Cuba

Various Artists
Label: Putumayo World Music
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Audio CD
Release date:25th May 1999

Studio ^{Audio CD}	$8.46

Studio ^{Audio CD}

Track Listing

1. Compositor Confundido - Ibrahim Ferrer
2. Al Vaiven de Mi Carreta - Cuarteto Patria, Eliades Ochoa
3. Adios de Este Momento - Septeto Nacional de Ignacio PiÃ±eiro
4. Campina - Afro-Cuban Jazz Project
5. Sabroso Como el Guarapo - Orquesta Sublime
6. Mecanica de Amor - Mi Son
7. Mami Me Gusto - Todos Estrellas
8. Boliviana - Irakere
9. Reloj de Pastora - Sierre Maestra
10. Patria Querida - Los Guaracheros de Oriente

Product Description

The music of Cuba developed from a unique set of historical and social circumstances. African slaves, brought to work on the Spanish sugar plantations, soon outnumbered the European colonists. The attitude of the Spanish political and religious institutions towards African culture, while undeniably oppressive, was more open than in some other colonial societies. Catholic priests did their best to convert the Africans to Christianity, but they overlooked their worship of African deities as long as they gave them Christian names. In fact, santeria, a religion that combines Catholicism with African deities and rituals, is still a key part of Cuban spiritual life. Most of the songs on this collection are a style called son, (lit. "sound") one of the most popular and influential Cuban musical forms. Son developed around the turn of the century in Oriente, a region in eastern Cuba. Migrating musicians brought son west to Havana in the 1920s, where it exploded in popularity. The fundamental element of the son is a rhythmic pattern called clave (lit. "key"). Played on two wooden sticks, called claves, this repetitive beat is the foundation upon which all of the other musical elements are structured. It gives son the propulsive swing that has endeared it to people around the world. Most contemporary salsa is based on son.

Amazon.com

At once spicy hot and languorously sweet, Putumayo Presents Cuba is a passionate marriage of active and passive, masculine and feminine, a contemporary festival of sound whose roots were born in defiance of onerous distraction and oppression. Based on Afro-Cuban culture, whose music comes from a combination of European and African instrumentation, the songs in this collection swing with the energetic rhythms of traditional son (also the base of salsa). Layered over the repetitive beat, guitars chime, maracas add shimmy, and trumpets take the upper accent melody, often repeating or contrasting the main vocal melody. One of the finest contributions to the disc is Mi Son's "Mecanica de Amor," in which the band substitutes the violin for the lead trumpet, making a treat of the unexpected. Irakere's funky fusion "Boliviera" comes on gangbusters with beefy bass, full horn section, and featured flute melody. Containing superb liner notes, Putumayo Presents Cuba makes a fine introduction to this island's rich sound, and a superb remedy to the blues. --Paige La Grone

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