One of the defining bass voices of 1990s timba — Joel Domínguez worked with Paulito FG, Issac Delgado and Manolín, developing bass tumbaos that became foundational to the timba sound.
Joel Domínguez emerged as an important bassist in the timba scene of the 1990s, working with Paulito FG (1997–1998), Issac Delgado (from 1999) and later with Manolín, El Médico de la Salsa, for whom he also arranged. He wrote the arrangement of Issac Delgado's La fórmula. His bass playing helped define the rhythmic character of those groups — the specific tumbao patterns, the interaction with the piano and percussion, the way the bass locks into the clave while also propelling the forward momentum of the groove.
In timba, the bassist has a more active and complex role than in earlier Cuban popular music — the tumbaos are longer, the patterns more varied, and the relationship between bass and rhythm section more improvisational. Domínguez was among the first generation of bassists to fully realize this expanded role.