Without a doubt, 1939 was an ideal period for the birth of popular stars and orchestras in Cuba. Around that time, the Tropicana cabaret (4504 72nd Street, Marianao, Havana) opened in the country’s capital, one of the world’s finest cultural venues.

The charanga orchestras were very sensitive to the transformations that occurred in these decades of 20th-century Cuban music. This assimilation typically occurred in instrumental ensembles that included more professional musicians and in which instrumental virtuosity had developed, especially on the piano and flute. We can recall the perfection of the pianism of Antonio María Romeu and Neno González; and the excellence of the flute of Francisco Delabart and Belisario López.

Lecuona Cuban Boys was founded by Ernesto Lecuona in 1932 in Spain. Many prestigious artists worked with this group. Armando Oréfiche took over as director, and for seven years, they continued performing on distinguished stages in countries throughout Europe and the Middle East. They returned to Cuba in 1939, and until 1945, the orchestra was very active in Cuba and several countries in the Americas. The group would remain under the tutelage of Gerardo Bruguera, after its director, Armando Oréfiche, left the group and founded another group called Havana Cuban Boys.

During this period, a female popular dance music orchestra emerged, called Anacaona, which has remained a fixture in the Cuban musical scene to this day. Initially, it formed the first female Son Sextet, and shortly afterward, the group expanded its instrumental format. The orchestra has taken its music to numerous countries in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe, and has also left its mark on Mexican cinema.

Anacaona, made up of more than a dozen women who cultivate Cuban popular music with great splendor, through the fusion of traditional rhythms such as Son, with contemporary sounds, is considered “The Distinguished Women’s Orchestra of Cuba.”

The Antonio Arcaño Orchestra, made up of Cuban music virtuosos, included: Elio Valdés, Antonio Sánchez, Enrique Jorrín, Salvador Muñoz, Félix Reyna, Fausto Muñoz and Pedro Hernández, violin; Raúl Valdés and Miguel Valdés, viola; Orestes López, Rodolfo O’Farrill y Rodríguez, cello; Gustavo Tamayo and Julio Pedroso, güiro; Jesús López, piano; Israel López, double bass; and Eliseo Pozo (El Colorao), tumbadora. Also performing in the orchestra were Nilo Sierra and Silvio Martínez, double bass players, and Chucho Esquijarrosa, timpanist.

These high-quality musicians came from another orchestra called La Maravilla del Siglo, so Arcaño, when he left it with some of his musicians to join the one he directed, called it Arcaño y sus Maravillas.

The resounding success achieved led Arcaño to reinforce the instrumental levels by increasing the number of musicians (among them Enrique Jorrín) and instruments (the tumbadora) until it was called the Antonio Arcaño Radio Orchestra.

Later, after Arcaño y sus Maravillas, other orchestras began to emerge, such as the Contreras Brothers Orchestra. The Riverside Orchestra is a prominent group founded in 1938. Its repertoire included such popular songs as: Amapola; Naricita Fría (Little Cold Nose), Ahora Seremos Feliz (Now We Will Be Happy), Dulce Habanera (Sweet Habanera), Almendra (Almond), Alguien Como Tú (Someone Like You), and Vereda Tropical (Tropical Verge).

The orchestra remained a significant figure in Cuban music throughout the 20th century, until its dissolution in 1993, remaining one of the most successful groups in the island’s musical history.

In 1939, the Orquesta Aragón was founded in Cienfuegos, later relocating to Havana under the direction of Rafael Lay. In 1940, it was renamed Conjunto Casino, led by tres player Esteban Grau, another emblematic orchestra of the era. Double bassist Cristóbal Doval and singer-songwriter Roberto Espí joined the group. Espí later became the group’s director and responsible for major renovations. That same year, Arsenio Rodríguez founded his own Conjunto, expanding his septet to include three trumpets, a piano, and a conga drum, known in the history of Cuban music as El Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez.

In 1942, the Orquesta América was founded, led by pianist Ninón Mondéjar; later, the Orquesta Melodías del 40 (Melodies of the 40 Orchestra), conducted by Regino Frontela, also emerged.

Havana Cuban Boys was founded by Armando Oréfiche and is based on the Lecuona Cuban Boys. They achieved several successes in the United States and European countries. They recorded under the Panart label, and their works inspired by their director, performed by Bola Nieve, are notable. Around this time, the group opened the Moulin Rouge in Geneva and the Tres Molinos in Barcelona.

