Son montuno

Son montuno is a Cuban musical style developed in the 1940s by tresero and bandleader *Arsenio Rodríguez*, who expanded the traditional son conjunto with additional trumpets, piano, conga and a more aggressive, improvisatory approach. Built on a repeating montuno section of syncopated piano guajeos, tumbao bass lines and call-and-response coros, the style supercharges the eastern Cuban son with jazz-influenced brass riffs and extended solo space. Its landmark recordings, including "Dundunbanza" and the sessions collected on "Como Se Goza en el Barrio", laid essential groundwork for mambo, salsa and Latin jazz, making son montuno one of the foundational idioms of Afro-Cuban dance music.