Sonora Matancera - Assessment: A Critique and Its Rebuttal

Assessment: A Critique and Its Rebuttal

There are those who feel that the members of La Sonora were not the most important musicians in Cuba. Be that as it may, the fact remains that these performers created a musical camaraderie that gave rise to a distinctive style. This distinctive style is easily recognizable, the inimitable "...Sonora Beat..." serving as its lodestar. The conjunto closely adhered to "...the heart of the Cuban dance rhythm...", which was found in the "dancers beat" of this collective.

Conjunto Sonora Matancera had honed its skills over a generation — from the late 1920s to the late 1940s — in the academias de baile (a special type of dance hall), such as the famous Marte y Belona, where nightly La Sonora Matancera drew record crowds of the best dancers. Apart from this prestigious academia, other nightspots where La Sonora entertained the dancing public in the early 1940s were El Habana Sport, Centro Castellano, La Tropical and Las Playitas. The collective during this time also made live broadcasts on Radio Progreso. Later that same decade Conjunto Sonora Matancera frequently played in such top dance venues as El Club Atlético Santiago de Las Vegas, Quibikán, Centro Gallego, El Edén Concert, Sans Souci, El Tropicana and Centro Asturiano. At this time La Sonora Matancera always performed on the feast day of August 15, known as La Tutelar, at El Liceo Guanabacoa. By the early 1950s, the ensemble made live broadcasts from the studios of Radio CMQ. Its long tenure in the academias served La Sonora well as it transformed the collective into an excellent dance band.