Guajiras Y Sones – Sancocho, 1980

🇩🇴 🎺 🥁 🎶 🌶️ Francis Santana, one of the most renowned singers from the Dominican Republic, is celebrated for his mastery of bolero, merengue, and—most notably here—son. Sancocho, the name of both a beloved soup in Latin America and the Caribbean and the band accompanying Santana, delivers Guajiras y Sones (1980), an album arranged by the esteemed Jorge Taveras on piano. This record was one of the first I received to explore the then-unfamiliar Latin groove, and its explosive blend of brass and percussion—from the opening Mi Guajira En El Batey to the closing Mi Son Cubano—left a lasting impression. Santana began his career at 14 in Carlos Taylor’s trio during the 1940s and later performed across the Caribbean with orchestras like Orquesta Ciudad Trujillo and Orquesta Angelita.