Cuban Fire: The Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz [Hardcover]

Isabelle Leymarie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

This title tells the saga of popular music of Cuban origin, and its major artists from the 1920s to today. Afro-Cuban music derives its richness from the fusion of various cultures. On the island of tobacco, rum and coffee, the marriage of sacred and secular African musical genres with Spanish and French melodies has given rise to numerous genres which have gained international fame: son, rhumba, guaracha, conga, mambo, cha-cha-cha, pachanga, nueva timba. In the US, Cubans have settled alongside other Hispanic communities. In New York, the boogaloo, salsa and Latin jazz, created by musicians such as Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo emerged from contact with Puerto Ricans and African-Americans, and the rhythms of Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo were integrated into salsa and Latin jazz.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Cuba's unique blend of African, Spanish, and French cultures has produced an international musical legacy of unparalleled popularity. An award-winning author and a documentary filmmaker, Leymarie traces the history of Cuban music and its major artists from the 1920s to today with ardor and verve. Sections on musical roots, the 1940s and 1950s ("The golden age of Cuban music"), the 1970s to today, and more describe the development of distinct genres like the rumba, conga, and pachanga in Cuba, as well as in expatriate communities in the United States and Puerto Rico. Other recent excellent books on Cuban music include Sue Steward's ­Musica!: The Rhythm of Latin America; Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, and More, which is more of a coffee-table book (but with a good discography) and doesn't quite match Cuban Fire's scholarly, sequential style. Scott Yanow's Afro-Cuban Jazz is reasonably scholarly, but the scope is not as broad. Cuban Fire occupies the middle ground between those two otherwise terrific books and is the one to choose if you can't afford all three. Essential wherever books on popular music are collected.
Dave Valencia, King Cty. Lib. Syst., Seattle
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Isabelle Leymarie, a pianist and musicologist, has been involved with jazz and Latin music for many years. She has taught at academic institutions. She has co-directed and written documentaries, produced radio shows in Europe and Canada and written books including Cuba and Its Music (Le Chene, Paris, 1999) which won the French 'Prix des Muses' prize.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826455867
• ISBN-13: 978-0826455864
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,972,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific!, March 23, 2011

By 

Charles Gerard "charleysax" (brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuban Fire: The Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz (Bayou Press) (Paperback)

This book has everything: inside stories about the music and -- most importantly --song lyrics in Spanish and English translation. With a complete and exhaustive history of Cuban music it's much more than Latin jazz as the title seems to indicate.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's very complete !!!, January 14, 2004

By 

Nelson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cuban Fire: The Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz (Hardcover)

For lovers of the real salsa music, Cuban and Puerto Rico's music, this is a excelent book. Show the beginning of salsa, cha cha cha, mambo, plena, bomba, guajira, guaguanco, danzon, son, montuno and every rhythm about that times and the present, personally that's was and will be the best music; I don't like the music salsa of today, it's simple, abstract, don't have anything!!!
I recommend this book.