When I was a youngster in the 1940s, the word BOLERO meant only one thing to me: the drum-driven theme composed in 1928 by Maurice Ravel, and which is still a favorite at classical music concerts today.

It wasn't until I signed up for lessons at an Arthur Murray dance studio in 1950 that I learned a distinctive type of dance music was also called a "bolero." It is a romantic variation of the "rumba" and appears to have originated somewhere in the Caribbean during the 19th century, and became particularly popular in Cuba and Puerto Rico in the early 20th century.

It eventually became popular in the United States when played by orchestras lead by Xavier Cugat and Henry King, among others. In the 1940s and 1950s many of the Caribbean-born boleros became big hits for American band leaders who played them with "swing" or "fox trot" rhythms. Many became popular "ballads" when sung with English lyrics.

Among my favorites are Artie Shaw's Perfidia and Helen O'Connell's Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes), along with ballads such as Yours (Quiéreme Mucho), What A Difference A Day Made (Cuando Vuelva a tu Lado), Let Me Love You Tonight (No Te Importa Saber), Magic Is the Moonlight (Muñequita Linda), You Belong To My Heart (Sólamente Una Vez), and Ernesto Lecuona's You Are Always In My Heart.

Hearing them in English, I had assumed these were "American" songs and didn't learn till some time later they had all originated south of the border. Well, the guaracha, the mambo, the chachachá, and the "salsa" are also variations of the rumba, and have had surges and declines in popularity over the years - but the bolero never goes out of style with lovers who love to dance.

The bolero was also adopted by Mexican, Spanish, and other "Latin" singers, including Amalia Mendoza (Mucho Corazón), Juan Mendoza (Morenita Mía), Javier Solís (Llorarás), Eydie Gorme (La Media Vuelta), Juan Gabriel (Amor Eterno), Rocio Durcal (Me Dijiste Adiós), Lucho Gatica (Regálame Esta Noche), Luís Miguel (Usted), Roberto Carlos (Adiós), and the Trío Los Panchos, who played and sang dozens of beautiful boleros. (This is just a tiny fraction of the boleros and their interpreters that come to mind.)

Probably the most prolific composer of boleros was Puerto Rico's Rafael Hernández, who gave us Silencio, Perfume de Gardenias, Campanitas de Cristal, and so many other beautiful love songs.

One of my fondest memories of dancing to a romantic bolero concerns a young lady named Margarita whom I met in Havana in 1951.

Mi Querida Margarita