From Publishers Weekly
As the cofounder of the important Cuban music label Qbadisc and coproducer of public radio's Afropop Worldwide, Sublette is a well-known figure among elite mambo aficionados. Still, the sheer size and historical precision that makes this volume essential is a bit surprising coming from this proud nonacademic. The first two chapters, for instance, offer a fascinating narrative that explains the complex formulation of Iberian culture, beginning with the appearance of Phoenician traders in what is now the southern Spanish city of Cádiz in 1104 B.C. When the Cuban story finally kicks in with chapter five, Sublette makes the most of his prehistory to create a visceral and astute vision of the island as incubator of musical revolution. Most of the story has been told before, but rarely in such painstaking detail, and Sublette's easygoing and engaging writing style makes the reading almost painless, although sometimes his analysis is overly determined by politics. His most important accomplishment is combining information from rarely translated musicological works from Cuba with data from his active involvement with surviving giants of the music to produce one sustained, living history. Given all this, it is odd that he ends the book so abruptly, in 1952, especially since he has participated so much in the music's recent permutations. While not exactly for beginners, this book is a solid, supremely lush effort. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Sublette, cofounder of the QbaDisc record label and an expert on Cuban music, argues in this exhaustive history that the influence of the "fundamental music of the New World" can be heard in almost every genre of modern music from classical to hip-hop ("Louie Louie" is basically a cha-cha-cha). Equal parts world history and music history, Sublette's tome examines the music from a "Cuban's point of view." The story begins with Spain's earliest encounters with Africa and continues through Perez Prado and the mambo explosion of the 1950s. Sublette places the music in a historical context by offering thorough accounts of its journey across the Atlantic--the slave trade, Afro-Cuban religions such as Santeria, and Cuba's revolutionary history all have important roles in shaping the music's sound. Most music-history books tend to rely on extended laundry lists of styles and influences, but Sublette takes an informal narrative approach instead, making his work far more approachable both for readers new to the country's rich musical history and for devotees who have already succumbed to its rhythms. Carlos Orellana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


New York Times
"A magnificent labor of love and advocacy. . .Remarkably thorough yet genially readable."


Global Rhythm Magazine
"Told with humor, affection and authority, this account. . .is destined to become one of the definitive texts on the subject."


Chicago Reader
"Astute and illuminating."


The Village Voice
"[Ned Sublette] leaves his predecessors . . . in the dust."


The Nation, Anne Louise Bardach
"If you buy only one book on Cuba in your life . . . this is the one."


The Shepherd Express
"Sets a high standard for cultural studies . . . stimulating, well-informed and broad in scope."


The New York Times Book Review
"It was Cuba that turned the beat around, and thanks to Sublette any serious music fan will now know why"


The Los Angeles Times, Robert Christgau
"[Sublette] has added a major work to the tiny canon of social histories of music--perhaps the grandest of them all."


Rolling Stone
"The most daring, thorough, and lively social history of music ever attempted."


Afropop Worldwide
"A work of radical obsession, driven by a profound love of Cuban music."


Book Description
This entertaining history of Cuba and its music begins with the collision of Spain and Africa and continues through the era of Miguelito Valdés, Arsenio Rodríguez, Benny Moré, and Pérez Prado. It offers a behind-the-scenes examination of music from a Cuban point of view, unearthing surprising, provocative connections and making a case for Cuba as fundamental to the evolution of music in the New World. Revealed are how the music of black slaves transformed 16th-century Europe, how the claves appeared, and how Cuban music influenced ragtime, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Music lovers will follow this journey from Andalucía, the Congo, the Calabar, Dahomey, and Yorubaland via Cuba to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saint-Domingue, New Orleans, New York, and Miami. The music is placed in a historical context that considers the complexities of the slave trade; Cuba's relationship to the United States; its revolutionary political traditions; the music of Santería, Palo, Abakuá, Vodú, and much more.



