V.A. - Putumayo Presents Cuba (1999)

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V.A. - Putumayo Presents Cuba (1999)

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The music of Cuba developed from a unique set of historical and social circumstances. African slaves, brought to work on the Spanish sugar plantations, soon outnumbered the European colonists. The attitude of the Spanish political and religious institutions towards African culture, while undeniably oppressive, was more open than in some other colonial societies. Catholic priests did their best to convert the Africans to Christianity, but they overlooked their worship of African deities as long as they gave them Christian names. In fact, santeria, a religion that combines Catholicism with African deities and rituals, is still a key part of Cuban spiritual life.
Most of the songs on this collection are a style called son, (lit. "sound") one of the most popular and influential Cuban musical forms. Son developed around the turn of the century in Oriente, a region in eastern Cuba. Migrating musicians brought son west to Havana in the 1920s, where it exploded in popularity. The fundamental element of the son is a rhythmic pattern called clave (lit. "key"). Played on two wooden sticks, called claves, this repetitive beat is the foundation upon which all of the other musical elements are structured. It gives son the propulsive swing that has endeared it to people around the world. Most contemporary salsa is based on son.

Putumayo site

Cuba wasn't the first Afro-Cuban compilation that Putumayo released in the '90s. Latino! Latino! had focused on Afro-Cuban sounds from artists in locations ranging from Africa to South America, while Afro-Latino examined the parallels between African and Latino artists. On Cuba, Putumayo's main focus is on salseros who were active in Cuba in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Some of the groups included on Cuba go back much further than that – the Septeto Ignacio Pinero was formed in 1927, while Orquesta Sublime (a charanga band) was formed in the '50s, and los Guaracheros de Oriente go back to 1940. Cuba favors more recent lineups by these groups, which have gone through their share of personnel changes over the years. (Most, or all, of Pinero's original members are dead). But this CD doesn't focus exclusively on veteran acts – Mi Son (heard on "Mecanica de Amor"), for example, was formed in 1992. Irakere, the salsa/Latin jazz explorers heard on "Boliviana," came out of the '70s and gave us such improvisers as Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval (both of whom defected from Cuba and became U.S. citizens). "Boliviana" is an ode to a Bolivian woman, and the song fuses Afro-Cuban and South American elements in a most appealing way. Boasting comprehensive liner notes and enjoyable performances, Cuba is among the many compilations that Putumayo can be proud of.

Alex Henderson, All Music