My New Found Music Love - Afro-Cuban!

I have just come back from Cuba and my 10 days of adventure on the Caribbean Island was phenomenal! There was so much culture (although I wished we spoke Espanol to immerse more fully), beautiful white sand, crystal clear waters, hot and humid temperatures everyday (I LOVE heat but it was definitely too hot though - I would suggest not going in July/August), and MUSIC!

There was music everywhere we went. Local bands just busking out made anybody on the street want to start dancing! This segment of my music blog will detail a very short and sweet history of Cuban music and some of the sights that I heard and saw during my exploration!

For such a small island the degree of influence it has had on Latin music is huge. The genres that emerged from Cuba from salsa to conga since Christopher Columbus discovered the island in 1492 have shaped Latin music that we know today. Over 300 years there were millions of African slaves brought onto the island by Spanish settlers to work the gold mines, sugar and tobacco plantations. With this variety of origin one could only imagine the unique blend of music, melodies, dance, lyricism and instruments that originated Cuba's music and dance culture commonly referred to as Afro-Cuban.

Contradanza emerged from the urban centres based on the French salon style contradanse. Rumba and conga styles came from a mixture of influences from African religious rituals, Christian religious carnivals and Caribbean carnival music. The music of the countryside known as musica campensina saw the rise of guajira which was characterized by lyrical, sweet musical lines that were about the virtues of the Cuban land and beauty, while trova emerged from the eastern side of the island and were about satirical news and gossip. From trova evolved Cuban bolero, which was the epitome of the romantic love song. Last but not least is the Son Cubano which is the heart of Cuban music and basis for Salsa. As immigration moved north to the United States, more fusion of urban music created salsa, cha cha cha and mambo! Cool eh?!

I fell in love with the street music that I heard on the streets of Havana and Trinidad. Every restaurant we went to there was always live music, every street we walked there was live music (including my own attempt at busking!) And by the end of the trip I came home with 2 new musical instruments to add to my piano and keyboard! :)

Cuban Clave

Maracas!

As an artist and musician, music is a form of creativity and always an opportunity for learning and self expression. As a result of this trip, I will no doubt be incorporating these musical instruments and slipping in a Latin flavour! Caliente!