Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo

Rating:
Summary: A History of Cuba for the Cuban Music buff
Review: If all Ned Sublette had ever done in his life was release the catalogue of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas in the US, he would have made a great contribution. Now this. "Bendiciones, Ned!"

He says right from the beginning (and several times throughout) that he has not set out to write an encyclopedia of Cuban Music, so don't blame him for not mentioning everybody you can think of.

And that turns out to be a good thing, because it avoids the kind of laundry list, dash off a few names in a sentence and quickly move on to the next thing, superficial treatment Cuban music normally gets.

The book is called "Cuba and its Music" and it is just that. Rather than a complete history of Cuban music, it's really more like a history of Cuba for the Cuban music buff: A general history of Cuba from the perspective of someone who considers its greatest export to be music. A history which for example talks about the Platt Amendment but goes into more detail about the creation of mambo and the life of Miguelito Valdes than about average crop yields from 1765-1873.

As a Cuban music fan who is interested in the history of Cuba but was never quite able to wade through Hugh Thomas' book, this is great reading. (Though, damn, how could he leave out Carlos Embales???!!!) ; )

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book About Cuban History and Culture
Review: Ned Sublette, a scholar of music and the history of music has written a new book about Cuban history and culture. Cuban music originated with the slaves during colonial times. It is Sublette's contention that in order to understand Cuba, you must understand colonialism and its impact on Cuba.

In Sublette's book, the chapter on the Spanish-American War that freed Cuba from Spanish colonialism is only 10 pages long. Sublette shows how Cuban music has influenced American music. He also shows how slave music influenced Spanish music during the colonial period. Sublette also discusses the making of Yoruba drums and their influence on Cuban music.

As the above indicates, Sublette's book looks at a wide variety of topics concerning Cuban culture and history. It makes for a most interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Amazing
Review: This is probably the best book ever written in English on Cuban music -- and one of the most well-written and accessible, too.

Any history of Cuba that begins with the founding of Cadiz by the Phoenicians is one helluva ride!