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 clave, their coro, and their dancers. These groups are the keepers of Afro-Cuban tradition at its most direct.