About Me
Sierra Maestra are one of Cubas leading son bands, and were instrumental in the revival of the genre in the late 1970s and 1980s. They are also extremely well known for being the group that launched the careers of Juan de Marcos Ganzález and Jesus Alemañy, two of the most important figures in the development of Cuban music in the latter years of the twentieth century. Named after the mountain range on the east of Cuba, and birthplace of the son, the groups aim was to revive and re-introduce this popular Cuban music style from the 1920s and 30s to the contemporary mainstream audience.
In 1976, Juan de Marcos got together with some fellow students at the University of Havana to research and re-create classic son, which they felt would die out without reaching a new, young audience. Music student, and nephew of Tropicana trumpeter Luis, Jesus Alemañy joined the group in 1978. The group went to the source and tracked down various musicians from the period in question, including surviving members of the Septeto Nacional; de Marcos even studied tres with the great Isaac Oviedo (father of Papi), at a time when the instrument was particularly unfashionable. With the old style son line-up of tres, guitar, trumpet, bongo, guiro, vocals, but with the addition of extra percussion and electric bass, Sierra Maestras sound was given a modern stamp and would become a sensation at the annual festivals held in the universities around Cuba.
National fame was soon forthcoming, with the group appearing on various televised festivals in the late 70s, including a fourth place at the Carifesta Carribean music competition which was held in Havana in 1979. The groups Afro haircuts and flared jeans, combined with their repertoire of mainly traditional acoustic songs, was dramatically different from the nueva trova and South American folk songs that most of their fellow students were listening to, and this novelty factor served only to enhance their popularity. After winning the TV talent show Todo El Mundo Canta, they would make their first LP for Egrem in 1980, Sierra Maestra Llego con el Guanjano Relleno went on to receive a silver disc and several industry awards the following year; 1981 was also the year of their first international tour, to Nicaragua.
Sierra Maestra recorded their second album Y Son Asi in 1982, winning the Girasol prize for most popular group; they returned to Nicaragua and then Angola in the same year. In 1983 the groups international career started to take off, they won the Benny Moré dance music prize at the festival named after the great singer, then they travelled to Europe for live dates in Sweden and France, the 4th Helsinki Song Festival in Finland, and the International Film Festival in Spain, where they have returned to several times over the years. Also in 1983 Sierra Maestra recorded the soundtrack to the Cuban TV series Las Impuras; in the 1990s they had a track feature on the soundtrack to the Robert Redford film The Milagro Beanfield War and in 2000 featured in the French film Salsa.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Sierra Maestra continued to record and tour around the globe, playing to audiences in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. In 1994 the group recorded their first album for World Circuit, ¡dundunbanza! is a tribute to the legendary Cuban composer and band-leader Arsenio RodrÃguez, and on a number of tracks the band pay homage to him with an extended line-up including piano, congas and a trumpet section. Now with international distribution, the group became exposed to an even wider audience, and would enjoy critical acclaim for both their new recording and live performances.
1996 proved to be a pivotal year for Sierra Maestra as key members became involved with other projects. Trumpet virtuoso Jesús Alemañy left the group to form the hugely successful Cubanisimo, which continued the theme of re-creating older tunes with a modern interpretation. Although still part of the group, Juan de Marcos González founded the Afro-Cuban All Stars and was an instrumental figure behind the Buena Vista Social Club album, two albums crucial to the explosion in popularity of Cuban music towards the end of the 1990s. With Alejandro Suárez taking over as musical director Sierra Maestra released their second album for World Circuit, Tibiri Tabara saw the group celebrate their twenty first anniversary with a rousing collection of songs from a now expanded repertoire. This album was to be Juan de Marcos swansong as he would leave the group to become full-time leader of the Afro-Cubans.
With a new line-up Sierra Maestra released their latest album Son: Soul of a Nation in 2005, they continue with their busy touring schedule and are as popular as ever.
