Wust and Felice Schragenheim during tha ...

'' (German) *''Thrills of Music''

Appearances

"Rhumba Azul" was played at the funeral (1st Oct 1942) of German WWII fighter ace (158 victories) Hans-Joachim Marseille (aged 22). Marseille "played tover and over until the close of day". {{DEFAULTSORT:Lecuona Cuban Boys Musical groups established in 1934 Cuban musical groups Rhumba musical groups 1934 establishments in Cuba