Timba
Cuba's hard-driving modern salsa, forged in 1990s Havana.
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Overview
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Etymology and naming
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Origins
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Musical anatomy
Gear Changes and Bloques in Timba
How timba's abrupt rhythmic shifts and sectional blocks reshape the music — and the dancers who follow it.
4 min read
Gear Changes and the Presilla in Timba
How a full drum kit and shifting percussive gears set timba apart from salsa
3 min read
Timba Instrumentation and the Bloque
3 min read
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Technique
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Pioneers
Bamboleo: Timba's Powerhouse Voices
Lázaro Valdés's band and its star female singers redefined the timba front line
4 min read
Charanga Habanera
David Calzado's Havana ensemble and the rise of timba
4 min read
Issac Delgado
A Cuban vocalist of the timba generation and the Caribbean salsa circuit
4 min read
La Charanga Habanera: Timba's Showmen
David Calzado's band turned 1990s Havana dance floors into spectacle
3 min read
Los Van Van: The Cuban Hit Machine That Forged Songo
Juan Formell’s orchestra revolutionized Cuban dance music and paved the way for timba
4 min read
Los Van Van and Juan Formell
The Havana dance orchestra that modernized Cuban son and seeded songo and timba
4 min read
Manolín, El Médico de la Salsa
The medical student turned timba superstar — and one of its most controversial voices
2 min read
NG La Banda: The Birth of Timba
José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés’s band crystallized — and named — Cuba’s explosive timba
4 min read
NG La Banda and José Luis Cortés
The flutist who named timba and the band that helped create it
3 min read
Paulito FG: The Melodist of Timba
One of timba's original innovators and a master of the romantic, phrasing-driven style
3 min read
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Cultural context
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Performers
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Common misconceptions
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Glossary
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