Timba

Timba is a Cuban genre of music based on Cuban son with salsa, American Funk/R&B and the strong influence of Afro-Cuban folkloric music. Timba rhythm sections differ from their salsa counterparts, because timba emphasizes the bass drum, which is not used in salsa bands. Timba and salsa use the same tempo range and they both use the standard conga marcha. Almost all timba bands have a trap drummer. Timbas also often break the basic tenets of arranging the music in-clave. Timba is considered to be a highly aggressive type of music, with rhythm and "swing" taking precedence over melody and lyricism. Associated with timba is a radically sexual and provocative dance style known as despelote (literally meaning chaos or frenzy). It is a dynamic evolution of salsa, full of improvisation and Afro Cuban heritage, based on son, Rumba and mambo, taking inspiration from Latin jazz, and is highly percussive with complex sections. Timba is more flexible than salsa and includes a more diverse range of styles. Timba incorporates heavy percussion and rhythms which originally came from the barrios of Cuba.
Before it became the newest Cuban music and dance craze, timba was a word with several different uses yet no particular definition, mostly heard within the Afro-Cuban genre of rumba. A timbero was a complimentary term for a musician, and timba often referred to the collection of drums in a folklore ensemble. Since the 1990s, timba has referred to Cuba's intense and slightly more aggressive music and dance form.
As opposed to salsa, whose roots are strictly from son and the Cuban conjunto bands of the 1940s and 1950s, timba represents a synthesis of many folkloric (rumba, guaguancó, batá drumming and the sacred songs of santería.), and popular sources (even taking inspiration from non Afro-Cuban musical genres such as rock, jazz, funk, and Puerto Rican folk). According to Vincenzo Perna, author of Timba: The Sound of the Cuban Crisis, timba needs to be spoken of because of its musical, cultural, social, and political reasons; its sheer popularity in Cuba, its novelty and originality as a musical style, the skill of its practitioners, its relationship with both local traditions and the culture of the black Diaspora, its meanings, and the way its style brings to light the tension points within society. In addition to timbales, timba drummers make use of the drum set, further distinguishing the sound from that of mainland salsa. The use of synthesised keyboard is also common. Timba songs tend to sound more innovative, experimental and frequently more virtuosic than salsa pieces; horn parts are usually fast, at times even bebop influenced, and stretch to the extreme ranges of all instruments. Bass and percussion patterns are similarly unconventional. Improvisation is commonplace.
The main precursors of timba are three bands: Los Van Van, Irakere (both in the 1970s) and NG La Banda (1988), though many other bands (e.g. Son 14, Orquesta Original de Manzanillo, Ritmo Oriental, Orquesta Revé) were influential in setting new standards.
Elio Revé Matos was a Cuban musician and songwriter, a noted percussionist, born 23 June 1930 in Guantánamo. In 1956, he formed Elio Revé y su Charangón aka Orquesta Revé. Revé's Charanga included Trombones and Batá drum and he became known as the Father of Changüí for his contribution to that musical genre. In the 1970s, directed by timbalero Revé, Orquesta Revé saw innovations in timbales playing.
Others associated with Revé included the singer Yumurí. Elio was the father of musician brothers, Oderquis Reve and Elio jr (Elito), the latter continuing a direct link to his father's music with Elito Revé y su Charangón. Singer and writer, Emilio Frías “El Niño”, gained experience with the group before forming El Niño y La Verdad in June 2013.
Los Van Van developed what came to be known as the 'songo' genre, making countless innovations to traditional son, both in style and orchestration. In Latin music, genres are commonly attributed to rhythms (though of course not every rhythm is a genre), and whether or not timba is a genre of its own is debatable. Songo, however, can be considered to be a genre and is in all likelihood the only genre in the world played by only one orchestra, Los Van Van. The songo rhythm was created by percussionist José Luís Quintana ("Changuito"), at the behest of Van Van bandleader Juan Formell. Since the band's creation in 1969, Los Van Van has been the most popular band in Cuba, and are themselves considered to be one of the major timba bands.
Irakere is known largely as a Latin jazz band outside Cuba, yet much of their music can be considered to be popular dance music. Like Los Van Van, Irakere experimented with many different styles, mixing Afro-Cuban rhythms with son and jazz. While bandleader Chucho Valdés is revered as one of the great jazz musicians of Cuba, both jazz and timba prodigies came out of the orchestra, including flutist José Luis Cortés ("El Tosco"), who assembled a group of highly talented musicians to form NG La Banda in the mid-1980s. NG experimented with different styles, including Latin jazz, for several years, before recording what is considered by many to be the first timba album, En La Calle, in 1989.
