The Music of Benny Moré

No figure better exemplifies the music of Central Cuba than one Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez, born here in rural Cienfuegos Province in 1919. Benny Moré—his showbiz name sounded a lot snappier—experimented with several genres of music during his short life and left his mark on the guitar-and-percussion son, the fast-paced guaracha, the methodical bolero, and the brassy mambo. Moré is revered in Cuba to this day for being one of the few prominent musicians who never fled the country. Celia Cruz? Desi Arnaz? Emilio and Gloria Estefan? It’s as if they never existed here. Moré did sow his musical oats around Latin America during the 1940s, but returned to Cuba in 1952 and stayed through and after the Revolution, performing up until the time of his death in 1963. You can visit Café Cantante Benny Moré, the place where Moré popularized his version of guitar-and-percussion son.