recommendations for timba albums

[niallgregory]

Im a big fan of cuban music but it has to be said most of it would be folkloric and latin jazz / salsa . I really would appreciate some timba recommendations from you guys in the know . I am aware of all the big names in the genre etc but im still not sure where to go with it all . Its a genre i never really got my head around tbh , i love the percussion but find some of the music extremely cheesy ! Im stuck in the old school as far as cuban dance music goes and would love to get into the new stuff Cheers folks !

[bengon]

It's funny, I was thinking about this posting something like this. It's a big genre to get, and it can be hard to find information about it. I'm far from an expert, but I'll point you to some of my favorite albums.

Soy Cubano, Soy Popular by David Calzado y Charanga Habanera is a great, hard hitting album. They're, of course, along with Los Van Van, the most popular Timba group in Cuba.

Los Van Van are like the Rolling Stones of Cuba. They have a huge book, they've been around forever, and they'll be popular forever. I'd recommend getting Havana Si, a 2 disc set of theirs and go from there.

Bamboleo is another great band. I like Yo No me parezco a nadie.

NG la Banda's Echale Limon is very good, and the penultimate song, El Tragico, is one of my favorite tracks.

Calle Real, although not Cuban, puts together some really happening stuff. They've put out two albums, both of which are really good, particularly for western ears.

There are tons more, and frankly, I don't know which albums are considered classics or significant albums like I do with American music. Does anybody else have any recommendations?

[niallgregory]

Cheers for the reply bengon . You mention los van van as a timba group ? Ive been under the impression that they have influenced the timba scene greatly but i would never have considered them to be a timba group . Interesting recommendations thank you . Niall ..

[guarachon63]

Hi Niall I was in the same boat as you for a long time, and I started really liking Timba a few years ago, years after hearing it played at ear-splitting volumes in clubs.

I think I speak for many when I say that, to enjoy Timba, you must first...embrace the cheese.

It's pretty much everywhere, and unavoidable. Just have a laugh at it, cringe a bit, wait a couple minutes and it will be all over.

To me there are few great Timba "albums" - they all have their share of dull spots for me, sometimes I might only like one or two.

That said, here are my recommendations for Cds that have more than their share of great tracks:

Dany Lozada - Tanto lo pedi
NG La Banda - En la Calle
Los Van Van - Llegó Van Van
Cesar Pedroso - Pupy y los que son son (remarkably cheese-free)
Paulito FG - Con la conciencia tranquila
Charanga Habanera - Tremendo Delirio

There are a quite a few other tunes I really like scattered here and there, but that's about all the CDs I can think of at the moment. Also, much of it can't really be considered "new" stuff anymore - some of it is over 10 years old already! Maybe someone can tip us off to some newer stuff.

saludos
barry

[ABAKUA]

Los Van Van's music influenced the development of Timba. Van Van play Songo, Timba has Songo elements in it.
Jose Luis Cortez (NG La Banda) who are credited with the development (not creation) of Timba, formed a style which blended the complexities of Irakere's music, with the dance popularity of Juan Formell's (Los Van Van) music.

So while Van Van do not play Timba, their music has close ties to and many similarities to Timba, while at the same time having many elements which are not typical of Timba.

There are different types of Timba also, for example Bamboleo's sound and style is very different to Charanga Habanera's style. Klimax's sound is comparable to the sound of NG, as Pupy is comparable to Van Van though Pupy draws in more Timba influenced elements into his Songo origins.
Bamboleo's style is similar to the style of Azucar Negra and so on. So within Timba there are many different grades of sound.
So while I love Timba and eat it breathe it dream it, there are some Timba artists which I dont really like and dont listen to.
Same as one would say RnB for example. Different style sof RnB within RnB, etc.

One thing about some of the timba artists, the start of the tracks alot of the time will be somewhat slow & mellow, bordering on dull, before 'changing gears' and heading into different levels of pace within the same song. Dont write off a song by just hearing the first few bars.

I've been into Timba since about 1995 when one of my friends (also a conguero) came back from Cuba with all the latest recordings of the time, the style (which was new to me) totally blew me away.
Nowadays I just cant listen to straighty salsa, it just sounds plain and boring, I just cant do it. I refuse to play it also, often turning down 'fill in' gigs I get offered to play with some of these bands.
Cuban music flourished here during the 60's, 70's and 80's and continues to do so to this day, so today Cuban music over powers anything out of the US (salsa), there are more Cuban themed music nights than 'salsa' type nights.

