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Sierra Maestra

 
 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Sierra Maestra
Sierra Maestra (syā'rä mäā'strä), rugged mountain range, SE Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Consisting of connecting ranges with local names, the Sierra Maestra is the highest system of Cuba. It is rich in minerals, especially copper, manganese, chromium, and iron. Pico Turquino (6,560 ft/1,999 m) is the highest point. In the 1950s Fidel Castro had his base of operations in the mountains.


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Artist: Sierra Maestra
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Group Members:

Eduardo Himely, Alejandro Suárez, Luis Barzaga, Carlos Puisseaux, Juan de Marcos González, José Antonio Rodríguez, Carlos González, Daniel Ramos, Alberto Valdés

Similar Artists:

Followers:

Performed Songs By:

Formal Connection With:

Juan de Marcos González
  • Formed: 1976, Havana, Cuba
  • Genres: Latin
  • Representative Albums: "Rumbero Soy," "Viaje a la Semilla," "Tibiri Tabara"
  • Representative Songs: "Elena la Cumbanchera," "Juana Peña," "Coco Mai Mai"

Biography

Havana-based group Sierra Maestra is one of the foremost bands performing the Cuban son style, which enjoyed its height of popularity in the '20s and '30s. Though son experienced significant revival and renewed international interest thanks to the late-'90s Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon, Sierra Maestra gave the music a new lease on life as early as the late '70s. Headed by Juan d'Marcos González, the nine-piece outfit came together in 1976 for a performance at the University of Havana, the musicians' alma mater. Utilizing traditional instrumentation including tres, guitar, bongo, guiro, trumpet, and voice, joined by congas, maracas, and electric base, the musicians named their group after the mountain range where son was born. Band leader González was joined by Daniel Ramos Alayo (trumpet), Carlos González (bongo), Carlos Pisseaux (guiro), Alberto Valdés (maracas and voice), Luis Bárgaza (voice), José Antonio Rodríguez (guitar and voice), Eduardo Himely (bass and conga), and Alejandro Suárez (clave and voice). Through regular performance and television appearances, Sierra Maestra became a national favorite, winning national awards in their first three years in operation. The band's debut recording, Sierra Maestra Llegó con el Guanajo Relleno, earned silver status in the year of its release, 1981. Popular critical reception and widespread popularity opened doors for international touring in the early '80s. Following their sophomore release, Y Son Así (1982), Sierra Maestra toured all over Europe, appearing at important festivals in Sweden, France, Germany, and Spain. Starting with their 1994 release Dundunbanza!, Sierra Maestra's recordings soon became available to international audiences. Their discography grew significantly throughout the '90s and 2000s, including better than a dozen titles by 2006's Son: Soul of a Nation. The musicians' commitment to the repertoire of artists such as Arsenio Rodríguez and the compositions of their own members earned them a reputation as both artful custodians of a tradition and brilliant innovators as well. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Sierra Maestra
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For the Cuban son band,see Sierra Maestra (band).

Sierra Maestra is located in Cuba1
Location of Sierra Maestra in Cuba

Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province from what is now Guantánamo Province to Niquero [1] in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges (Vela, Santa Catalina, Quemado Grande, Daña Mariana)[2], which joins with others extending to the west. [3] [4] [5][6][7] The Sierra Maestra is the highest system of Cuba. It is rich in minerals, especially copper, manganese, chromium, and iron. At 6,650 ft (1,999 m), Pico Turquino is the range's highest point.

Contents

Orography

Sierra Maestra
Pico Torquino in the Sierra Maestra, Cuba's highest mountain, 1974 meters

Cuba rides on a separate tectonic plate, which originally was in the Pacific Ocean but (after crossing between the then separated Americas) crashed into Florida. This along with several other violent events (including volcanic activity, the crash of the comet Chicxulub, and earthquakes the Sierra Maestra is immediately north of the Bartlett Deep, or Cayman Trench on the main Caribbean Plate) fractured huge slabs of rocks. Enormous tsunamis presumably from the volcanoes on the Canary Islands carved great steps on the coast. All this caused emergence of these mountains in a complex process that included lifting up of now cave-ridden calcareous deposits, and the development of the Bartlett Deep or Cayman Trough. Originally heavily forested and divided by deep river valleys, volcanic dykes, and impassable karst areas, its steep valleys and abrupt fault lines make it an ideal terrain for rebellion.

History

The Sierra Maestra has a long history of guerrilla warfare. Starting with the resistance of the Tainos under Guamá, the Cimarrón Neo-Taíno nations escaped slave cultures, and the Ten Years' War and the Cuban War of Independence. And various minor conflicts such as the Race War of 1912, and Antonio Guiteras's uprisings against Gerardo Machado and Fulgencio Batista. After Fidel Castro returned to Cuba from exile in Mexico, he and the few other survivors from the failed attack on Moncada Barracks hid out in Sierra Maestra. They were able to expand the 26th of July Movement, starting a revolution throughout the region. They built up guerrilla columns, and in collaboration with other groups in the central provinces, Escopeteros on the foot hills and plains, and the urban resistance, eventually overthrew Fulgencio Batista.

See also

References

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External links

Coordinates: 20°00′N 76°45′W / 20°N 76.75°W / 20; -76.75


 
 

 

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
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