Group.

Formed in 1962, Los Zafiros were a vocal quartet augmented by the guitarist and arranger Manuel Galban. Originally inspired by American vocal groups such as the Platters and the Coasters, they soon added their own Cuban flavour to create a unique and heady mix of doo-wop, ballads and boleros, soul and samba, tumbaos and twists. They were unique among vocal groups in that they had three lead singers amongst Ignacio Elejalde and his sweet, high tenor, Eduardo Elio Hernandez, Miguel Cancio and Leoncio 'Kike' Morua. But in many ways it was Galban who was the architect of the Los Zafiros sound, as instrumentalist, composer and, with Kike, arranger of the vocal parts. "I don't know why they chose me," he says. "To play the guitar with a vocal quartet was a novelty and therefore rather difficult. But pianos were starting to disappear from a lot of venues so a guitar was a good alternative. They also needed a musical director. They were a success from the moment they appeared and my job was to support them and perfect and develope the sound."