ABSTRACT
As the twentieth century draws to a close, Cuban son, which first emerged on the Caribbean island as the twentieth century began, is enjoying huge, renewed popularity in many parts of the world. A unique combination of strings, metal, wood and voices, son is one of the most flexible and versatile forms of popular music: it can be a love song, as in one of my favourites, Luis Peña’s ‘En Guantanamo’, a serenade to the town of Guantanamo and its women, full of falling cadences, or it can entice you on to the dance floor and keep you there until you feel you can take no more – the infectious high voice of the sonero interacting with a small chorus, layers of percussion and strummed or plucked strings, exploiting seemingly endless rhythmic combinations.