During the Special Period of the early 1990s, timba became a significant form of expression for the cultural and social upheaval that occurred. The Special Period was a time of economic downfalls and hardships for the Cuban people. In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Cuba's main trading partner, the country experienced its worse crisis since the revolution. Cuba now opened its doors to tourism, and the influx of tourists to the island helped broaden the appeal of the music and dance of timba. The stand-off between Cuba and most of the rest of the world gave timba space to breathe new life into the city, causing the nightlife and party scene to grow. Timba's danceable beat and energizing sound was popular among the tourists at a time when the music and dance scene was indirectly helping provide some support for Cuba's struggling economy.
While timba developed at the beginning of a decade when Afro-Cuban conservatory graduates were turning to popular music catering to inner-city youth, its growth followed that of the music and tourist industries, as the state tried to address the economic challenges of the post-Soviet world. Timba lyrics generated considerable controversy due to their use of vulgar and witty street language, and also because they made veiled references to public concerns including prostitution, crime, and the effects of tourism on the island, which had only rarely been addressed by other musicians. This was not normal in Cuban texts before. There was also a reaffirmation of the Cuban identity. The difference of opinion between the old traditionalists going abroad for success and the young bloods stuck at home – and the difference in financial rewards – was bound to lead to friction. In the subsequent time, timba has largely crossed over from an accessible, mainstream medium to one that is directed at wealthy elites in high-end venues. This places timba in contrast with rap, which has come in some ways to fill the role of the music of the masses.
Though NG La Banda had huge successes in the early 1990s, and is credited with being the first timba band, the band's fortunes have been mixed, partly because they remain highly experimental.
What came to be known as the "timba explosion" started not with NG La Banda, but with the debut album of La Charanga Habanera, "Me Sube La Fiebre", in 1992. This album included all the elements of what is now known as timba, and the band dominated the scene until the break-up of the original band in 1998 (they have since reformed).
Since then a large number of bands have sprung up in Cuba and internationally, many of the best known being headed or staffed by former members of the above-mentioned bands. Some important figures and bands include: Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini, Azúcar Negra, Bamboleo, Charanga Forever, Dan Den, Alain Pérez, Issac Delgado, Tirso Duarte, Klímax, Manolín "El Médico de la salsa", Manolito y su Trabuco, Paulo FG, and Pupy y Los que Son, Son (directed by César "Pupy" Pedroso, former pianist of Los Van Van).
Bakuleye, known as a magic wand that awakens a deity living under the Earth, is another popular band in Cuba known for its timba. The band's creator, Pedro Pablo Vargas, describes Bakuleye as the awakening of new ideas. The music of Bakuleye is a fusion of different musical rhythms such as Latin jazz, boleros, ballads, bachata, and especially salsa. As one of the most promising groups from Cuba, Bakuleye has received favorable press and television coverage.
Other than in Cuba, a few timba bands appeared in Miami, Florida, where a large concentration of Cuban-Americans reside. This became possible due to members of some timba bands moving to Miami, such as Isaac Delgado, Manolín "El Médico de la Salsa", Dany Lozada (former singer and composer for Charanga Habanera), and Pepito Gómez (former singer in Pupy y Los que Son, Son) but eventually decided to relocate elsewhere (to Spain, Mexico, and New York). Others include Carlos Manuel, El Pikete, Michel Calvo, Jorge Gomez and "Tiempo Libre" (who received Grammy nominations in 2005 for their album "Arroz con Mango" and in 2006 for their album "Lo que esperabas"), Los 10 de la Salsa, Chaka and his group "El Tumbao", and Tomasito Cruz and his Cuban Timba All Stars.
In Peru, timba is also prominent with no fewer than 30 bands dedicated to promote Cuban music, the most well known of which are Mayimbe and Team Cuba. Others include: Mangu, Camagüey, A Conquistar, Explosión Habana, N'Samble, La Novel, D'Farándula, Bembe, Son de Timba, Los Trabucos, Yambú and Yare. Also, Lima is hometown for Cuban musicians such as Dantes Cardosa and Michel Maza (former lead singer for Charanga Habanera) and Caroband.
Timba rhythm sections differ from their salsa counterparts in many integral ways from the instruments themselves, to the individual patterns of each instrument, to the way those patterns are combined into gears, to the way the group navigates between those gears. The areas where salsa and timba are most similar are the tempo range and the part of the largest bell, played by the bongosero in salsa and, depending on the band, by either the bongosero, timbalero or drummer in timba.
