Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. It all started with a coat hanger: “If they catch you, you have to pay,” says Jorge ...

Question: What do you get if you mix contemporary Cuban music with jazz? A relatively new genre called timba, says Jorge Gómez, the pianist and director of Tiempo Libre, a timba group he started in ...

In 1960, New York became the melting pot for Afro-Cuban rhythms by default. Cut off from La Habana, La Gran Manzana became the birthplace of salsa. Meanwhile, far from stagnating, Cubans behind the ...

To say Issac Delgado is the epitome of Cuba's timba music undermines the scope of his talent. "I don't feel I'm a timbero," said Delgado, known as El Chevere de la Salsa (Salsa's Mr. Cool), by ...

It’s not easy for them, but the members of Tiempo Libre are learning to control their energy. The seven-piece Miami band of Cuban expats pride themselves on the rhythmic explosiveness of their timba ...

One of the biggest names in Cuban music has defected from the island with his wife and children and is living in Tampa, the LA Times reports in today’s paper. Issac Delgado has been called “the heart ...

Timba makes Timber a star. Dear God, it was everywhere in 2006. That song, those garish synth slaps, that declaration: “I’m bringing sexy back.” Back from where? Where did sexy go? Did people stop ...

I try not to be too biased when it comes to Latin music. But it’s hard to stay impartial when you’re Cuban. After all, we’re talking about one tiny island responsible for so many ass-shaking styles of ...