Historia General del Pueblo Dominicano Tomo VI

Historia general del pueblo dominicano 741 the dictator’s most ardent critics would contradict arranger Luis Pérez’s opinion that the Trujilloist merengue « San Cristóbal» was « popular, maybe because of the way that it used the saxophones». 92 While dance band merengue spread throughout the country, regional musics remained popular in rural areas. The majority of Dominicans continued to live in the countryside; the 1935 population is estimated at 1.5 million, 82 % of which was rural. 93 Rural arts adhered to the regionally-based aesthetics and addressed the needs of this large constituency. Merengue became more popular than ever in the Cibao. Merengue típico cibaeño’s status as a national symbol gave it primacy over other regional musics; several Cibao accordionists moved to the capital and became well-known figures whose music was disseminated nationally and internationally through the mass media. The best-knownmerengue cibaeño group of the Trujillo era was El Trío Reynoso, which featured Pedro Reynoso on accordion, who, in evocation of idealized rural culture, always performed barefoot. 94 The group’s omission of the saxophone was also likely intended to project a rustic image (high-profile groups in Santiago had long used this instrument). 95 El Trío Reynoso added a bass instrument, the marimba , to the traditional instrumentation of accordion, tambora, and güira. 96 This innovation was employed by other merengue cibaeño groups, the most important of which were led by accordionists Luis Kalaff, Dionisio « Guandulito» Mejía, and Tatico Henríquez. Accordion-based merengue came to be called perico ripiao in the 1930s. A man who remembers the period explains that this appellation came from a brothel in Santiago: Perico ripiao came into being around 1935 or ‘36, when merengue, merengue típico, entered the society. In a patio in front of the meat house here (in Santiago), on Independence Street, a « salon» called « El Perico Ripiao» ( « The Ripped Parrot») was opened,... [and] all the wo- men who went there were « free women» [that is, prostitutes]. You see, it has a double meaning; perico ripiao refers to [the male genitals]. It became very famous; people came from the capital, and people came from other towns... They thought that the group that played there was called perico ripiao, but actually, perico ripiao was the salon itself. That’s how the ensemble came to be called perico ripiao. 97 Although the term perico ripiao may indeed derive from the name of the Santiago brothel, the music is not associated with this etymology by most Dominicans.