Cigar Music
Tobacco Songs from Old Havana
This album is dedicated to my dear friend Jerry Bezdikian, a true lover of all fine things, who after a home-made meal, offered me my first cigar. I knew that day that I'd been exposed to one of life's great pleasures, one which would occupy a place of prominence for me alongside great food and music. Later, I learned that the island of Cuba was the source of not only the world's most famous cigars but some of the finest Latin music, and that the traditions of music and cigars were uniquely intertwined. This compilation presents music from Havana, which remains the Mecca for smokers of fine tobacco. Many of these songs are about tobacco and cigars themselves, and others are standards familiar to Cubans for years and commonly heard on the streets and in the clubs of the city today.
Music was also heard historically in the relative quiet of the cigar factories which relied, as they still do, on the delicate, skilled hands of men and women to separate and roll the tobacco leaves. The custom of employing musicians to entertain workers originated in the practice of reading to workers which began at the El Figaro factory in December 1865. Employees selected one of their own, paid by a special collection, to read the morning newspaper or classic novels. Two favorite novels were Victor Hugo's Notre Dame of Paris and The Count of Montecristo, the latter inspiring the cigar with the same name. Music was introduced when the first radio was installed in 1923 at the Cabañas Cigar Factory. Occasionally, workers were treated to live music by quartets or trios playing folk songs and other popular styles such as bolero, son, and guaracha, which comes from the Cuban word 'araguaco', meaning to dance. One style, the punto pinareño (directly from the tobacco-growing region of Pinar Del Rio!) is characterized by the strong percussive effect of the claves and syncopation (stressing off beats) between the voices and guitar. Beny Moré, the legendary Cuban songwriter whose classic cigar song 'Se te cayó el tabaco' is recorded here, got his start playing in the factories. The tradition of playing music has been retained in some factories outside of Cuba, as noted by Richard Carleton Hacker during his visit to the Arturo Fuente factory in the Dominican Republic.
In Cuba, where music continues to be an essential ingredient of the island's culture, the relation between cigars and music has always remained (more) deeply symbiotic. As tobacco leaves became the symbol of the country's strength and success, bringing together for it's production American Indians, Africans and Europeans, the music on the island over time became a rich amalgamation of cultural styles. The potent combination of European musical practices, such as those of the 16-century trouveres and classic chamber orchestras, with African rhythms and call-and-response, has produced one of the world's richest musical traditions. Afro-Cuban music, derived from the ritual music performed in secret, has become one of the most popular styles both inside Cuba and throughout the Americas.
As the songs in this recording demonstrate, Cuban musicians also incorporate into their lyrics the medicinal traditions, romance and raw sensuality of the cigar. In 'Tabaco con Melao' (track 3), Indian, Spanish Catholic and modern Cuban customs are mixed in a grandmother's recollection of an ancient remedy for evil (used by lawyers as well as doctors!) - tobacco mixed with honey. And the inevitable sexual analogy is playfully invoked in Beny Moré's 'Se te cayó el tabaco' (track 12) in which a would-be lover scolds his cigar for falling down. Despite Freud's caution against over-interpretation (at least when it applied to his own famous cigar smoking habit!) sometimes a cigar definitely isn't just a cigar.
A note about Cuarteto Tiempo
Although traditional Cuban quartets rarely have the sound of female voices, the blended voices and harmonies of Cuarteto Tiempo bring to the music a lightheartedness and seductive quality reminiscent of Cuba itself. Formed in June, 1992 by Richard Gonzalez Dominguez, the name Tiempo (Time) refines the group's intention, which is to interpret the music of the past, from traditional guarachas and boleros to modern nuevo trova and salsa. All four members are both accomplished singers and instrumentalists, singing their fresh interpretations while performing on several instruments with great precision and swing. Tiempo has performed throughout Cuba in innumerable tourist and cultural venues, and toured Japan in December, 1994.
Taken from notes by Harold G. Hagopian
from the recording 'Cigar Music - Tobacco Songs from Old Havana'
Produced by Fuji Publishing Group
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