Guajira

Guajira is a Cuban song form of the eastern countryside, sung by the guajiro peasantry, that portrays rural life through nostalgic, idealised images of the land, work and courtship. It is performed by trovador singers with guitar, tres and laúd, in moderate tempo and a gentle lilting metre that alternates 6/8 and 3/4 groupings. *Guillermo Portabales* slowed the form in the 1940s into an elegant salon style, the guajira de salón, while *Joseíto Fernández* fused it with son in "Guantanamera"; performers such as *Eliades Ochoa*, *Cuarteto Patria* and *Polo Montañez* sustain it within the modern trova and son repertory.