The bell played by the timbalero in salsa is sometimes played the same way by the timbalero or drummer in timba, but in timba bands where one person plays both bell patterns, a different pattern, or a much looser series of improvised patterns, is used. The time-honored standard conga marcha used universally in salsa is also often used in timba, but many other variations are also used and some congueros actually compose specific marchas for each song. Many of these timba conga marchas are twice or even four times the length of the standard conga marcha (or tumbao).
Tomás Cruz developed several adaptions of folkloric rhythms when working in Paulito FG's timba band of the 1990s. Cruz's creations offered clever counterpoints to the bass and chorus. Many of his tumbaos span two or even four claves in duration, something very rarely done previously. He also made more use of muted tones in his tumbaos, all the while advancing the development of . The example on the right is one of Cruz's inventos ('musical inventions'), a band adaptation of the Congolese-based Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythm makuta. He played the pattern on three congas on the Paulito song "Llamada anónima." Listen: "Llamada Anónima" by Paulito F.G.
A very dramatic difference between the two genres is that salsa bands don't use the kick drum, an essential element in all timba bands. Almost all timba bands have a trap drummer and those with a timbalero (e.g., Charanga Habanera) add a kick drum which he or she plays from a standing position.
The role of the bassist is also very different. Salsa bassists have standardized bombo-ponche bass tumbaos. This is sometimes used in timba, but much more often a clave-aligned tumbao is used, and it is often specific to the song in question, while the bombo-ponche tumbaos of salsa, by definition, always use the same rhythm from song to song. Most importantly, timba bassists stop and start their tumbaos, one of the defining aspects of timba gears. In salsa, the bass tumbao is omnipresent.—Moore (2010: v. 5: 13).
A significant aspect of the rhythmic structure of timba is the tendency towards ignoring or intentionally breaking the basic tenets of arranging the music in-clave. This had led to a schism within the world of salsa and related Latin dance music.
Breakdown gears set timba apart from other salsa. The following example is Calixto Oviedo's funky drumset pattern for a type of high-energy breakdown known as presión. Watch: Calixto Oviedo play presión breakdown drumset pattern
Though quite similar to salsa on the surface of things due to origins from son heritage, timba has certain qualities of its own which distinguish it from salsa, similar to the way American R&B is distinguished from soul. In general, timba is considered to be a highly aggressive type of music, with rhythm and "swing" taking precedence over melody and lyricism. Associated with timba is a radically sexual and provocative dance style known as despelote (literally meaning chaos or frenzy) that consists of rapid gyrations of the body and pelvis, thrusting and trembling motions, bending over and generating harmonic oscillations of the gluteous maximus. Those involved in the performance and popularization of timba crafted a culture of black, strong, masculine pride, and a narrative of male hypersexulaity to go with timba's so-called "masculine" sound. In a socialist society where value and identity center on labor and political citizenship, black males were representing themselves not as forces of production but of pleasure. Timba is musically complex, highly danceable, and reflects the problems and contradictions of contemporary Cuban society because it expresses a repetitive beat that relates to the repetitive day-to-day life the Cubans endured during the early 1990s. It is a dynamic evolution of salsa, full of improvisation and Afro Cuban heritage, based on son, Rumba and mambo, taking inspiration from Latin jazz, and is highly percussive with complex sections. Very little "traditional" salsa existed (or exists) in Cuba, the most influential foreign 'salsero' being Venezuelan Oscar D'León, who is one of the few salsa artists to have performed in Cuba. Timba musicians thus rightly claim a different musical heritage from salsa musicians.
At its most basic, timba is more flexible and innovative than salsa, and includes a more diverse range of styles, all of which could be defined as timba. The limits of what is timba and what is not are less rigid when compared to salsa, as innovation and improvisation are key concepts in Timba music. According to Juan Formell, director of Los Van Van, timba is not a form of traditional son, but something new. Timba incorporates heavy percussion and rhythms which originally came from the barrios of Cuba.
Timba incorporates many elements of Afro-Cuban culture and music. This includes various Afro Cuban rhythms (on all instruments), expressions or parts of lyrics in 'Lucumí' (Cuban Yoruba, which were before used mostly in a religious context) and references to Afro-Cuban religion, the imperative for improvisation and interaction with audiences during concerts, story-telling in the lyrics, the quoting of melodies, rhythms and/or lyrics from other sources and sustained sections of coro-pregon (call and response) interaction in songs. Contrary to (early) salsa, timba makes no claim to social or political messages, partly because of the political circumstances in Cuba.
