The first book-length study on Cuban music in the English language. This volume consists of thirteen articles written by nine authors, including four Cuban scholars and five North American ethnomusicologists. The articles by Cuban scholars, translated from largely out-of-print publications, constitute a selection of some of the best Cuban research on their island's music, and present a set of perspectives which complement those of the North American authors. The articles cover such areas as descriptions of the Afro-Haitian derived tumba francesa, the traditional Afro-Cuban rumba, and the rural punto, as cultivated by peasants of Hispanic descent; aspects of the music bureaucracy in contemporary Cuba; the American music industry's dissemination of Cuban-derived salsa in New York City; Afro-Cuban cult music; the history and current status of charanga dance bands; and more.

...a significant and timely initiative...Essays on Cuban Music^R is a readable and informative book of important source material made available for the first time in English and outiside of Cuba. It is a must for all students of Cuban music, irrespective of their political leanings.^RRRR * El Vals Peruano *
...a significant and timely initiative...Essays on Cuban Music^R is a readable and informative book of important source material made available for the first time in English and outiside of Cuba. It is a must for all students of Cuban music, irrespective of their political leanings.^R * El Vals Peruano *

Peter Manuel is Assistant Professor of Music at Columbia University.