Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, with the power of rumba

They came to life in a solar within the most powerful neighborhood of Matanzas. Port area, of humble people, but blessed and empowered by all the orishas. There I have personally known the power of Oshun that is excessive, sometimes, while refreshing the streets with an incomprehensible joy for those who have never had a sip of rum on the sidewalk; the power of Oyá that turns the Villamils ​​into an endless family and never lets their Cabildo die, with that resistance that is also worth explaining beyond the image of Santa Teresita on pilgrimage year after year, in the middle of October; the transforming power of Shangó and the powerful call of Añá, to which no one is absent from the first touches of the Dry Gold.

Diosdado Ramos himself, director for decades of the group that was named Muñequitos de Matanzas, confessed it years ago in an interview for CubaSi: blood and religious ties, respect and faith, are the keys to making the rumba of Guaguancó Matancero continue to sound as they founded it, on the banks of the Yumurí river, in 1952. So that it continues to grow, as his son «Figurín» has declared, who not only inherits the name, but also the commitment, when the family of the Muñequitos turns 70:

«This is a great party that the rumba has, because we put all our trust on it. Our job is to maintain it, not to let that essence disappear, that beautiful work of Virulilla, Saldiguera, Chachá, Juan Bosco, Gregorio Díaz... all the first ones, and I think above all, this is the commitment of this youth, which is not so new, because since childhood, they are listening and moving with the rumba.

«I believe that rumba is not going to die and I trust this great work will remain for the future: the way of teaching, its songs, its dances, its touches. I believe that, above all things, Muñequitos gave a master class for Cuba and the whole world of what it is capable of doing, of what the first ones did and it is now up to us to maintain, because not only Muñequitos is a brand: it is a spirituality, it is a foundation that has to last for all eternity and it will be possible, because there is youth, there is the La Marina neighborhood, where there are so many children who already want to play rumba. We are going to bet on that and on what the rumbero is, that they have that education of being first good people and with feeling. »

«The Muñequitos de Matanzas. 70 years with the power of the rumba»

The launching of the Audiovisual Concert Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. 70 years with the power of the rumba, performed under the Bis Music record label, is one of the main actions of this celebration. Executive producer José Manuel García commented:

«We see the group defending the different variants of rumba or the abakuá or the rumbatá, which is also a show within the concert. In any of the performance that they showed there, the result is excellent. Here, there is popular rumba, but in addition, there is a level of elegance, a glamour that is shown in terms of the rumberos that also gives it more visuality, and it is one of the characteristics of Muñequitos de Matanzas. For me and for the entire production staff, what we received on that occasion has become a master class.

Prestigious musicologist Cary Diez, manager of the group, pointed out that this campaign for the 70 years of Muñequitos began precisely when this audiovisual concert was filmed at the Sauto Theater in January 2022, and in times like these, so complex, Bis Music met the expectations and the material was ready for the anniversary that we celebrated last October 9th.

«Previously -she added- we performed in La Fiesta del Tambor, the Jazz Festival, where we have performed for several years now, and there is a production by Alejandro Falcón with Muñequitos that was also awarded. Then we were in Cubadisco, where they always have some recognition for us, and then we started this second part».

She then praised the initiative of the Cubavisión TV channel to broadcast the concert this October 9, which constituted the world premiere of a production that still has a long way to go.

Prophets in their own land

Few know the history of Los Muñequitos better than Cary, she narrates it with an emotion impossible to replicate: «Los Muñequitos come from a neighborhood with a lot of spiritual freedom, where the solares served as venue of several parties and had, let's say, a certain mission. Solar 17, for example, owned by our Ana Pérez, belonged to the Villamil family, and from there, the troupe La Imaliana came from that area. In fact, many of the songs in the repertoire of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas also come from there; that is to say, that they not only carry their musical ideas, but they preserve and develop a heritage at the same time.

“People love and respect them in their neighborhood. Children, young people, want to be Muñequitos, because they represent a way of being and acting in life. That is why Muñequitos, through so many generations, can show that evolution and be, at the same time, close to its roots. That is why Muñequitos, in the hundred cities where they have performed all over the world, always carry that seal, because Muñequitos are prophets in their own land.

Maferefun Los Muñequitos

As if it were really necessary, Pablo Menéndez, that great musician who, despite his foreign accent, represents Cuba very well, wanted to explain to those present at the launch of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. 70 years with the power of the rumba:

«You know that I am from the United States, I am not Cuban, and you will say: well, and then, is he a rumbero? There are people who have followed the history of Mezcla, where we have always had rumba in mind. Also, I think that, in the fusion of everything that has come from other places in the history of this island, the first music born in Cuba is the rumba. The African music that came to Cuba may be older, but it was not made in Cuba; it was made in Africa and replicated here. Spanish music, the same, but the first music born in Cuba, for me, is the rumba».

Pablo Menéndez's relationship with Los Muñequitos started from a beautiful personal story:

«I am also turning 70. Now I was trying to remember the first time I heard about Mezcla, and the truth is that my mother, Bárbara Denis, was the first artist to defy the blockade and come to Cuba in 1966, and it was through the recordings that she took of Cuban music. One of the recordings she had made belonged to Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. When I arrived in Cuba, we went to Matanzas and saw Los Muñequitos. I was an American, I didn't know anything, but I was delighted.

Ten years later, I was part of the ICAIC Sonora Experimentation group, and we went to Santiago de Cuba to a political song festival. We lived in some hostels that were in the stadium, so our brigade mates were Los Muñequitos. I had a cassette recorder, which was a novelty at the time, and I started recording them, because I said: "hey, I love this." Everyone laughed at the youngest member, who was the dancer: "hey, you don't go out there". And look, he later became the great director this group has had for 40 years».

But not only in Cuba was he fascinated by Los Muñequitos de Matanzas: «In New York, I found myself one day in the house of people who were very supportive of Cuban music, and they knew that at that time, it was very difficult for a Cuban musician visiting New York. So I had to represent everybody. At that time, young Cuban musicians were fascinated with everything that was from abroad: jazz, rock. We listened to vinyl records all the time, and when I arrived in New York, I found that they were listening to the recordings of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas».

In 1993, his band, Mezcla, shared the stage of the Teatro América with these rumberos from Matanzas. And he recalls that, by then, they had decided to request a visa to perform in their homeland with their musicians, motivated precisely by the first group that entered the United States: Muñequitos de Matanzas.

«In the United States, even the most Afrocentrists, who were studying a lot about what African culture was like, when they saw Los Muñequitos doing the abakuá, their jaws dropped. They said: Africa is in Cuba», said Menéndez, who concluded:

«From that first international tour to the United States, Los Muñequitos have become a world reference, and the rumba in Cuba has benefited from it. There is a rumba movement, a recognition of rumba like never before and we will always have to be, as a nation, grateful to the work of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas».

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff