Born 130 years ago today, Miguel Matamoros is a symbol of musical authenticity to the world. Like Miguelito Cuní, he was one of the great precursors and innovators of Cuban son. Both were born in different years, but on the same day, and that is the reason why May 8 was chosen as Cuban Son Day, and thus honor these two great musicians who dedicated all their talent to the genre, and who They are rooted in our musical history.
His emergence into the Cuban sound horizon began with the recording of an album in 1928, which would define not only his personal path, but would also shape son and trova in Cuba.
He founded the legendary Trío Matamoros, in 1925; but long before he was known and sought after for his skills as an accompanying guitarist, or for giving
serenades with some friends.
With the trio, he performed in some places, although they were still unable to leave the closed spectrum in which they moved, due to the few commercial offers they could get. He continued knocking on doors, incessantly.
One of them was to contact the American company rca Víctor, to try to achieve a contract that would allow them to record a single and, logically, be able to be on radio stations in Santiago and throughout the country.
In 1928, Miguel, Siro Rodríguez and Rafael Cueto managed to sign a contract with the record company, and they left for New York. Thus begins the conquest of a natural market in his native land, which would soon overflow the musical borders of the entire planet. Miguel’s perseverance would lead them to unusual fame, and at the same time his quality as a composer would grow along with it.
Miguel managed to hybridize, like no one else, almost intact morphological elements of genres such as son, bolero, troubadour song, habanera, guaracha, lament, rumba and others, and this is a revelation for his time which, inexorably, , makes him a visionary and a chronicler.
With the versatility of his themes, Miguel is grandly enthroned in the veins of our music, to provide it with a varied sound palette and unique nuances. And although the Trio would be the fork on which creativity
and the mix would inevitably converge, Miguel outlined and specified other formats, which also contributed to the great ajiaco of our music.
MATAMOROSON, IN THE STREETS OF SANTIAGO
The 2024 edition of the MatomoroSon Festival, organized by Uneac and the Provincial Directorate of Culture, in Santiago de Cuba, will begin playing from May 8 until the 11th of the month, in various spaces in this city, the birthplace of are.
The celebration is dedicated to Miguel Matamoros, icon of the genre on the Island, on the 130th anniversary of his birth, and Rodulfo Vaillant, an outstanding Cuban musician and composer, both born on May 8, in Santiago, in 1894 and 1942, respectively. .
With more than half a century working for Cuban culture, and 26 years at the head of the Provincial Committee of Uneac, Vaillant defines as an obligation “the challenge that has been to rescue and maintain the MatamoroSon, as it constitutes a nutrient element to preserve the condition “creative city of music, awarded by UNESCO.”
The honoree explained to Granma that 30 groups participate, and the septet movement is praised. “Once again in the streets and squares of this city, we will see the legendary Orquesta Aragón, the Jóvenes Clásicos del Son, the Taínos de Mayarí, the Original de Manzanillo, Cándido Fabré and other prominent figures of the sonero scene,” he commented.
“That it is dedicated to me, a little finger before the giant author of Black Tears, is a privilege that commits me,” Vaillant said. (Luis Alberto Portuondo)
