Dear Peter Margasak:
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Yet despite the changing popular tastes, the traditional son and mambo groups did not disappear. I have a stack of records purchased in Cuba in the early 1980s that feature Orquesta Aragon, Arsenio Rodriguez, Jorrin (the last band with which Ruben Gonzalez played until he retired), Beny More, and others. There was no attempt to eradicate this music by Fidel Castro or anyone else. I heard Orquesta Aragon and other similar groups live on many occasions during visits to Cuba in the 1980s. And no one could begin to suggest that Omara Portuondo has been forgotten. She performs regularly at the National Theater in Cuba and is featured on television and radio.
That Ruben Gonzalez, Ibrahim Ferrer, and others slipped from the public scene and memory is unfortunate, but the reason why had little to do with Fidel Castro. It may have to do with their personal histories: what happened to the bands they played with and their leaders. Maybe if it were not for the U.S. embargo, these musicians would have recorded in the U.S. or traveled here with their groups previously. Maybe not. It is only in the last few years that United States audiences (and markets) have begun to rediscover Cuban music, at a time when the bands these musicians played with no longer exist. Perhaps if Cuba never had a revolution they would have received more attention in Cuba, but we cannot say for sure that they would have survived the change in popular tastes no matter what.
Chicago
