Cuba’s venerable ensemble Septeto Nacional opens a four-night run at Yoshi’s-San Francisco this coming Monday, in their first visit to the US in 76 years. Septeto Nacional, a band with a rich history pre-dating the reign of Fidel Castro, was founded by legendary Afro-Cuban songwriter Ignacio Piñeiro in 1927. The group played an essential role in transforming son from a rural style created by troubadours in Santiago into urbane Hanava dance music. Along with Sexteto Habanero, their main rivals in Havana, Piñeiro’s band introduced clarion vocal harmonies and sophisticated orchestration while retaining the insistent syncopation known as clave. Septeto Nacional’s son sound eventually gave birth to salsa. George Gershwin was so impressed by Septeto Nacional on a trip to Cuba in 1932 that he quoted Piñeiro’s hit “Échale salsita” in his piece “Cuban Overture.” And when the band made its last U.S. appearance in 1933 at the World Exposition in Chicago, Septeto Nacional became a sensation.
Over the years, the group featured a succession of powerhouse vocalists, starting with legendary sonero Abelardo Barroso. In the 1940s, Miguelito Valdés won a new generation of fans for the group, which has always drawn on the hundreds of classic sones written by Piñeiro, who died in 1968. In recent years the band has recorded and toured prolifically under the leadership of Eugenio “Raspa” Rodríguez, who joined in 1982 at the urging of the band’s then-director, Carlos Embale. Now the band’s longest serving member, Raspa eventually took over leadership and recruited a fresh batch of musicians. The repertoire remains much the same as 80 years ago, but the contemporary arrangements reflect the sensibilities of the musicians whose grandparents grew up dancing to the band’s hits.
“I am very proud to sing those songs,” says Raspa, 69, while taking a break from an informal jam session at the house of Puerto Rican salsa star Andy Montañez. “We respect the originals, but we added the style of this new generation. They keep on telling the same stories, but it’s like being a chronicler of this time. I always wanted to sing with my own sound, but I try to maintain that tradition of Carlos Embale, and all the big stars who passed through.”
For tickets to Septeto Nacional’s performances in San Francisco go to www.yoshis.com
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