Search - Septeto Nacional :: Poetas Del Son

Any time a band marks its 75th anniversary, two things are clear. First, it must be on to something pretty good to stick with it that long. Second, the band is now a going concern with original band members long dead, as is the case with Septeto Nacional founder Ignacio Piñeiro. In 1927, Piñeiro and his crew invented the Cuban style of son (popularized in recent years by the Buena Vista Social Club). The band still does it right, maintaining the music's potent chemistry of vocals, guitars, bass, bongos, and trumpet. Whittling down the band's history to just 11 songs must have been a Herculean task, but current leader Agnacio Esteban Aymé also managed to incorporate such son cousins as rumba, guaracha, pregon, bolero, cancion, and guajira into the program. Amazingly, he was still able to make room for an Arsenio Rodríguez tune and a song popularized by Cuban legend Felix Chappottin. Here's proof that repertory in the hands of the right people can be a good thing. --Tad Hendrickson