Ned Sublette | 2004 | Chicago Review Press | English
The most comprehensive English-language history of Cuban music ever written — from the earliest Indigenous and African music in Cuba through the mambo era. Required reading for anyone who wants to understand where timba comes from.
Ned Sublette spent decades researching this book, and it shows. Starting from Cuba's colonial origins and the arrival of African slaves, he traces every major development in Cuban music through meticulous historical research and vivid storytelling:
Everything in Cuban dance makes more sense with historical context. When you know that the habanera rhythm was African influence seeping into European salon music, that the son septeto's trumpet was the "seventh voice" that transformed the ensemble, that the Palladium Ballroom was where Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians played for desegregated audiences for the first time — the music and the dance become richer.
This is the book that connects the dots between all the genres you encounter as a Cuban dancer. After reading it, you understand the thread from Changüí to timba not as isolated facts but as a living story.
The book covers up to the mambo era. It does not cover songo or timba directly (a second volume was planned but not published). For the timba era specifically, Kevin Moore's Beyond Salsa and his website timba.com fill that gap.
Ned Sublette is an American musician, producer, and writer who has worked extensively with Cuban artists. His deep personal connection to the music gives the book warmth and authority beyond pure scholarship.