Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub

by Rosa Lowinger

One Cuban musical giant who was conspicuously absent from Tropicana’s roster of stars was Benny Moré. By 1955, El bárbaro del ritmo, as he was called, was considered one of the most talented and versatile singers in the country, quite possibly the best musician Cuba has ever produced, according to listeners as well as critics. A self-taught musician who never learned to read notes, Moré was born Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, a rural town near the southern coastal city of Cienfuegos, in Las Villas Province. Like Armando Romeu, Moré’s musical talent came with his birthright. His great-great-grandfather had been a slave brought to Cuba from the Congo. Upon emancipation, Ta Ramón Gundo Moré became the first “king” of a casino, or society, to maintain Congo traditions in Santa Isabel de las Lajas. Foremost among those traditions was music. Young Bartolomé was welcomed into the Casino de los Congos from an early age. By the time he was six he was adept at playing the tres and singing and dancing rumba, son, guaracha, and all manner of Afro-Cuban music. He was also an expert improviser and could make up verses on the spot in the best tradition of guajiro country music.