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With Spanish, French, African, Asian and Creole influences, modern Cuba is characterized by a fascinating diversity of cultural influences. This is evident in dance, literature, film, fine art, theatre and food, with music being common denominator.
When in Cuba you will notice that music is an intrinsic part of daily life anywhere you go, in the capital La Habana, but also in the tiniest rural town, with everything from Afro-Cuban rhythms to classic melodies permeating the atmosphere of clubs, bars, restaurants and street corners.
Cuba is the birthplace of rhythms such as the son, the danzón, the bolero, the mambo and the cha cha cha. All of these rhythms are built up from the so-called clave; the five-stroke rhythm pattern that represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms. The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharna African music traditions.
In Cuba these African rhythms, instruments and dance forms have fused with the elements of European music imported by the colonizers. As a result of this Cuban music is neither European nor African but a unique blend.
Most traditional and most popular - although looked down upon by the high society at first, considering it the music of the lower, black classes – is the son (literally, "sound"). Son originates from Spanish old songs in combination with African call-and-response- choruses. Arisen in the early 1900s in the eastern, poorer half of Cuba known as El Oriente, it gained popularity and in the 1920s it was embraced by all societies in the whole of Cuba.
Son is the root of timba and salsa. Adding conga drums, timbales, piano, more trumpets and a wild call-and-response final to the song, the early days salsa was born. It was in the sixties when it was given its name, when it was already played mixed with jazz elements, especially Afro-Cuban jazz. Exported by Cuban emigrants, this popular dance music was internationalized outside Cuba, initially in New York and eventually throughout the Americas and Europe.
In the 1980s timba arose. As salsa it draws heavily from jazz, but besides being influences by rock, disco, funk and hip hop, timba is based on a strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. In addition to timbales, timba drummers make use of the North American drum-set and synthesised keyboards. Timba tends to sound more innovative, experimental, with unconventional bass and percussion patterns, nore quickly and frequently more virtuosic than salsa pieces.
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