More specifically, timba differs from salsa in orchestration and arrangement. Some timba artists readily concede that they have occasionally taken inspiration from musical genres coming outside of Cuba. Thus, bands like La Charanga Habanera or Bamboleo often have horns or other instruments playing a few melodic notes from tunes by Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang or other funk bands. In terms of instrumentation, the most important innovation has been the permanent incorporation of a drum kit and a synthesiser. Many timba bands have otherwise kept the traditional charanga ensemble of the 1940s, which includes double bass, conga, cowbell, clave, piano, violins, flute and in timba an expanded horn section that (in addition to the traditional trumpets and trombones) may include saxophones. However, many innovations were made in the style of playing and the arrangements, especially on the bass (sometimes taking inspiration from non Cuban genres of music), the piano (with elements of baroque music such as Bach), the horns (complex arrangements known as "champolas"), and the use of the clave (where 2-3 son clave is the standard in salsa music, timba often leans towards 2-3 rumba clave, 3:2 Son clave and 3:2 Rumba clave). Also different from salsa is the frequent shift from major to minor keys (and vice versa), the highly complex rhythmic arrangements (often based on santería or abakuá rhythms), the shifts in speed and the large number of orchestrated breaks, or "bloques". Also, owing to its many Afro Cuban origins (and, of course, to traditional Cuban music such as Son), Timba music is highly syncopated.
Though timba is considered to be a form of popular music, the technical mastery of timba is only possible through highly trained musicians, who have solid theoretical backgrounds in classical music, jazz, traditional Cuban music, as well as other international genres. This is made possible through the high standards of government-run music schools in Cuba, as well as the strong competition between musicians.
Government policy favours artistic excellence and Cuban music is regarded as a source of revenue and a legitimate way to attract tourism. However, the island's most popular dance bands have been virtually ignored by Latino radio in the US and some parts of Cuba, and are absent from the charts. However, pieces of Cuban sound are beginning to reach large audiences in the USA through musical recordings produced by popular musicians, such as Willy Chirino and Qbadisc, from New York City, Miami, and Puerto Rico who currently incorporate timba into their songs. New York and Puerto Rican musicians have further blended the double-hit bass drum in the breakdown in a more sophisticated way which does not exist in Cuba yet. Because of the available resources outside of Cuba, it is easier for musicians outside of the island to create music that has been heavily influenced by the Cubans. Meaning, it is easier for foreigners to imitate, create, and get their music out to the public more quickly because of the available technology.
Gonzalo Grau, La Timba Loca band leader, hopes timba will gain popularity in the States, but he realizes that only small crowds will come to shows at first. Because of the politics surrounding Cuba, the music has not had a chance to gain exposure in the States and has not become as commercialized as traditional salsa from other Latin countries. Nevertheless, many Cuban musicians seek to work abroad, and a significant number of musicians now work in exile, both in the United States and in Europe (and to a lesser extent in Latin America), leading to a new wave of cross-breeding between the timba and salsa. While timba has gone past its peak in recent years, all major groups are still actively recording and performing, and major labels—especially in Europe—have started taking an interest in timba.
Because timba is highly aggressive and a challenge to dance to some Cuban bands in search of a broader audience have intentionally made music that a majority of Latinos will find easy to dance to, mixing Latino staples such as salsa, merengue, and romantic ballads into the Cuban beat. By 1990, several bands had incorporated elements of funk and hip-hop into their arrangements, and expanded upon the instrumentation of the traditional conjunto with American drum set, saxophones and a two-keyboard format. Along with the Cuban congas and timbales, the drum set provided powerful funk and rock beats that added more punch to the rhythm section, and the bass players began to incorporate the playing techniques associated with funk, slapping, and pulling the strings in a percussive way. The combination of the trumpets and the saxes gave the horn section a more jazzed sound, and the harmony began to evolve on a more contemporary level.
Timba has start to become popular in the worldwide salsa scene today as commercial timba music selections are selectively accepted. However many salsa dancers consider it difficult to dance to, due to rapid rhythm and differential arrangements than traditional salsa and beats too strong to their ears, compounded by the strong Afro-Cubans rhythm heritage and the inability of many North American salsa dancers to listen to actual tempos . Nevertheless, it has found a niche among a growing number of fans and has been influential amongst Cuban-American and European salsa musicians. From the salsa dancer's perspective, timba (due to its rhythmically complex nature) is very hard to dance unless traditional Cuban salsa (also known as casino) is mastered and may require many years of practice. In the same way that musicians amalgamate salsa with funk, pop, jazz, rock & roll and even tango to create timba, dancing to timba reflects the rhythms/genre incorporated in the composition being danced to. Timba as a dance allows incorporation of moves seen in Afro-Cuban folklore, funk, pop, rock & roll etc., and the creation of new moves under the framework of Cuban casino.