Traditional Music.
In the backyard of a house, in Cienfuegos, Cuba, under an orange tree (hence Los Naranjos), Gumersindo Soriano, a talented young singer, summoned together six of his musician friends and began to play the favorite music of Cubans in that era, the native Son. Los Naranjos' debut took place on April 3rd, 1926, in this southern Cuban city.
From those unpretentious beginnings, Los Naranjos matured to become one of the oldest (more than eight decades) and most respected Son groups of their land.
Besides the usual performances in the native soil and in other Cuban provinces, the orchestra has had a full international projection. Among innumerable awards, they have received the prestigious Best Interpreters of the Son in 1993 and the Alejo Carpentier Medal for Artistic Achievements in 1997.
They have recorded various CD's, such as Respeta mi tambó and Los viejos te cantan. This last recording, published in 2007, is an effervesce
nt blend of the native Cuban Son presented in the exceptional style of this group because using newer standards of sones and boleros, Los Naranjos offer a renewed and exciting view of the traditional Cuban music.
Gumersindo Soriano passed on in 1990, but his musical legacy has been amply fulfilled by the current members of this unequaled group, today conducted by Juan Antonio Jústiz Abreu.
