Rita Montaner
Rita Montaner, celebrated as “Rita de Cuba,” was a classically trained Havana soprano who broke from the zarzuela stage to become the era's leading interpreter of Afro-Cuban salon song, cutting the first-ever recording of “El Manisero” (“The Peanut Vendor”) in 1927 and dominating Cuban radio through the 1930s and ’40s. She discovered pianist Ignacio Villa in a Havana club in 1933 and made him her accompanist, launching the career that would make him famous as Bola de Nieve.
the sound in question
1927
El ManiseroRita Montaner
we haven’t charted Rita Montaner yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.