Cuban Music: From Son and Rumba to the Buena Vista Social Club and Timba Cubana

From Rumba to rap, Paris-based writer Maya Roy surveys the history of Cuban music, showing how the island's colonial history led to a unique fusion of musical influences from around the world. Cuban Music examines the ritual music of slaves; popular songs and the impact of Catholic liturgies; the roots of dances like the mambo and the cha-cha-cha; and the fate of music after the Communist revolution, when many musicians emigrated and new experimental groups formed by Cubans on and off the island. Roy also discusses Buena Vista Social Club and the controversies stirred by the film's nostalgic view of Cuba's 1950s ""golden age."" (June)