Pianists
The pianists who shaped Cuban harmony and rhythm — from the contradanza composers of the 19th century to the masters of the modern timba tumbao.
The piano occupies a unique position in Cuban music: it bridges European harmonic tradition and African rhythmic structure, playing montunos that interlock with the clave while outlining the chord changes. These are the pianists who defined what that instrument means in Cuban music.
The contradanza is the first music that truly sounded Cuban: a European dance form into which 19th-century Cuban composers worked the habanera rhythm and the cinquillo. Contradanza is the name of both the music and the dance.
Lees meer >Timba is the music this site is dedicated to exploring. It emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s and crystallized in the early 1990s — born in a moment of social crisis, built on the full accumulated history of Cuban music, and still evolving today.
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The claves are two round sticks of hardwood. Struck together, they give a high, sharp click that cuts through the whole band. On the claves you play the clave rhythm, the pattern that Cuban music is built on.
Lees meer >The piano is the harmonic and rhythmic heart of Cuban popular music. In timba, it is one of the most demanding and expressive instruments in the ensemble.
Lees meer >A tumbao is a rhythmic and melodic pattern that is repeated over and over, usually in a cycle of two, four or eight bars. Piano, bass, tres, guitar and percussion each have their own tumbao; together they make up the groove a song rests on.
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Adalberto Álvarez
— Pianist, composer, bandleader (1948–2021)
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Alfredo Rodríguez
— Pianist (1936–2022)
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Antonio María Romeu
— Pianist, bandleader (1876–1955)
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Bebo Valdés
— Pianist, arranger, bandleader, composer (1918–2013)
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Chucho Valdés
— Pianist, composer, bandleader (1941)
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César "Pupy" Pedroso
— Pianist, composer, bandleader (1946)
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Dámaso Pérez Prado
— Pianist, arranger, bandleader (1916–1989)
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Roberto Fonseca
— Pianist (1975)
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Rubén González
— Pianist (1919–2003)
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Sergio González
— Pianist