Group and transmission
Since 1965, Los Sabandeños have made the Canarian repertory the starting point for work open to Latin America and bolero, with more than 95 recordings and exceptional international reach.
Los Sabandeños began in 1965, when a circle of friends from the University of La Laguna formed a permanent ensemble. Under co-founder Elfidio Alonso, they built an uninterrupted career that the group records in more than 95 releases: a sound archive combining traditional repertory, original songs and adapted versions.
Their importance lies both in preserving and expanding the repertory. They carried Canarian music across Europe and the Americas, surpassed two million records sold and received, among other honours, the Canary Islands Gold Medal in 1995 and the Canary Islands Popular Culture Award in 1997. This reach helped place island traditional music within a pan-Hispanic cultural space.
Their sound begins with isas, folías, malagueñas and other Canarian genres, then opens to the broad Latin American songbook and later to bolero. Works such as Misa Sabandeña, Antología del Folklore Canario, La Cantata del Mencey Loco and Te canto un bolero reveal this range, from documentary choral work to staged creation and collaboration with Hispanic-American performers.
Transmission extends beyond recordings. In 1977 they helped found the Canary Islands Popular Culture Centre; their Popular Music Classroom trains new performers, and the Los Sabandeños Festival has brought leading Hispanic songwriters and singers to La Laguna for decades. Several generations performing together within the ensemble sustain that learning.
Friends from the University of La Laguna formalise the ensemble.
They help found it with other artists and cultural organisers.
They receive the Canary Islands Gold Medal and Popular Culture Award.
SGAE recognises sales exceeding two million copies.
The album with María Dolores Pradera receives a Latin Grammy nomination.
