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Quote by Ned Sublette

“The basic success of the conga came from ...that basic principle of African music and dance: everybody participates. The conga eradicated the distinction between performer and audience, broke down the wall of the proscenium.”

Quote by Ned Sublette

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

Work

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

Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo is a comprehensive study that examines the historical and cultural impact of music in Cuba. The book covers a wide range of musical styles, including classical, folk, and popular genres, highlighting the contributions of various musicians and their roles in shaping Cuban music. It provides insights into the social and political context that has influenced Cuban music over the centuries. more

Author

Ned Sublette, born in 1951, is a renowned composer known for his unique musical style and cross-cultural musical fusion. His works blend jazz, blues, and Latin music, which are deeply loved by a wide audience. more

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“One often reads that the 1950s was the golden age of Cuban music, but it was really one long phase, from 1937 to 1958, each year with its own splendour.”

Years Long Age Golden Phases Cuban Golden Age Splendour Cuban Music

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

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

“The general disinclination of Spain to accept slaves from Islamicized regions of Africa during the formative years of Hispano-American society had enormous consequences for the development of music in the New World.”

World Years Accepting Development Consequence Slave Enormous Regions New World Spain American Society Formative Years

Author:Ned Sublette

“Up through and including Lincoln, American politicians nursed a fantasy of repatriating blacks to Africa.”

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Author:Ned Sublette

“In 1942 Cachao wrote a tune for Arcao, 'Rareza de Melitn,' with a memorable catchy tumbao. In 1957 Arcao recorded a reworking of it under the name 'Chanchullo'; and in 1962 Tito Puente reworked that into 'Oye como va,' still with that same groove. In this form, audibly the same, it powered Carlos Santana's multiplatinum 1970 cover version, close to three decades after Cachao first played it.”

Firsts Stills Form Three Names Decades Versions Memorable Tunes Groove Catchy Santana Tito

Author:Ned Sublette

“Every farm with slaves was a slave-breeding farm. Raising slaves was mostly a cottage industry.”

Industry Slave Farms Breeding Cottages

Book:The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

Source: The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square

“A laborer might last ten years or so before expiring. But individual workers in the death camp of sugar were survived by their culture, which was constantly re-Africanized by fresh arrivals. To that plantation culture, the music of our hemisphere owes no small debt.”

Years Might Lasts Culture Individual Ten Workers Debt Camps Sugar Survived Arrivals Laborers Hemisphere Plantations Death Camps

Author:Ned Sublette

“The two biggest hits (by Machito)... were about that enduring Cuban song topic-food: 'Sopa de pichn' [pigeon soup] and 'Paella'. If you think that all songs about food are double entendres for sex... Well, maybe all songs about food can be double entendres, but in many periods of Cuban history, for many people, food has been harder to get, and the subject of more fantasies, than sex.”

People Ifs Thinking Wells Has Beens Two Song Sex Fantasy Subjects Periods Harder Endure Topics Soup Cuban Pigeons Double Entendre

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“That spirit of mockery characteristic of the guaracha was part of the mambo from the beginning.”

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

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

“On occassion, slaves in Spanish New Orleans owned slaves, whose labor they could appropriate toward purchasing their own freedom, or whose ownership they could trade as a partial payment on their own freedom.”

Labor Trade Slave Appropriate Ownership New Orleans Payment Purchasing

Author:Ned Sublette

“A second line is in effect a civil rights demonstration. Literally, demonstrating the civil right of the community to assemble in the street for peaceful purposes. Or, more simply, demonstrating the civil right of the community to exist.”

Purpose Community Lines Rights Streets Effects Civil Rights Peaceful Demonstration Demonstrating

Author:Ned Sublette