The Orquesta Hermanos Palau (Palau Brothers Orchestra) was one of the most renowned dance bands in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

during the early 1930s and late 1940s, following the tradition of local

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...

s started by the Jazz Band Sagua in 1914. These orchestras emerged as an influential sign of the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

music in Cuba, to achieving a bridge between popular music genres and the characteristic sound of American jazz big bands. The original orchestra, which was founded in 1920, was originally known as Los Califates, but at the end of the decade it changed its name to that of the Hermanos Palau. The decision was made because five of its musicians were all brothers. Manolo Palau was the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and leader, Felipe and Luis played

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, Rafael

contrabass Contrabass (from it, contrabbasso) refers to several musical instruments of very low pitch—generally one octave below bass register instruments. While the term most commonly refers to the double bass (which is the bass instrument in the orchest ...

, and Raimundo served as

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and co-leader. In 1931, the Palau Brothers orchestra appeared in the early

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

''The Cuban Love Song'', which was directed by

W. S. Van Dyke Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (Woody) (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director and writer who made several successful early sound films, including '' Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932, ''The Thin Man'' in 1934, ''San Franc ...

and starred

Lawrence Tibbett Lawrence Mervil Tibbett (November 16, 1896 – July 15, 1960) was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

Lupe Vélez María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress, singer and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican ...

Ernest Torrence Ernest Torrence (born Ernest Torrance-Thomson, 26 June 1878 – 15 May 1933) was a Scottish film character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films, including '' Broken Chains'' (1922) with Colleen Moore, '' Mantrap'' (1926) with Clara Bow a ...

and

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

This film brought to the screen for the first time the famous tune "

The Peanut Vendor "El manisero", known in English as "The Peanut Vendor", is a Cuban son-pregón composed by Moisés Simons. Together with "Guantanamera", it is arguably the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician. "The Peanut Vendor" has been recorde ...

" (''El Manisero''), composed by

Moisés Simons Moisés Simons (born Moisés Simón Rodríguez; 24 August 1889 in Havana, Cuba – 28 June 1945 in Madrid, Spain),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 ...

and the Palau Brothers' orchestra. After that, the orchestra toured extensively in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and played mostly in the all-white, up-scale venues. Their music ranged from jazz to popular, typical, and

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...

as well as classical. Among others there in the orchestra were the

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

Julio Cueva Julio Cueva (Trinidad, Cuba, 12 April 1897 – Havana, 25 December 1975) was a Cuban trumpeter, composer and band leader. He was an important figure in the spread of Cuban popular music in the 1930s. Life and career Cueva played cornet in the lo ...

and the '' guarachero''

Cascarita Orlando Guerra (''gayr'-rah''; September 14, 1920 – March 20, 1973), better known as Cascarita, was a popular Cuban singer who specialized in guaracha and son montuno. He became one of Cuba's most famous vocalists as a member of Julio Cueva's ...

(Orlando Guerra). The Palau musical tradition passed from brother to brother, and from them through their own families via their children, so much that the end of the 1950s they were able to organize another orchestra, known as Hermanos Palau Junior, to maintain their family tradition alive.

Selected soundtracks

* Acomodando * Apriétame más * La araña y la mosca * Baltazar tiene un pollo * Cómo se baila la suiza * La conga de allá * Dos cosas pa' tomá' con leche * Mala maña * La ola marina * Perro huevero * Pobrecitas mujeres * Puntillita * Rosas del pensil * Sácale punta al lápiz * Ta' bueno ya * Tú verá' lo que tú va' ve * Uampampiro * Yo estoy aprendiendo inglés

References

Sources

* ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940'' – American Film Institute. Publisher: University of California Press, 1993. Language: English. * ''Cuba and its Music: from the first drums to the mambo'' – Ned Sublette. Publisher: Chicago Review Press, Inc., first edition, 2004. Language: English. * ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico y técnico'' – Helio Orovio. Publisher: Ed. Letras Cubanas, second edition, 1992. Language: Spanish. , * ''Los contrapuntos de la música cubana'' – Cristóbal Díaz Ayala. Publisher: Ediciones Callejón, 2006. Language: Spanish. * ''Música cubana del areyto a la nueva trova'' – Cristóbal Díaz Ayala. Publisher: Ediciones Universal, 1981. Language: Spanish.

External links

CubaNow.com

MiPaisCuba.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orquesta Hermanos Palau Musical groups established in 1920 Cuban musical groups