Humboldt State University Office of Extended Education presents the annual Explorations in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum workshop to celebrate the folkloric music, songs, and dances of the Afro-Cuban people. Internationally-recognized Afro-Cuban percussion and dance instructors will join local faculty to teach students of all skill levels.
Cuban Music 101: The official site of Cuban style Latin Jazz group Mamborama.
Cuban music is a myriad of styles and genres, with a long history. While influences from Africa and Spain were predominant, Cuban music has also been shaped by the music of Europe, Latin-America and American pop music and jazz ...
The Bongoceros: The history of bongo drumming can be traced to the Cuban music styles known as Chang? and Son. These styles first developed in eastern Cuba (Oriente province) in the late 1800's around the time that slavery was abolished. Initially, the bongo had heads which were tacked and tuned with a heat source. By the 1940's metal tuning lugs were developed to facilitate easier tuning. Some of the first recordings of the bongo can be heard performed by the groups Sexteto Habanero, Sexteto Bolond Septeto Nacional. These and other early recordings have been reissued on several record labels including Tumbao and Corason ...
A brief history of bongo drumming linked to the early Cuban music styles of Changüi and Son.
AfroCubaWeb:
Our News page has Cuba News, Cuban Cultural News, and Cuba: Race & Identity in the News -- updated with articles from Cuban and foreign media. We also track news from Venezuela, Colombia, and Haiti.
Profiles and schedules of artists worldwide, record labels and agencies, radio stations, and links.
Clava Concepts, Afro Cuban Rhythms:
In order to understand Afro Cuban rhythms one must pursue an extensive study of the clave role and its relationship with the instruments, compositions and arrangements. For it is the clave rhythm that provides the foundation in this style of music.
There are two major clave styles in Afro Cuban music; the son clave and the rumba clave. They are both two bar rhythms, consisting of a bar containing three notes and another containing two. These rhythms can be approached two ways. In the 3-2 often refer to as the "forward clave" and in the 2-3 refer to as "reverse clave". The choice of the direction of the clave rhythm is guided by the melody, which in turn directs all other instruments and arrangements ...
The topic of the new styles of Cuban music, most notably that of Timba, has never been written about from a sociological point of view. Likewise, the effects of an industrialized nation’s music industry on the music and society of a Socialist regime have not been extensively, if ever, studied and written about. This paper hopes to be able to shed some light on Timba and on the possible outcomes of the music industry’s effects on Cuban music and society. Many questions remain unanswered and are food for thought and for more research ...
This paper by drummer Chuck Silverman, sheds some light on Timba, and on the possible outcomes of the music industry's effects on Cuban music and society.