Ensembles Artists

Orchestras, conjuntos, charangas, and ensembles whose music shaped Cuban dance — from the classic son sextetos of the 1920s to the timba bands of the 1990s.

These are the groups that defined the sounds dancers move to — the bands behind the recordings, the live performances, and the musical revolutions that produced every style on this site.

• Rumba Ensembles
  The percussion-and-voice groups that preserve Cuba's deepest African-rooted music — Yambú, Guaguancó, and Columbia performed without melody instruments, as the tradition demands. Rumba needs nothing but drums, claves, voices, and bodies. The ensembles that perform it are defined by their drum setup — typically caja, segundo, and quinto (or cajones in the older style) — and by the quality of their…
• Son & Charanga
  The acoustic Son ensembles of the 1920s and 30s — the groups that fixed the sound of Cuban Son and carried it from the streets of Havana to the world. The salon orchestras of Cuban dance music — flute, violins, piano, bass, timbales, and güiro — the format that produced Danzón, Mambo, and Cha-cha-chá. Sextetos & Septetos The sexteto format — tres, guitar, bass, bongó, claves, maracas, and voices —…
• Timba & Songo
  The electric bands that defined Cuban popular dance music from the 1970s onward — the groups behind Songo and Timba, the sounds most Cuban dancers are dancing to today. Songo emerged in the early 1970s with Los Van Van — a fusion of Son, Rumba, and funk that replaced the classic conjunto format with electric bass, drum kit, and synthesizers. Timba arrived in the late 1980s, harder and more complex,…