Good evening dear readers, listeners and followers!
Today I’m happy and honored to feature a special project by Jarryd Randolph, of the “Rueda in Tampa Parks” community event and SALSAventure dance school in Florida, USA.
In the recent few years, since 2012, Jarryd has been in a “discovery mode for Timba”, with the help of Cuban born Yoel Marrero.
During this time he has discovered a lot about Timba, Son, Danzon, Rumba, Cuban music and Cuban social dancing in general, information which is very much lacking among the people of his dance community and those around him.
So, it was decided that this situation cannot go on any longer, and that the musical ignorance should be banished!
In his own words:
“The idea came up because I could not find anything that would demonstrate the musical genre through time, earliest recordings to now. I’ve gone through many documentaries, read books on the subject, and even had conversations about the subject but a musical playlist was something that just wasn’t out there publicly. We all know how hard it can be to find those early recordings.
It’s amazing what’s out there that people haven’t heard or probably haven’t heard in many years. I made sure that this compilation took all listeners through time and through the many styles of Cuban groups. This list could have been a lot longer but I made sure that 30 songs was the cutoff.
I made sure to include key figures and groups such as Arsenio Rodriguez, Sonora Matancera, Orquesta Aragon, Los Van Van, Charanga Habanera, Manolin el medico de la salsa, etc. so to many new listeners and dancers this compilation will answer some questions and probably give them more about this dance genre. ”
So there you have it
A true fellow aficionado of Cuban music who has a message to share – Son is the past, the present and the future of popular Cuban music, especially the songs we all enjoy dancing to!
Great job on taking a stand against ignorance, and thank you for the efforts of searching and arranging all these masterpieces of modern Cuban music.
Here it is, disfruten!