Formed in Havana around 1920 out of the touring Cuarteto/Sexteto Oriental lineup that tresista Ricardo Martínez had led up from Santiago de Cuba, the Sexteto Habanero became the group that put son on record — literally: their October 1925 Victor sessions were among the first commercial son recordings ever made. With guitar, tres, botija, bongó, claves, and maracas locked into a single conversational rhythm section under a lead-and-chorus vocal, they set the instrumentation and interplay that every son ensemble after them had to reckon with.

the sound in question

1926

Tres Lindas CubanasSexteto Habanero