Orquesta Aragón

Orquesta Aragón

Orquesta Aragón is a Cuban charanga group from Cienfuegos, Cuba. It forms in 1939, when double bassist Orestes Aragón Cantero sets it up, and it remains active to the present day. The group is associated with latin and salsa, and its core charanga instrumentation includes violins, piano, flute, percussion and vocals.

History and style

After moving to Havana, the group gains wide popularity. It is known for promoting cha-cha-chá from the 1950s and is also credited with helping to inspire New York mambo in the same period. Its long-running line-up includes many musicians over the years, among them René Candelario González, Noelio Morejón, Pablo Romay, Rufino Roque Núñez, Efrain Loyola, Filiberto Depestre Méndez, Orestes Varona, Rafael Lay Apesteguía, José "Pepe" Palma Perello, Francisco Arbolaez Valdés, Guido Sarría Rodríguez, José Beltrán Guzmán, Alberto Ribalta Beltrán, Remigio Dorticos (Ordóñez), José Calazan Rolando Lozano, José “Pepe” Olmo Alvarez, Richard Egües, Celso Valdés Santandreu, Pedro Depestre González, Rafael "Felo" Bacallao Hernández, Dagoberto Pascual González Piedra, Alejandro Tómas Valdés Soa, Guillermo Gonzalo García Valdés, Rafael Felipe Lay Bravo, René Lorente García, Julio Iznaga Piña, Orlando Jesus Pérez Montero, Roberto Espinosa Rodriguez, Ernesto Bacallao Serrano, Justo Emilio Rueda, Eduardo Ramón Rubio Pérez, Lázaro González Sibore, José Palma Cuesta, Pedro Cardozo Moré, Juan Carlos Villegas Alfonso, Armando Amezaga Valera, Inocente Arcadio Alvarez Pagán, Horacio Rodriguez del Toro and Erick Labaut Lay.