El Cantante
Héctor Lavoe · 1978 · from the album Comedia · written by Rubén Blades
Ten minutes of the singer of singers: a long montuno where Héctor Lavoe answers the coro with a new line every time.
- coro and soneo
- montuno
Why it matters
Rubén Blades wrote El Cantante for Héctor Lavoe, and it came out on Lavoe's 1978 album Comedia, produced by Willie Colón for Fania. It became his signature song.
It's the textbook example of the coro-pregón, salsa's call-and-response: a fixed chorus, and a singer (the sonero) improvising between its repeats. In 2024 it was added to the US National Recording Registry.
What to listen for
- The first part is the story, sung straight through. Keep it smooth and listen: the words are the point here.
- Then the montuno: the coro keeps coming back with the title line, and Lavoe answers every time with a new improvised line, a soneo. The energy climbs round after round, so save your bigger patterns for it.
- There's no clave player to hear, and that's normal: the piano, the bass and the percussion all follow the clave, so it's there in how they fit together.