Arcaño y sus Maravillas was a Cuban charanga founded in 1937 by flautist Antonio Arcaño. Until its dissolution in 1958, it was one of the most popular and prolific danzón orchestras in Cuba, particularly due to the development of the danzón-mambo by its two main composers and musicians: Orestes López and his brother Israel López "Cachao" (bass). Such upbeat version of the danzón served as a precursor of the mambo popularized by Pérez Prado, as well as the chachachá created by Enrique Jorrín, a violinist who started his career in the Maravillas. Other important musicians in the Maravillas were pianist Jesús López, timbalero Ulpiano Díaz, violinist Félix Reina and flautist Eulogio Ortiz.
The original members of Arcaño y sus Maravillas. Antonio Arcaño, sitting; Cachao, second from the left.
Arcaño y sus Maravillas at Radio CMQ, c. 1945: Arcaño on flute, Orestes López on cello, Cachao on bass.
Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Written in 24 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble.
Danzón dancers from Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico City
Orquesta Enrique Peña Peña seated left, Barreto (violin) and Urfé (clarinet)
Orquesta Romeu with singer Fernando Collazo, end-1920s
A couple dancing danzón in Guanajuato City, Mexico.
