Timba
Timba is a Cuban genre of music based on Cuban son with salsa, American
Funk/R&B and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. Timba rhythm sections differ from their salsa counterparts, because timba emphasizes the bass drum, which is not used in salsa bands. Timba and salsa use the same tempo range and they both use the standard conga marcha. Almost all timba bands have a trap drummer. Timbas also often break the basic tenets of arranging the music in-clave. Timba is considered to be a highly aggressive type of music, with rhythm and "swing" taking precedence over melody and lyricism. Associated with timba is a radically sexual and provocative dance style known as despelote. It is a dynamic evolution of salsa, full of improvisation and Afro Cuban heritage, based on son, Rumba and mambo, taking inspiration from Latin jazz, and is highly percussive with complex sections. Timba is more flexible than salsa and includes a more diverse range of styles. Timba incorporates heavy percussion and rhythms which originally came from the barrios of Cuba.
Etymology
Before it became the newest Cuban music and dance craze, timba was a word with several different uses yet no particular definition, mostly heard within the Afro-Cuban genre of rumba. A timbero was a complimentary term for a musician, and timba often referred to the collection of drums in a folklore ensemble. Since the 1990s, timba has referred to Cuba's intense and slightly more aggressive music and dance form.History
As opposed to salsa, whose roots are strictly from son and the Cuban conjunto bands of the 1940s and 1950s, timba represents a synthesis of many folkloric, and popular sources. According to Vincenzo Perna, author of Timba: The Sound of the Cuban Crisis, timba needs to be spoken of because of its musical, cultural, social, and political reasons; its sheer popularity in Cuba, its novelty and originality as a musical style, the skill of its practitioners, its relationship with both local traditions and the culture of the black Diaspora, its meanings, and the way its style brings to light the tension points within society. In addition to timbales, timba drummers make use of the drum set, further distinguishing the sound from that of mainland salsa. The use of synthesised keyboard is also common. Timba songs tend to sound more innovative, experimental and frequently more virtuosic than salsa pieces; horn parts are usually fast, at times even bebop influenced, and stretch to the extreme ranges of all instruments. Bass and percussion patterns are similarly unconventional. Improvisation is commonplace.Precursors
The main precursors of timba are three bands: Los Van Van, Irakere and NG La Banda, though many other bands were influential in setting new standards.Orquesta Revé
Matos was a Cuban musician and songwriter, a noted percussionist, born 23 June 1930 in Guantánamo. In 1956, he formed Elio Revé y su Charangón aka Orquesta Revé. Revé's Charanga included Trombones and Batá drum and he became known as the Father of Changüí for his contribution to that musical genre. In the 1970s, directed by timbalero Revé, Orquesta Revé saw innovations in timbales playing.Elio Revé Sr. was an incomparable talent scout. He may also have been a difficult man to work for, if the number of musicians who have left his band is any indication! The incredible legacy of famous Revé spinoff bands began shortly after his group relocated from Guantanamo to Havana in 1956. In 1958, most of the members left to form Ritmo Oriental. In 1965, his young pianist Chucho Valdés left to pursue a jazz career, which resulted in the formation of Irakere. In 1968, bassist, Juan Formell, Pupy Pedroso and others left to form Los Van Van. In the late 70s, Armando Gola, German Velazco and Pepe Maza left to form Orquesta 440. Singer Félix Baloy left after 1982 and enjoyed a long career with Adalberto Álvarez and as a solo artist. Arranger Ignacio Herrera also left after 1982. We are not sure what happened to Herrera, but based on his stunning arrangements on the 1982 album, he certainly had the potential to create a brilliant spinoff band of his own. Another "missing-in-action" Revé alumnus who might well extended to this list was Tony García, the pianist and musical director of the early 1990s and the arranger of Revé famous "Mi salsa tiene sandunga" which became the theme song of Cuba television's most important music show, Mi Salsa.
It was Herrera's departure that led Revé to focus his talent scouting spotlight on another composer and arranger Juan Carlos Alfonso. Alfonso is also the brilliant pianist whose tumbaos will be studied in this section. After five years and four classic albums which elevated Revé to Van Van-like popularity and earned them the nickname La explosión del momento, Alfonso himself left the band in 1988 to form Dan Den... Suffice it to say that the history of Revé is like the corner of Hollywood and Vine if you study it carefully enough, you'll encounter most of the important Cuban musicians of the last 50 years in the process.—Moore
Others associated with Revé included the singer Yumurí. Elio was the father of musician brothers, Oderquis Reve and Elio jr, the latter continuing a direct link to his father's music with Elito Revé y su Charangón. Singer and writer, Emilio Frías “El Niño”, gained experience with the group before forming El Niño y La Verdad in June 2013.
