Changüí
Located in 1 route
An earthy Afro-Cuban precursor of the son from the mountains around Guantánamo in far-eastern Cuba, built on a distinctive small ensemble: the tres (playing sharp, percussive lines), the marímbula (a large plucked bass lamellophone), bongó de monte, güayo (metal scraper) and maracas, with lead-and-chorus singing. Its interlocking, off-beat groove is looser and more syncopated than the polished urban son, with the tres and bongó improvising in constant dialogue. The feel is rustic, hypnotic and communal, rooted in rural celebrations. It preserves an older, more African layer of the son family.
History
Changüí took shape in the mid-to-late nineteenth century among Afro-Cuban and Franco-Haitian-descended communities in the Guantánamo highlands, predating and feeding the son cubano that would sweep the island. Long a rural folk tradition maintained by families and village groups, it was documented and organized in the twentieth century, notably by researcher Rafael Iriarte's Grupo Changüí de Guantánamo (1945). Guantánamo-born timbalero Elio Revé built his celebrated Charangón (founded 1956) on changüí, modernizing it for the dance-band era and passing the project to his son Elito, and the city's Festival del Changüí keeps the tradition vibrant. Its rhythms echo through son, salsa and Cuban timba.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Benjamin Lapidus, Origins of Cuban Music and Dance: Changüí (2008)
- Ned Sublette, Cuba and Its Music (2004)
- Peter Manuel, Caribbean Currents (1995)