ABOUT THIS BOOK

Available in English for the first time, Cuban Music from A to Z is an encyclopedic guide to one of the world’s richest and most influential musical cultures. It is the most extensive compendium of information about the singers, composers, bands, instruments, and dances of Cuba ever assembled. With more than 1,300 entries and 150 illustrations, this volume is an essential reference guide to the music of the island that brought the world the danzón, the son, the mambo, the conga, and the cha-cha-chá.

The life’s work of Cuban historian and musician Helio Orovio, Cuban Music from A to Z presents the people, genres, and history of Cuban music. Arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced, the entries span from Abakuá music and dance to Eddy Zervigón, a Cuban bandleader based in New York City. They reveal an extraordinary fusion of musical elements, evident in the unique blend of African and Spanish traditions of the son musical genre and in the integration of jazz and rumba in the timba style developed by bands like Afrocuba, Chucho Valdés’s Irakeke, José Luis Cortés’s ng La Banda, and the Buena Vista Social Club. Folk and classical music, little-known composers and international superstars, drums and string instruments, symphonies and theaters—it’s all here.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Helio Orovio is a musicologist and historian with the Institute of Folklore and Ethnology of Cuba’s Academy of Sciences. He is the author of El bolero latina and Música por el caribe and the host of the Cuban television show Arte y Folklore. He is also a musician who has played with many bands including Conjunto Jovenes del Cayo.

REVIEWS

“Helio Orovio’s book is a basic reference tool for any serious researcher, or any fan, of Cuban music.”—Ned Sublette, musician, cofounder of Qbadisc, and author of Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo

"A comprehensive English-language reference for anyone with an interest in Cuban music. . . . The encyclopedic organization means terms are easy to find; entries are concise but interesting and full of detail. . . . This volume is truly a 'tribute to Cuban music and its musicians.'"

-- Publishers Weekly

(Starred Review) "An amazing survey of Cuban musical styles, dances, instruments, and personalities. . . . Concise, factually detailed, and rigorously informative. . . . This will make a terrific addition to all music and academic libraries; it is the only in-depth resource on Cuban music. . . ."

-- Library Journal

"Concise yet remarkably detailed and extensive, Cuban Music from A to Z is a welcome addition to the growing bibliography on Latin music. . . . [It] will no doubt become an indispensable reference for anyone seriously interested in Cuban music."

-- Fernando Gonzalez Jazziz

"This dictionary is an indispensable source for music journalists, the student of Cuban music, and scholars alike. The entries are concise, accurate, and informative, providing dates and places of birth and death for musicians, composers, and other important figures in Cuban music history."

-- David F. García Notes

"With more than 1,300 alphabetical entries (from Abakuá, a form of music that originated in Africa, to Eddy Zervigón, a New York City flutist and bandleader), this volume is a comprehensive English-language reference for anyone with an interest in Cuban music."

-- Latin Jazz Network

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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