Antonio Machín Essentials

Few voices are as sonorous as Antonio Abad Lugo Machín. The son of a Cuban mother and a Spanish father, Machín became the first Black singer in Cuba to join a white orchestra. He emigrated to Madrid and recorded and performed around the world for over five decades before his 1977 death. His catalogue spans as many as 600 numbers, including 1930’s “El Manisero”—the first Cuban song to become a hit in the US—the 1947 postwar anthem “Angelitos Negros” and 1957’s “Madrecita”, a heartfelt dedication to composer Luis Marquetti’s mother.