Event

Sierra Maestra

Sierra Maestra has played a key part in the recent worldwide boom in Cuban traditional music. In 1995 its tres player Juan de Marcos González conceived the idea that led to the recording of the famous Buena Vista Social Club, on which four members of Sierra Maestra performed.

Stars of Cuban music ever since they formed in the late 1970s, five of the original nine members remain in the band. Sierra Maestra was the first, and remains the best, of the modern-era groups to play in the old-style son line-up: tres, guitar, one trumpet, bongo, güiro and vocals as during the style's golden age of the 1920s and '30s. They have been the pioneers in reviving this style for new generations and reintroducing it into the Cuban mainstream. They named themselves after the mountain range in the eastern part of Cuba as a tribute to the birthplace of son.

Nominated for a 2010 Latin Grammy, the group is now celebrating 34 years since its formation.

"Music doesn't come more energising than Havana's glorious Sierra Maestra, who sparked the revival that led to Buena Vista Social Club's music sweeping the globe." The List (UK)