In the first days of October 1952 a group of young rumberos found themselves after work enjoying their evening's rest in the bar "El Gallo" on the corner of Matanzas and Daoiz Streets in the Barrio of La Marina in the city of Matanzas. Over drinks, they heard the chords of a son by Arsenio Rodriguez on the bar's Victrola.

Inspired by the rhythm and the contagious melody, they began to play percussion on the counter, on the glasses and on the bottles, accompanying Arsenio and his group. The bar's other customers, as well as passers-by, stopped to listen and to the astonishment of the young men they received their first applause--applause that 40 years later they continue to receive.

In the rush of enthusiasm someone said: Why don't we form a musical group to entertain on Sundays and holidays at fiestas and barrio dances? Someone else knew a musician-composer-arranger who would have the experience to pull the group together: Florencio Calle Peraza (Catalino), who lived in a solar on Salamanca Street between Matanzas and Jovellanos in that same barrio of La Marina.

They marched over to Catalino's place. They stated their business to Catalino, who made an appointment with them for the following day, to discuss details and plan the new group.

At that meeting the following day they discussed what each person would do, how the group would be composed and the genre they would interpret, as well as the name they would give the group: Guaguancó Matancero. The agreed that each member would find a way to get instruments made according to their respective means. They would interpret the guaguancó, the contemporary rumba of urban origin that came from Matanzas and Havana. The group would be composed of:

Florencio Calle -- director and guagua
Gregorio Diaz -- conga
Angel Pelladito -- cajón and quinto
Juan Mesa -- clave and improvising singer
Hortensio Alfonso "Saldiguera" -- third voice and maracas
Esteban Lantri "Virulilla" -- soloist
Pablo Mesa -- tumba 6x8 (salidor)

Once the group was together with the necessary instruments they began performing in the barrios of Simpson and La Marina, and subsequently in all of Matanzas Province, and then in the city of Havana.

They included in their repertoire the yambú, an older style of rumba of urban origin (known as box rumba), and later the columbia, of rural origin, a field rumba danced only by men.

In 1953 they were invited to perform in fiestas in the barrios of Old Havana and Central Havana. They performed on radio and television, and recorded for the Puchito label their first 78 rpm record, with `Los Beodos' on one side and `Los Muñequitos' on the other. The lyrics of the latter number told of the vicissitudes of characters in the comic strips that appeared in the Saturday newspapers.

`Los Muñequitos' was such a hit that the public of Havana and Matanzas stopped calling the group Guaguancó Matancero. From then on they were known as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, the name by which they are now known throughout the world."

The Muñequitos' first sides (under the name Guaguancó Matancero as explained above) were collected on an Antilla release together with sides by Papín y sus Rumberos, better known as Los Papines. This album is one of the all-time classics of rumba.

Though its members are all bona fide rumberos, Los Muñequitos have always been a stage, rather than a street, group. The group introduced a son style of harmony singing into rumba, drawing on Saldiguera's and Virulilla's experience in son septets. The group has always been known for the quality of its percussion, with Esteban "Chachá" Vega's quinto on their first recordings having revolutionized rumba percussion with its touches of Yoruba, Abakua, Arará and palo, together with a contemporary virtuosity.

In the 60s the group fell idle, but was restarted again at the end of the decade. The entry of present artistic director Diosdado Ramos, who is a dancer, brought the exhibition of dance into the group's purview--an addition that serves not only to excite audiences, but also to fuel the fire of the percussion, which is intimately connected to the activity of the dancers. The group has continued performing both their traditional repertoire and new compositions, especially by the group's quintero and music director, Jesús Alfonso. Alfonso's "Congo Yambumba," first recorded in 1983, was subsequently covered by Eddie Palmieri in 1987 and by Grupo Vocal Sampling in 1992, and is now a rumba standard. At the end of the 80s they added to their repertoire music and dances of the Afro-Cuban religions. They traveled outside Cuba for the first time in 1989 when they played in London, and subsequently toured the United States, beginning in 1992 and returning repeatedly.