Anyway, back on topic I'd suggest you seek out recordings by the following artists:

Bamboleo
Azucar Negra
Klimax
NG La Banda
Pachito Alonso Y Su Kini Kini
Havana D'Primera
Haila Mompie - former singer for Bamboleo & Azucar Negra.
Son del Indio - Former singer from Manolito Y Su Trabuco. Great band he's got now, amazingly tight and strong, live footage on youtube.
Pupy y Los Que Son Son
Maykel Blanco
Paulito Y Su FG / Paulito Y Su Elite
Manolito Y Su Trabuco
Manolin - El Medico de la Salsa (early stuff before he went to the US and went all soft and pop) his live in the US recording 'EL PUENTE' is fokin great. (Tomasito Cruz on congas.) 2 CD package.
Tirso Duarte
Combinacion de La Habana
Charanga Habanera
Charanga Forever - Original members from Charanga Habanera which split with David Calzado (director) and reformed under CharangaForever.
Alain Daniel some of his recordings (newer) are more Reggaeton based, but his Timba stuff is really good.
Pedrito Calvo y La Justicia - Former Van Van singer.
Osvaldo Chacon Former Bamboleo singer. I got to tour with him for 3 months during his stay in Aus. Real smoothe & funky.

Then there are bands and artists that while are not Timba, also fall into that same category.. the likes of Van Van etc, for these you can check out:

Los Van Van - Songo
Soneros All Stars - Changui
Dan Den - salsa Cubana
Elio Reve - Also search Reve y Su Changui, Orquesta Reve and several others, keyword being 'Reve' - Changui
Elito Reve (son of Elio) - Changui
Maraca - Charanga/Latin Jazz/Timba/Fusion
Cubanismo - modern Son/Salsa Cubana

There are many many more, but that should keep you busy for a while. Keep in mind many of these artists have produced many recordings, some may not be your taste, while others becoming amongst your favourites.

Im off to Cuba in a few weeks, minimum 2 month stay, not sure when I will be back though, I might be staying alot longer - guess I'll see how things pan out.

[niallgregory]

Thanks for the replies barry and abacua . Some good information and lots to be looking at as far as timba goes . I heard lots of the music that you mentioned and have pretty much listened to nothing else except for Musica Cubana for many years . But as i said most of my musical tastes would be rumba , bata , folklorico and latin jazz . Ive always loved older sounding Salsa both from Cuba and New York . Im starting to think its alot to do with the production values of a lot of timba and modern cuban recordings that i just dont get . I seen some timba groups in Havana and i was blown away by the energy and the drums / percussion were seriously good ! Its the recordings that just have that cheesy element that turns me off . I am going to get my hands on some the cd,s mentioned above and try and get my head around this stuff . Dont want to get left behind man Ive just about caught up with all the other stuff now i have to start again Cheers ..

By the way Abacua your one lucky b@st@rd ! to be going to cuba for 2 months ! enjoy man . I cant wait to get back there . Magical place

[roberthelpus]

I think that the cheese goes away when you see it live. Especially when you see how turn-on-a-dime tight the Cuban bands are. Not that I've seen that much live Timba.

When I first heard about Timba, in the late 90's, I wondered why they needed a new name. It seemed like the logical extension of Songo to me. Something like:
Chuck Berry = Rock and Roll
Led Zeppelin = Rock and Roll

Anyway, it's nothing that I would argue about.

[tigre77]

Since no one mentioned it yet Adalberto Alvarez and his group. Songs like dejame llorar, cambia tu calculadora...etc

[ABAKUA]

Adalberto hasnt been mentioned beacuse he is a Sonero, not Timbero.
Adalberto plays Son.

[tigre77]

Oh, my mistake then.

[ABAKUA]

All good Tigre. In comparison to some of the Timba groups previously mentioned, you will notice a distinct difference in the sound of his music.
Adalberto has always been at the forefront of Son. His music is the evolvement of Cuban Son.

[pcastag]

My favorite timba album of all time is Andar Andando by azucar negra, Haila is at her very best, the songwriting of lionel Limonta (?) is out stnading, the band is ridiculously thight and the sound and production are insane. After that pretty much anything by manolito, some of the charanga stuff is a bit cheesy for me, but bamboleo (especially the early stuff) hits hard, and as mentioned above NG La Banda and Paulito y su FG really got the whole thing going.
PC

[ABAKUA]

That is a great recording PC, we used to play 'Eres Como Yo' in one of the timba bands I play with here, from time to time we bring it back depending on the gig. For that track I would swap around with the bongocero and get him to play tumbas, while I did the quinto parts on a requinto, then went to bongo & cencerro. Love that track, great album all round.

Have you heard much of their recent stuff? Lionel certainly on the ball, Im really looking forward to catching up with them in Havana. Not long left to go now!

Here are 3 of their recent tracks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-r-BeCefRM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iz0qh-UNEw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEY7zP9L-TE

[bengon]

Abakua, or anybody else who knows well, could you explain the difference between Timba and Songo? It seems like Timba is a more modern form of Songo, but that seems like an indistinct distinction.

[tigre77]

Abakua you are right that underneath Adalberto's newer songs it is Son, in restrospect. It is hard to explain in it in words. Imaginate Son 14 back in the days. AA's music has evolved in a very cool way to where the untrained ear will confuse it. Eso en cuba is going to change your life. Godspeed.