A passer-by does an impromptu dance to the music of a street band in Havana, Cuba.
This island in the Caribbean has produced some of the finest musicians and some of the most distinctive rhythms and sounds in modern music. Cuban music has been recognised and played across the globe, beginning with the rumba of the early 1900s through the mambo and the cha-cha-cha, to salsa, the New York craze of the 1970s and 1980s.
The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century, and the subsequent slave trade, resulted in an intense blending of the Spanish and African cultures in Cuba. This mixture brought together unique styles and rhythms that formed the basis of Cuban music.
From Spain came the traditional ballads, puntos, and zapateos; the ten-line verse; and classical European vocal styles, harmonies, and stringed instruments like the guitar and the tres (a three-stringed guitar). The African influences came mainly from the Yoruba, Congo, Carabali, and Arara regions, adding drums, call-and-response vocals, melodic lines, and the openended song pattern. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Haitians also flocked to the island.
One of the most traditional musical styles to come out of Africa was the rumba—not to be confused with the popular 1930s U.S. dance music of the same name. The rumba is characterised by drumming, dancing, and call-and-response singing. More a dance than a musical style, the rumba is a lively and erotic choreographed dance that includes three special types: rumba yambu, guaguanco, and Columbia. Some of the most popular modern rumba bands in Cuba include Los Munequitos de Matanzas and Yoruba Andabo.
The contradanza was an instrumental style brought to Cuba by Haitians. A French country dance, it was later replaced by the habanera, which was succeeded by the danzon, a dance music popular in all Cuban social circles in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The danzon instrumentation typically includes what is known as the charanga ensemble, featuring strings (violins and/or cellos), a wooden flute, and a rhythm section (piano, contrabass, timbales, and a guiro, or gourd). While the danzon remained popular for 60 years, it was eventually surpassed by the cha-cha-cha, originated by violinist Enrique Jorrin.
Taking its name from the scraping sound of dancers’ feet, the cha-cha-cha is also accompanied by the charanga ensemble, which normally involves two violins, a piano, a flute, a double bass, a drum-bell, and the guiro. One of the most popular Cuban cha-cha-cha bands was Orquesta Aragon, led by flute master Richard Eguees. The group had numerous hits including “El Bodeguero” and “Guajira Para Ti.”
A passer-by does an impromptu dance to the music of a street band in Havana, Cuba.
The mambo developed in the 1940s and 1950s. This was an up-tempo rhythm featuring instrumental improvisation. Instead of the charanga instrumentation, the mambo is associated with the conjunto, which includes piano, bass, bongos, conga, the small guitar called the tres, guitar, four trumpets (and sometimes saxophone and trombone), and three singers. The mambo became popular with many New York bands, who blended North American instrumentation and harmony with traditional Cuban sounds. Musicians who helped to spread the mambo included Perez PRADO, Beny MORÉ, and Arsenio Rodriguez.
One of the most important Cuban sounds is the son, a popular folk dance music first found in Cuba’s eastern-most cities. Characterised by a rhythm played with claves (sticks of polished hardwood), the son is led by a male vocal, and involves improvisation and chanting. There are several son hybrids, including the afro-son, guajira-son, son-pregon, and the son-montuno. One of the most popular son groups in the 1920s was Sexteto Habanero of Havana. The Sexteto Nacional, formed in 1927, also became immensely popular, and in the 1940s and 1950s Cuban bandleaders Arsenio Rodriguez and Beny Moré were producing many hit records featuring son.
Arsenio Rodriguez adapted the traditional son style to include more trumpets and a more African rumba feel in the percussion. His music was popular not only in Cuba but also in New York, and it became the precursor of salsa music. Beny Moré, who was called the “Barbarian of Rhythm,” recorded numerous hits including “Yiri Yiri Bon” and “Corazon Rebelde.” Other popular son musicians include Celia CRUZ, the Sonora Matancera, and Celina GONZALÈZ.
During the 1970s and 1980s, an innovative music style mixing the rhythms of jazz, rock, and son was created in Havana. The intellectual new sounds were formed by some of Cuba’s well educated musicians. One of the most influential groups was IRAKERE, led by piano virtuoso Chucho Valdés. Also popular was the group Los VAN VAN, best known for hits such as “Sandunguera” and “La Titimania.” Irakere and Los Van Van continue to enjoy international success.
Los Van Van was formed by Juan Formell, who is credited with creating the “songo,” a series of percussion patterns that blend Cuban styles with jazz, funk, and rock elements. Even with new music styles developing in Cuba today, the traditional son dance groups like Orquesta Reve maintain their popularity. In 1996, a new talent, British-based trumpeter Jesus Alemañy, featured several son numbers on his acclaimed first album, ¿Cubanissimo!
The 1970s saw the rise of the nueva trova music, the island’s own version of the Latin American “new song” protest movement. Characterised by poetic lyrics, often with a political flavour, combined with rock sounds, nueva trova music resembles American soft rock. Two internationally popular artists of that era are Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez, who set the standards with anti-imperialist songs such as “Cancion Urgente Para Nicaragua.” The new song movement continues to advance with musicians like Santiago Feliu, Frank Delgado, and Carlos Verela leading the way.
Alison Bay
SEE ALSO:
AFRICA; CARIBBEAN; LATIN AMERICA; SALSA.
FURTHER READING
Ayala, Cristobal Diaz. The Roots of Salsa: The History of Cuban Music
(New York: Excelsior Music Publishing, 1995);
Boggs, Vernon W. Salsiology: Afro-Cuban Music and the Evolution of Salsa in New York
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Irakere: Grandes Momentos de Irakere; Enrique Jorrin:
Enrique forrin Y Su Orquesta Danzon Cha-Cha-Cha;
Beny Moré: Celia Cruzy Beny Moré: Los Originates;
Los Munequitos de Matanza: Guanguanco, Columbia,
Yambu; Orquesta Reve: Epoca De Oro;
Perez Prado: Al Compas Del Mambo;
Tito Puente: Cubarama: Let’s Cha Cha;
Arsenio Rodriguez y Su Conjunto: Arsenio Rodriguez;
Silvio Rodriguez: Canciones Urgentes—Los Grandes Exitos;
Tito Rodriguez: 25th Anniversary Performance.