Son de Nipe. A musical septet born in the municipality of Antilla, it burst into the cultural world with an album of the In Situ label of the Colibri Record Production Company.
Antilla is the smallest municipality of the province of Holguin in Cuba and one of the smallest of Cuba, it was founded on January 21, 1925, it is famous from distant times for its beauty, legends and original aspect.
The group is formed by former musicians of the orchestra Brisas de Nipe of this municipality.
This project was born from the hands of Porfirio Núñez Cruz (Firo) who as Art Instructor at the Casa de Cultura Adelaida del Mármol of Antilla had experimented with other amateur groups, but not with the same results, because the members did not have the necessary musical training.
The album Abriendo Caminos includes 14 songs, 10 of which belong to Antillean authors.
“The value of Abriendo Caminos also lies in the fact that it helps Antillean composers and arrangers to open up to the recognition of their work and ways of doing things”.
From the singer and percussionist of the septet Son de Nipe, Alejandro Arencibia appears the guaracha Esa muchacha quiere bailar and the son, Honor al Guayabero; from Edalio Espinosa Alayo (Pupi), former member of the Brisas de Nipe orchestra, the son, Es caliente como el sol (It’s hot like the sun).
The songs A mi Antilla (bolero-son) and, Y no me niegues el beso (son) by José James Pinder, singer of the septet. By Oscar Fernández, former singer of the Brisas de Nipe Orchestra, the disc offers the themes Rebozo de amor (guaracha) and the son Que lástima.
From the director of the septet Son de Nipe Porfirio Núñez Cruz, Mi son tradicional.
And the guaracha Olvídate de esa nena by the Antillean composer Nemesio Palacio.
The remaining four musical numbers are; De que callada manera by Nicolás Guillén and Pablo Milanes, Culpable by Pepe Delgado, Rabo de nube by Silvio Rodríguez and Una alborada de amor by Ariel Dotres Zaldivar, these songs were arranged by Porfirio Núñez Cruz.
In the septet’s album Son de Nipe Abriendo Caminos “the guaracha, the bolero, the bolero-son and the genuine son are retaken with originality and revalued”.
The latter is due to the fact that the musical criteria followed by its director was the respect for traditional music, its deep knowledge, but imbuing it with very contemporary nuances, which results in a seal that distinguishes the septet Son de Nipe.
“We use the son, but more updated because we make innovations, harmonizing it in a more modern way, without losing its roots”.
The selection of the songs that made up the album Abriendo Caminos was in charge of the septet’s management, since the Casa Discográfica Colibrí wanted originality and the authentic exhibition of the work that has been developed with traditional music in the eastern part of the country.
The graphic image of the disc, worked in sepia and black colors fundamentally manage to set the atmosphere that is offered to us with a vintage flavor and invites us to listen to these 14 songs full of tradition and contemporaneity.
“It will be a delight for the listener and the dancer, the good function of the tres in its solos and “entregas”, the beautiful and ingenious introductions, the exquisite mixture between text and music of the boleros, the harmonic patterns of the soneros that not for conventional reasons give up a significant finish, without neglecting, on occasions, the voices replacing wind instruments”.
The selection of the members was meticulous. Porfirio had in his favor the prestige he possessed and the convening power among his former colleagues of the Orquesta Brisas de Nipe, so much so that in the list of his group he planned to include Reyes Cástulo Urgellés Fáez, better known as Lulú as bassist and José James Pinder (Joseíto) as singer, both retired from the Orquesta Brisas de Nipe and linked to the Casa de Cultura in occasional activities.
The septet still needed to be completed with a key piece, the tres, for which the prestigious Mario Arencibia Rodríguez, one of the best tres players in Antilla, was summoned.
In the Arencibia family, musicians abound, that is why the group was completed with them: Alejandro, singer and Rafael on the tumbadora.
Alejandro and Mario had been part of an amateur group called Renovación Antillana for more than 20 years, which was very famous in its time and where a great number of aficionados were formed.
Alejandro sometimes played the tres in other groups, but in Son de Nipe he remained as a singer, he also had a work relationship that did not allow him to devote himself entirely to music; His nephew, trained at the Casa de Cultura and under the musical influence of the family, had taken over the tumbadoras, so Rafael Arencibia was the youngest of the group, he was barely 25 years old and at this young age he had already played in several amateur groups and got the Brisa de Nipe orchestra out of trouble, due to the unexpected absence of its percussionist.
Rafael Arencibia Rodríguez joined the project with enthusiasm despite the fact that the genre and style of the repertoire were not those used by the amateur groups of his contemporaries.
Iro had obtained the desired musicians, but he still had a big step to climb, his musicians were not professionals, they all had work commitments and he needed to prepare the project for the right day…(ecured).
Septeto Son De Nipe – Abriendo Caminos (2006)
Temas:
- Esa Muchacha Quiere Bailar (Alejandro Arencibia)
- Es Caliente Como El Sol (Edalio Espinosa Adayo)
- A Mi Antilla (José James Pinder)
- Rebozo De Amor (Oscar Fernández Paz)
- De Qué Callada Manera (N. Gillén / Pablo Milanés)
- Honor Al Guayabero (Alejandro Arencibia)
- Culpable (Pepe Delgado)
- Mi Son Tradicional (Porfirio Núñez Cruz)
- Y No Me Niegues el Beso (José James Pinder)
- Clodomiro (Oscar Fernández Paz)
- Rabo De Nube (Silvio Rodríguez)
- Qué Lástima (Oscar Fernández Paz)
- Una Alborada De Amor (Ariel Dotres Zaldívar)
- Olvídate De Esa Nena (Nemecio Palacio)
Research Sources:
- Eddie Montalvo Iron Hands: “I’m in love with Venezuela” - April 30, 2025
- Ignacio Piñero Septeto Nacional has played an important role in Cuba’s music for more than seven decades - April 30, 2025
- Ismael ‘Pat’ Quintana, born in Ponce Puerto Rico, began his musical career in 1961 alongside Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta - April 30, 2025