The orchestra had the peculiarity that its musicians played different instruments on stage and unexpectedly transformed into characters such as Don Chimbilicó, Mesié Julián, Chacha la negra, or Chino Leo Wong, all intrinsic to works by its director Oréfiche.

In Camagüey, Maravilla de Florida emerged, established under the name Armonía del 48, with José Reyes Austing as its first director. The following year, in 1949, its name changed to Jóvenes Estrellas and later to Maravilla. Later, in 1959, under the direction of Filiberto Depestre, it became Maravilla de Florida.

In its early days, the orchestra entertained local dances, showcasing a danzón repertoire. It was made up of amateurs, so for them, music was their second profession. This prominent Cuban popular music orchestra embarked on its first international tour in 1974, under the baton of Fernando Cabrera, touring countries in the Middle East such as Syria, Lebanon, and Morocco.

Subsequently, the direction of Maravilla de Florida was assumed by Manolito Simonet, a Cuban musician who replaced Fernando Cabrera, who held that position from 1975 to 1987.

Maravilla de Florida is currently made up of fourteen musicians and has been directed by Norberto Puentes Quintana since 1997. Their repertoire is primarily based on rhythms such as Cha-Cha-Cha, Son, Danzón, Bolero, and Guaracha. They also explore other musical genres such as Latin Jazz, Merengue, and Cumbia.

All these groups promoted the new rhythm on the radio, in cabarets, and especially in the dance academies that existed at the time.

Another of the most important transformations that occurred during this period was the emergence of jazz bands. The piano reached its peak in pianists such as Anselmo Sacasas of the Casino de la Playa Orchestra, in which Miguelito Valdés sang; Armando Oréfiche, who conducted the Lecuona Cuban Boys Orchestra; Carlos Faxas, pianist of the Cosmopolitan Orchestra; Pedro Jústiz, Peruchín of the Riverside Orchestra; and Joseíto González of the Rumbavana Ensemble. They helped jazz bands become more Cuban, including a varied repertoire of guarachas, rumbas, and salon congas, a process to which they contributed their pianistic virtuosity. These orchestras performed North American instrumental dance music that alternated with Cuban dance genres.

Among other jazz bands that emerged during this time were the all-female orchestras Anacaona and Ensueño, which played in the outdoor cafes on Prado Street; their repertoire included guarachas and rumbas, along with fox trots and other popular North American dances.

Years later, in Benny Moré’s Banda Gigante, arrangements can be seen that include clear changes in the instrumental plans. These changes saw the trombones play the tumbaos previously performed by the tres and piano, and the trumpets play powerful percussive motifs similar to the bongo.

Benny had a very direct ancestor in Miguelito Valdés and his style, popularized by the Casino de la Playa orchestra. He traveled to Mexico with the Conjunto Matamoros and became involved with contemporary musical groups, especially the Pérez Prado orchestra. With them, he consolidated the most outstanding features of his jazz band playing, and upon returning to Cuba, he began his successful career, first establishing himself as Mercerón y sus Muchachos (Mercerón and his boys), and later creating his Banda Gigante (Gigante Band).

Sublime is a Cuban popular music orchestra that has survived to this day; founded on January 21, 1956, by brothers Melquiades (arranger and composer) and Rolando Fundora (pianist). It is currently directed by maestro Abilio Betancourt.

He performs traditional Cuban music, combining diverse musical genres such as Danzón, Cha-cha-chá, Bolero, Guaracha, and Son in his repertoire.

Among the awards that the Sublime has collected throughout its existence, we can mention the Nicolás Guillén Diploma, conferred by the UNEAC.

Some groups from these decades, such as the Cosmopolitan Orchestra, also accompanied artists at the Teatro América (253 Avenida de Italia, Centro Habana, Havana City) and on the radio. Many of these orchestras were used to illustrate non-dance music radio programs, directed by Ernesto Lecuona, Enrique González Mántici, and Adolfo Guzmán, with whom they accompanied some national opera artists or visitors from other latitudes.

During this period of the 20th century, Cuban musical traditions saw the development of popular dance music orchestras, partly due to the increase in dance halls and also due to the development of radio until the arrival of television in Cuba in 1951.