Son montuno / conjunto

In 1940s Havana the blind tres master Arsenio Rodríguez reformed the son into the conjunto. He pushed the montuno to the centre, added the conga to the...

In 1940s Havana the blind tres master Arsenio Rodríguez reformed the son into the conjunto. He pushed the montuno to the centre, added the conga to the front line, stacked extra trumpets, and brought in a piano whose interlocking vamp ran alongside — not in place of — his own tres, which he kept and featured. Cuban sources credit him with developing the son montuno; the careful phrasing is that he decisively refashioned the music into the chassis modern salsa still runs on.

Era

Son & Trova

Traits

Arsenio Rodríguez's reform of the son: he foregrounded the montuno, added congas and extra trumpets, and brought in a piano alongside the tres he kept and featured (not replacing it) — creating the conjunto, the chassis of modern salsa.