Orquesta Aragón, 80 Years on the Cuban Musical Staff

October 1, 2019

If you hear a tasty son, put your stamp on it because it's the Aragón

There are orchestras that accentuate a personal seal, that timbre of singularity and incomparable presence that allow them to become symbols, emblems of a certain culture or nation. Such is the case of the Aragón, founded on September 30, 1939 in Cienfuegos, whose particular sonic imprint has identified it throughout time.

An unparalleled typical island orchestra, the Queen of Cuban Charangas has kept held high the immeasurable value of our national musical staff, by adopting and making famous pieces that—80 years later—continue to be danced, also hummed, both on the Island and in the rest of the world.

To see the Aragón on stage is to witness a spectacle of total elegance, explicit both by virtue of the musicians' attire and their movements on the platform, and even in the way they hold their instruments.

The respect that these creators profess to our music is palpable; in particular to the legacy of foundational figures of the caliber of Orestes Aragón Cantero and, especially, of that true historical propeller of the orchestra, named Rafael Lay Apezteguía.

The now worldwide famous Cuban popular charanga orchestra was created under the original name of Rítmica 39, later it would be called Rítmica Aragón and finally Orquesta Aragón. Its members held their first dance on October 9, 1939. Hits performed by the band such as El bodeguero, El cerquillo, Cachita, Pare cochero, Guajira con tumba'o and Tres lindas cubanas, to name just a few, have gone around the world.

The one that arrived and triumphed, an inveterate flagship of popular dance music in Cuba during the twentieth century, reaches its 80th anniversary with the same respect earned within its audience, to which it has always been faithful and to whose bosom it has always returned after its countless tours throughout the entire planet.