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Cuban music dates back from the history of Cuba
itself that is the landing of Christopher Columbus
on the island by the year 1492. The Taino and the
Siboney, the autochthones of Cuba, had their own
music the areitos and musical instrument the
mayohoacan a big drum used on the occasion of
religious ceremonies. The guiro and the maracas were
adopted by the African slaves who had the same
instrument in Africa their native continent.
The Cuban music came to life with the meeting of the
two continents the Europe and Africa. The slaves on
the ship imported their music from the black
continent and the white population coming mainly
from Spain brought theirs. The various types and
styles of Cuban music can be explained by the
different regions from which originated the Cuban
population. The African slaves came Congo, Bantu,
Madingas, Lucumi, Carabalis and Arara. The Spanish
came from Castile in the first influx then from the
province of Galicia, Catalonia and the Canary
Islands. All of these groups had their own music,
tradition, beliefs and language.
The history of music innovations began with the
meeting of the Afro-Cuban first. The interplay
between the different African ethnic groups/tribes
brought large number of percussion instruments: the
clave, the congas and batá drum. With the Cabildos
musicians though still enslaved of the various
ethnic groups were allowed to participate only in
the street carnivals. This enabled them to preserve
the African cultural tradition though they were
forced to assimilate with the Catholic Church.
The meeting with the sugar cane and tobacco
plantation owners’ music created a second phase in
the development of the Cuban music. The Chinese
immigrant also brought their contribution to the
Cuban music the ‘cornetin chino’ or the Chinese
cornet a Chinese wind instrument. Music plays a
significant part in the life of Cubans. All types of
music are popular the classical the campesina musica
and the rhumba. Deeply rooted in the Cabildos, the
Cuban music, the son, the rumba (or the Americanised
term rhumba), Mambo, Chachacha, Bolero, Mozambique,
Pilon, Dengue a caballo and Mosanch, is danced sang
and played simultaneously. Son is Afro Cuban music
with poetic Spanish lyric accompanied with the
guitar; Mambo, known and danced in the whole world,
also uses the African rhythm; the Chachacha is same
as Mambo but with a much slower rhythm; there are
three types of rhumbas: the guaguanco which is more
recent and known; the Yamba commonly name the oldies
dance because it is slow and the Columbia.
Mozambique started made its apparition in 1963, it
does not originate from the country of the same name
but is a Cuban music and dance genre using African
instruments the drum, the Cuban conga drum and
saxophone.
Many great musical minds and music composers namely
Ernesto Lecuona, Joaquin Nin and Ignacio Cervantes
have brought Cuban music on the international scene.
There has also a ‘classical’ Cuban music. This
music, of high standards though having some with
strong European influences, was much inspired by the
Afro Cuban and Spanish music which prevailed in
Cuba.
The Cuban music contributed to the development of
salsa, jazz, Argentinean tango, the West Africa afro
beat and Spanish Nuevo flamenco.
The Cuban music was influenced in the 20th century
by French, American and Jamaican.
With the 1959 revolution, the evolution of the Cuban
music was halted. Many musicians Olga Guito, Xioman
Alfaro, Rolando Contreras and Nico Membiela among
others left the island when Castro seized power.
They fled the repression of the Castrist regime.
Those who stayed were Benny Moré because of his fear
of planes and his white counterpart Roberto Faz. But
the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1960 brought
another era with the breakdown of the diplomatic
relationships between the US and Cuba. Less US visa
to Cuban nationals were delivered.
A year after the revolution, in 1960, all radios
televisions were nationalised and started the period
of acute censorship in Cuba. The blacklisted
musicians were denied on air and the music industry
went in the hands of the governmental forces. The
creativity of Cuban nationals suffered much after
having been so healthy. The musicians were condemned
to sing in Cafés, serenades in birthdays and those
working in the radio or television perceived a
salary. However, the guitarist Leo Brouwer innovated
in classical guitar meaning that even within the
Castrist era, the creativity of Cuban is still of
actuality. |
