🎻🇨🇺🎺🎶🎵 Orquesta Aragón was founded in 1939 by Orestes Aragón, and has been an emblematic Cuban group ever since. It came under the direction of violinist and singer Rafael Lay in 1948, and released its first records in the mid-1950s. In 1956, the band jumped on the Cha-Cha wave with That Cuban Cha-Cha-Cha, their first LP, which was a big hit (here the 1971 French reissue). Everything on it is good, but we can extract the famous Calculadora, arranged by flutist Richard Egües, which remains one of the orchestra’s hallmarks. In fact, the song would go on to be used by a number of salsa stars. El bodeguero, which opens the album, is also one of their biggest hits, and a track that is regularly covered. Egües’s aerial flute is a must for Aragón, who will be featuring pachanga and charanga on future recordings.
That Cuban Cha-Cha-Cha – Orquesta Aragón, 1956
