Beny More (1919 – 1963) is considered by many fans of Cuban music as the greatest Cuban singer of all time. He was gifted with an innate musicality and fluid tenor voice which he coloured and phrased with great self-expression. More was a master of all the genres of Cuban music, including son montuno, mambo, guaracha, guajira, cha-cha-cha, afro, cancion, guaguanc , and bolero. In 1945 More went with Conjunto Matamoros to Mexico, where they performed in two of the most famous cabarets of the age, the Montparnasse and the Rio Rosa. Conjunto Matamoros eventually returned to Havana, while More remained in Mexico, where he made several recordings for RCA Victor, together with the orchestras of Mariano Mercerón and Perez Prado.

At the end of 1950, More returned to Cuba and although an acknowledged star in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Puerto Rico, he was virtually unknown on the island of his birth. Following the release of his first Cuban hit though (“Bonito y Sabroso”), fame quickly followed, leading him to him form his own orchestra, Banda Gigante. The orchestra toured extensively throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and the USA where it was engaged as the resident orchestra at several Oscar ceremonies.

BENY MORÉ & HIS ORCHESTRA Recorded in La Havana, Cuba, 1958. Originally issued as Pare… que llegó el bárbaro (Discuba LPD-501).