Son 14
Grandes Èxitos EGREM CD 0325. This CD is an excellent compilation of the best songs of Son 14 during the years in which Adalberto Álvarez led the band
Adalberto Álvarez, born in Havana and raised in Camagüey, had already had some success writing songs for Rumbavana when Rodulfo Vaillant, one of the most recorded composers of the era, invited him come to Santiago as the musical director and pianist of a new group called Son 14. The group got off to a roaring start in 1979 with Adalberto's first massive hit, "A Bayamo en coche." Alvarez left after three classic albums but Son 14 has stayed together, recording sporadically, under the leadership of Eduardo "Tiburón" Morales, the original singer of "A Bayamo en coche."
Adalberto Álvarez was among the first to popularize the use of "gospel" chord progressions using major triads built on II, III and VI. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, more and more elements of the pop music harmonic palette became acceptable in Latin music and by the 1990s, anything that produced a hook became fair game, resulting in an explosion of brilliant songwriting while North American salsa continued to be constrained by the formulaic limitations of the genre.—Moore
Orquesta Ritmo Oriental
Ritmo Oriental, often known as "La Ritmo", was one of the most popular bands in Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s.... La Ritmo's violin tumbaos were endlessly inventive and Humberto Perera, often the arranger as well as the bassist, created bass tumbaos which were both thematic and filled the holes created by the other tumbaos. Pianist Luis Adolfo Peoalver mostly stayed within the typical style of the 1970s and 80s, locking down the groove with the violin section and Lazaga's machete-style güiro, while Perera, drummer Daniel Díaz, conguero Juan Claro Bravo and the band's extraordinary arrangers soared to unprecedented creative heights.—Moore
Original de Manzanillo
Original de Manzanillo added guitar to the standard charanga instrumentation. Less adventurous than Ritmo Oriental and the other modern charangas, it was distinguished primarily by its singer and composer, Candido Fabré, an extraordinary performer who influenced almost every subsequent singer with his uncanny ability to improvise lyrics. Original de Manzanillo's pianist and leader Wilfredo "Pachy" Naranjo is still with the group and his son, Pachy Jr., is the current pianist for Orquesta Revé and has recorded with many others, including Angel Bonne.—Moore
Los Van Van
In 1969, Formell left Revé to form his own band, Los Van Van, taking with him many of Revé's musicians, including pianist Pupy Pedroso. His first new songs bore much in common with the music he created for Revé although he began calling it songo instead of changüí.—Moore
Los Van Van developed what came to be known as the 'songo' genre, making countless innovations to traditional son, both in style and orchestration. In Latin music, genres are commonly attributed to rhythms, and whether or not timba is a genre of its own is debatable. Songo, however, can be considered to be a genre and is in all likelihood the only genre in the world played by only one orchestra, Los Van Van. The songo rhythm was created by percussionist José Luís Quintana, at the behest of Van Van bandleader Juan Formell. Since the band's creation in 1969, Los Van Van has been the most popular band in Cuba, and are themselves considered to be one of the major timba bands.
Irakere
Irakere is known largely as a Latin jazz band outside Cuba, yet much of their music can be considered to be popular dance music. Like Los Van Van, Irakere experimented with many different styles, mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms with son and jazz. While bandleader Chucho Valdés is revered as one of the great jazz musicians of Cuba, both jazz and timba prodigies came out of the orchestra, including flutist José Luis Cortés, who assembled a group of highly talented musicians to form NG La Banda in the mid-1980s. NG experimented with different styles, including Latin jazz, for several years, before recording what is considered by many to be the first timba album, En La Calle, in 1989.Special Period (early 1990s)
During the Special Period of the early 1990s, timba became a significant form of expression for the cultural and social upheaval that occurred. The Special Period was a time of economic downfalls and hardships for the Cuban people. In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba's main trading partner, the country experienced its worse crisis since the revolution. Cuba now opened its doors to tourism, and the influx of tourists to the island helped broaden the appeal of the music and dance of timba. The stand-off between Cuba and most of the rest of the world gave timba space to breathe new life into the city, causing the nightlife and party scene to grow. Timba's danceable beat and energizing sound was popular among the tourists at a time when the music and dance scene was indirectly helping provide some support for Cuba's struggling economy.While timba developed at the beginning of a decade when Afro-Cuban conservatory graduates were turning to popular music catering to inner-city youth, its growth followed that of the music and tourist industries, as the state tried to address the economic challenges of the post-Soviet world. Timba lyrics generated considerable controversy due to their use of vulgar and witty street language, and also because they made veiled references to public concerns including prostitution, crime, and the effects of tourism on the island, which had only rarely been addressed by other musicians. This was not normal in Cuban texts before. There was also a reaffirmation of the Cuban identity. The difference of opinion between the old traditionalists going abroad for success and the young bloods stuck at home – and the difference in financial rewards – was bound to lead to friction. In the subsequent time, timba has largely crossed over from an accessible, mainstream medium to one that is directed at wealthy elites in high-end venues. This places timba in contrast with rap, which has come in some ways to fill the role of the music of the masses.