- Paperback: 688 pages
- Publisher: Chicago Review Press; 1 edition (Feb 1 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1556526326
- ISBN-13: 978-1556526329
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.4 x 3.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 907 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#184,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #52 in Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Cuba
- #70 in Books > Entertainment > Music > Musical Genres > Folk & Traditional
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wanna dance,
By
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This review is from: Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo (Hardcover)
An incredible book, filled with anthropological data, African history, European history, but most of all Cuba and its people and its music.As a music professor and jazz drummer I found so much information I ended buying a dozen cds to hear what Sublette was talking about. I always knew that call and response is a hallmark of African music and used to say that there has to be an African influence in the 18th century concerto with its call and response. This book explains how the African influence reached Europe through Spain. So I have been right all these years. Sublette is great when he weaves developments in music in the context of Cuban politics. We see how American intervention led to Batista, who was overthrown by Castro, thus Castro is really a product of American intervention. But ultimately the book is about the music and it delivers with the punch of a conga drum. Required reading for anyone and everyone interested in music.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A History of Cuba for the Cuban Music buff,
By music lover (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo (Hardcover)
If all Ned Sublette had ever done in his life was release the catalogue of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas in the US, he would have made a great contribution. Now this. "Bendiciones, Ned!"He says right from the beginning (and several times throughout) that he has not set out to write an encyclopedia of Cuban Music, so don't blame him for not mentioning everybody you can think of. And that turns out to be a good thing, because it avoids the kind of laundry list, dash off a few names in a sentence and quickly move on to the next thing, superficial treatment Cuban music normally gets. The book is called "Cuba and its Music" and it is just that. Rather than a complete history of Cuban music, it's really more like a history of Cuba for the Cuban music buff: A general history of Cuba from the perspective of someone who considers its greatest export to be music. A history which for example talks about the Platt Amendment but goes into more detail about the creation of mambo and the life of Miguelito Valdes than about average crop yields from 1765-1873. As a Cuban music fan who is interested in the history of Cuba but was never quite able to wade through Hugh Thomas' book, this is great reading. (Though, damn, how could he leave out Carlos Embales???!!!) ; )
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Amazing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo (Hardcover)
This is probably the best book ever written in English on Cuban music -- and one of the most well-written and accessible, too.Any history of Cuba that begins with the founding of Cadiz by the Phoenicians is one helluva ride!
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