Pepe Sánchez, “Tristezas,” and the birth of bolero and trova

1883-01-01 · 1883

Santiago’s Pepe Sánchez is usually credited with the song “Tristezas” (1883). Later writers called it the first bolero and a starting point of traditional trova, the guitar-song style of eastern Cuba. “trova, bolero, fílin (feeling), nueva trova” — Ted Henken, music historian, “From Son to Salsa,” Latin American Research Review 41, no. 3 (2006), p. 186.

Genres: Bolero, Trova tradicional