Review by Choice Review
The most ambitious of the recent studies of Cuban music, Sublette's volume covers Cuban music in great detail but from an exceptionally broad perspective, from Spain's earliest inhabitants to 1952. Indeed, the reader does not land in Cuba until page 61, after four chapters on Cuba's two cultural sources, Spain and Africa. Sublette is a record producer, practicing musician, and NPR program writer rather than an academic ethnomusicologist, but he writes with an authority based on extremely thorough reading, an excellent knowledge of Spanish, and many trips to Cuba, Spain, and Africa. Well documented, straightforward, and descriptive, the book is free of the postmodern theories that permeate current ethnomusicology. Sublette does admit to a bias, which is that Hispanic contributions (especially Cuba's) to American culture are far more profound that generally acknowledged, especially because Cuba has been officially erased from the American experience since 1959. Though one could debate some of Sublette's conclusions, his interpretations will be eye-opening to readers raised on German-centered musicology. Markedly different from other recent work--including Robin Moore's work on "Afrocubanismo," Nationalizing Blackness (CH, Jul'98), and Charley Gerard's Music from Cuba (CH, Dec'01)--this book demonstrates Sublette's remarkable knowledge of both Cuba's and America's music histories. ^BSumming Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. T. E. Miller Kent State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
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-cha0 ). 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 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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 C diz 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. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this fascinating first volume of a two-part chronicle, Sublette, a musician, self-made scholar, radio show host, and record producer based in New York City, ranges across Africa, Spain, the Caribbean isles, and Central, South, and North America from the 16th century to 1952 to document Cuban music's wide influence. While paying particular attention to societal changes, he describes in great detail how the music of certain African regions was brought over to the New World and helped produce the rhythmic and dynamic music of Cuba (which, in turn, influenced ragtime, jazz, and rhythm & blues, a point that will be traced fully in Volume 2). His grand scope is a reminder of how little most Americans know about their nearby neighbor and its culture, and though not novel, this point deserves reiteration. Sublette's accessible writing should appeal to a popular as well as a scholarly audience. Maya Roy's recent Cuban Music makes similar historical and sociological connections, but it lacks the depth and accessibility of Sublette's book. A welcome addition to the very small field of books available on Cuban music.-Bill Walker, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
