| Series |
SOAS musicology series
SOAS musicology series. ^A581180
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| Contents |
Introduction. The cracking sound of the periodo especial ; Facing Cuban and Latin music: the role of timba ; Timba in the black diaspora -- Part I: Setting the scene. Musica bailable under the Revolution, 1959-1986. Popular music in Havana at the advent of the revolution ; Socialism without pachanga: the forging of a new identity ; Structural changes in music-making and education ; The years of the 'self-blockade', 1968-1973 ; The 1970s crisis of dance music: cultural nationalism, music and the media ; Precursors to timba: Cuban jazz, songo and the modernization of Cuban dance music ; The impact of salsa and the resurgence of musica bailable ; Conclusions -- Music in Havana at the dawn of the periodo especial: the emergence of timba. Cuba in the 1990s: the advent of the periodo especial ; The emergence of timba and the role of NG La Banda ; The mark of timba ; The decline of the collective and the rise of dance popstars ; La Charanga Habanera and the spectacularization of timba ; Conclusions -- Facing the market: Cuban musicians and audiences into the 1990s. Professional musicians before the 1990s ; Changes in music regulation during the periodo especial ; The role of foreign record companies ; Facing the market: musicians ; Facing the market: audiences ; The impact of the US embargo ; Popular music and censorship ; Conclusions -- Part II: Matters of style. Timba as a genre and a musical style. Naming the style: son, salsa and timba ; Hypotheses on the origins of the term ; Timba, rumba and modern dance music ; A new musical style ; Instrumentation and sound ; Identifying structure ; Organization of the rhythm section ; The role of improvisation ; The black roots of timba ; 'El temba': analytical overview -- Voices, words, bodies: content, meaning and timba subculture. Situating the voice: coros and vocal style ; Lyrics: content and language in timba songs ; Representing the body: timba as a subculture ; The emergence of despelote ; Dress and visual style ; Conclusions -- Part III: Dangerous connections. 'Oh God, protect me!': race, religion and the revolution. Afro-Cubans and their culture before 1959 ; After the revolution ; Black culture between marginality and folklorization ; Rumba in the symbolic geography of Havana ; Dance music and santeria ; Religion in Cuba after 1959 ; The orichas and the revolution ; Marketing black culture ; Conclusions -- 'You are a witch with no feelings': sex tourism, gender and the representation of women in timba songs. The return of sex tourism in Cuba ; The scandal of 'La bruja' ; 'Dale cintura, mulata!': queens of Havana nights ; A vulgar music? The image of woman in Cuban popular songs ; Women and gender roles under the revolution ; Jineterismo between escape and survival ; Conclusions -- 'Find yourself a sugar-daddy who pays your upkeep': the challenge of musica bailable. Youth in Havana: dire life and consumer dreams ; 'El temba': confronting the official discourse ; The rise and fall of La Charanga Habanera ; A changing climate ; End of the party? ; Conclusions -- Marketing nostalgia: the rise of Buena Vista Social Club. The 'rediscovery' of Cuban music ; The invention of Buena Vista Social Club ; An alien in Havana: the rocker as a revivalist ; The impact of Buena Vista in Cuba ; Contortions of musical nationalism ; Son vs. timba and Buena Vista vs. team Cuba ; Cuban music as world music ; Conclusions -- Beyond palms, rum and 'Che': black music into the new millennium. Timberos backed into a corner ; The revivalist wave ; Rap, a lo cubano ; The return of Latin jazz ; The orphans of rock ; Towards a Havana renaissance? ; Diasporic identities: timba and the black Atlantic. |
| Abstract |
This book investigates the role of black popular music in post-Revolutionary Cuba, and in the 1990s in particular. The emergence of timba is analysed as a distinctively new style of Afro-Cuban dance music. The controversial role of Afro-Cuban working class culture is highlighted, showing how this has resisted cooptation into a unified, pacified vision of national culture, and built musical bridges with the transnational black diaspora. Musically, timba represents an innovative fusion of previous popular and folkloric Afro-Cuban styles with elements of hip-hop and other African-American styles like jazz, funk and salsa. The author articulates a black urban youth subculture with distinctive visual and choreographic codes. With its abrasive commentaries on issues such as race, consumer culture, tourism, prostitution and its connections to the underworld, timba demonstrates at the 'street level' many of the contradictions of contemporary Cuban society. After repeatedly colliding with official discourses, timba has eventually met with institutional repression. This book will appeal not only to ethnomusicologists and those working on popular music studies, but also to those working in the areas of cultural and Black studies, anthropology, Latin American studies, Cuban studies and Caribbean studies. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references, (pages 287-317), discography (pages 318-323), filmography (pages 324-325), and index. |
| LCCN | 2004004246 |
| ISBN | 075463941X (alk. paper) |
