Our story begins on the eastern tip of Cuba, in the province once known as Oriente, where a generation of troubadours planted the seeds of the pan-Latin music we now know as the bolero. It was the end of the 19th century, a time of great cultural exchange with the other Antilles, which at the time were all part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Cuba was still fifteen years away from independence when José "Pepe" Sanchez (1856-1918) penned what is widely accepted as the first bolero, "Tristezas" in 1883. (Orovio 1981: 441)
Sánchez was a trovador (troubadour) from Santiago de Cuba. During the late 19th century, trovadores were particularly prevalent in eastern Cuba (while orquestas) prevailed in Havana. These trovadores were songwriters who accompanied themselves on guitar and sometimes played in duos, quintets, or sextets.
Listen to the songwriter Rosendo Ruiz (1885- 1983) - a student of Sanchez - discuss the development of bolero and trovadores (jump to 16:34 – 17:45)
“…then came the singers, which were called ‘trovadores’ – men of very humble origins, of various occupations; barbers, carpenters, and various manual laborers belonging to the strata of the most exploited. Thus, because of that, and because of their proven musical abilities, there many were black or mestizo, slaves at first, or freed men. Those first songs called boleros were similar to Cuban guarachas. The melody was reiterated and presented in figures known as the Cuban cinquillo, of certain African origin but adapted to our sonic idiosyncracies. The lyrics were very rudimentary in the beginning, banal, not transcendent, always looking for the frivolous angle.”