About the Author
Ned Sublette is the cofounder of the Qbadisc record label. He has coproduced the public radio program Afropop Worldwide for seven years and traveled frequently to Cuba since 1990. He lives in New York City.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
If you're not an expert on Cuban music, you will be by the time you finish Ned Sublette's unequaled treatment of this most unexamined (in English, at least) subject. A musical explorer who has visited Cuba dozens of times in the past 14 years, run a Cuban music label, and fronted what's probably the world's only salsa-country band, Sublette tells three stories in this hefty volume, stories that have not been told particularly well in this country up to now. The first concerns the African musical diaspora, which of course makes up the lion's share of both Cuban and American music. The varied expression of these African roots in the United States and its Caribbean neighbors is the jumping-off point for a fascinating discussion of African cosmology, history, and musical traditions, as well as the slave trade. The dozens of pages that Sublette devotes to detailing ethnic migrations across the African continent is perhaps the most concise encapsulation of Africa's precolonial history that casual readers will come across. Alone, it provides an invaluable understanding of a wide swath of music history, from flamenco to jazz to Cuba's many rhythms. Concurrently, Sublette tells the history of Cuba -- again, a subject little known in this country, where relations with "the pearl of the Antilles" went south nearly a half century ago. Cuba and Its Music follows the story up until 1952; even without engaging the divisive topic of Fidel Castro, Sublette's book is shocking. The U.S.-backed kleptocracy of 20th-century Cuba is laid bare in a scenario that will be hauntingly familiar to anyone reading about Iraq today. Finally, of course, this book tells the story of Cuban music, tracing the long roots of its Spanish, African, Native American, and French antecedents. From dock-working rumba groups to the modernist lights of the concert hall, Sublette makes a compelling narrative from a dizzying riot of musical forms. He not only puts the careers of the Buena Vista Social Club, Celia Cruz, and Desi Arn￯﾿ﾽz in perspective but also provides a field guide to an island overflowing with music. Of the many things this invaluable guide does masterfully is to inspire voracious listening. With engaging writing, coherent arguments, and enviably thorough research, Cuba and Its Music is the best kind of popular scholarship. Even longtime aficionados of Latin music will hear their favorite records with fresh ears after this read. Very highly recommended. Mark Schwartz

FROM THE PUBLISHER

This entertaining history of Cuba and its music begins with the collision of Spain and Africa and continues through the era of Miguelito Vald￯﾿ﾽs, Arsenio Rodr￯﾿ﾽguez, Benny Mor￯﾿ﾽ, and P￯﾿ﾽrez Prado. It offers a behind-the-scenes examination of music from a Cuban point of view, unearthing surprising, provocative connections and making a case for Cuba as fundamental to the evolution of music in the New World. Revealed are how the music of black slaves transformed 16th-century Europe, how the claves appeared, and how Cuban music influenced ragtime, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Music lovers will follow this journey from Andaluc￯﾿ﾽa, the Congo, the Calabar, Dahomey, and Yorubaland via Cuba to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saint-Domingue, New Orleans, New York, and Miami. The music is placed in a historical context that considers the complexities of the slave trade; Cuba's relationship to the United States; its revolutionary political traditions; the music of Santer￯﾿ﾽa, Palo, Abaku￯﾿ﾽ, Vod￯﾿ﾽ, and much more.

About the Author:Ned Sublette is the cofounder of the Qbadisc record label. He has coproduced the public radio program Afropop Worldwide for seven years and traveled frequently to Cuba since 1990. He lives in New York City.

SYNOPSIS

The music of Cuba is "a fundamental music of the New World" and has been deeply influential on the music of its northern neighbor, the United States. Addressing the neophyte, Sublette (a former coproducer of the public radio program Afropop Worldwide and cofounder of the record label Qbadisc) explores the history of Cuban music, which in his eyes cannot be disentangled from Cuban history generally. He characterizes the history of the music as one "of cultural collisions, of voluntary and forced migrations, of religions and revolutions." His narrative travels from the Spanish and African roots of Cuban music through colonial times and up to the eve of the revolutionary period. Distributed by Independent Publishers Group. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times

A magnificent labor of love and advocacy...Remarkably thorough yet genially readable.

Booklist

Approachable both for readers new to the country's rich musical history and for devotees who have already succumbed to its rhythms.

Global Rhythm Magazine

Told with humor, affection and authority, this account...is destined to become one of the definitive texts on the subject.

Rolling Stone

The most daring, thorough, and lively social history of music ever attempted.

Choice

The most ambitious of the recent studies of Cuban music . . . Essential. Read all 11 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"[Sublette] has added a major work to the tiny canon of social histories of music--perhaps even the grandest of them all" — The Los Angeles Times

"It was Cuba that turned the beat around, and thanks to Sublette any serious music fan will now know why." — The New York Times Book Review

Anne Louise Bardach