The island of Cuba was once inhabited by Native Americans. Once the Europeans arrived, however, the native peoples died from either disease or from mass suicide, resulting from forced mining labor. Africans that had been brought by the Europeans, most of whom were from Spain, lived in Cuba. Later, other people of African descent who were freed slaves came to the island nation. Over time, the European and African groups mixed together musically, creating the many genres of Cuban music. The descriptions that follow do not fully encompass all the forms of Cuban music. A more thorough discussion of such music would require more space.
Son is a form of Cuban music with strong African roots. It employs an African rhythm which is also called a son, Spanish lyrics and a plucked instrument like the guitar. This form of music has highly influenced salsa, according to SBG music. The son can be traced back to the 1700s, but it developed as an art form around the turn of the 20th century in eastern, rural Cuba. There are various types of son, according to writers at Mamborama, including Son-montuno, Afro-son and Guajira-son. Guajira is the Spanish Cuban word for peasant. This later form is played more slowly than Son and is characterized by arpeggiated guitar and piano parts.
Bolero, originating from Afro-Cuban roots, is similar to the rumba, although the dance tempo is a little slower, according to writers at Dancers Online. Bolero can be thought of as a slow, romantic ballad. An example of this type of music is "Como Fue" by the famous Cuban singer Beny Moré. The rumba is a folk-type of music characterized by call and response given in African languages and in Spanish. It also involves the use of drums and dancing, which is a little quicker than the bolero.
Danzón was a musical form that developed in the late 1800s and was derived from European dancing. Isdora Club is an illustration of this type of music. The cha-cha-cha emerged from the danzón-mambo, a later development of danzón. A modern example of such music is "Cuba" by the group Klimax. The Flamenco-influenced zapateo music was once rather popular in Cuba. It now can be heard in the eastern part of the country and an example of this type of music is "Zapateo Cubano" by Frank Emilio Flynn.
Other forms of Cuban music have clearly African origins. Mozambique is a form of carnaval music that was started by Pedro Izquierdo. Yoruba is a style of sacred music used in the Lucumí religion. This belief system is practiced by people of Yoruba descent in Cuba and involves the use of the tall, narrow batá drums. Cuban jazz may be better known in the U.S. because its close cousin American jazz was started in the U.S. Also, artists such as Tito Puente have been presented to the American public such as in the popular 1980s television program "The Cosby Show" and the movie "The Mambo Kings" in 1992.
Other types of Cuban music incluce conga, which is another type of carnaval music, changüí, which is an earlier form on son and timba. This last musical genre of Cuban music is relatively new and consists of a mixture of hip-hop, rap, Brazilian music and salsa.
Celia Cruz was a famous salsa singer from Cuba. Another very well-known Cuban singer was Beny Moré. Although he did not tour in the U.S., he did create recordings under the RCA label, an American music company, which can still be enjoyed today. As mentioned by Spenser Harrington of Allmusic, Moré was one of the greatest singers of Cuban popular music. He sang various styles of Cuban music equally well and still is highly regarded in his native country. He is to Cuba what Frank Sinatra or Nat "King" Cole is to Americans. Cuban jazz has had several important artists, including Tito Puente and Chucho Valdez. One famous Cuban American singer to many Americans is Gloria Estefán, who first became popular as the lead singer of the group The Miami Sound Machine in the 1980s.