Afro Cuban Music

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Recommended: Impacts of slavery on africans

Matthew Stoloff
Ms.Nicholson
BIHS Global History
Period 5
5/14/14
Afro-Cuban Music: A Musical Evolution
The evolution of Afro-Cuban music is an amazing complex history. So many different factors over time went into the creation of Afro-Cuban music. Afro-Cuban music of the late 1800’s-early 1900’s influenced by the Cuban politics, African Slave Trade, and the meeting of European and African cultures lead to the creation of new instruments, sounds, and rhythms. Religion such as Santeria or the Rezo’s created new Latin rhythms and branches of the genre.
20th century Afro-Cuban music, whose origins began in Africa, has changed over time by many influences. As soon as Europeans began transporting slaves from coastal Africa into Europe and finally the New World, they sparked the most extreme culture shock in music history (Sublette, 57). The two totally different cultures started to share and combine ideas, creating a new culture. The cultures coming in through the African slave trade held a strong significance around music and dance which was important towards Africans coming to Cuban daily life, culture, language and religion. Though there was historical resistance to an African-derived culture in Cuba by Europeans, popularity for the music and dance spread through radio and tourism. This led to closing the cultural gap among Europeans and Africans and allowing for the creation of a Cuban culture deeply rooted in African-derived traditions. (Chambers, 2)
The combination of the European and African instruments as well as the introduction of new instruments created a unique sound that is Afro-Cuban music. Europeans offered a variety of instruments to Afro-Cuban music such as most wind instruments and some string instruments. ...

... middle of paper ...

...iffusing of son to the masses. Because radio spread faster in Cuba than in any other Latin American country, it was a powerful medium in the early twentieth century.” (Chambers, 4). The popularity outside of Cuba as well as the radio played a big role in the acceptance of Afro-Cuban music within Cuba.
Afro-Cuban music was deeply influenced by the many different cultures that blended during the African slave-trade in Cuba. The restrictions that were put on the slaves shaped the instruments and the blending of religious music created a new culture with a new genre of music along with it.

PRIMARY RESOURCE ???
http://books.google.com/books?id=ytvh3Nkce7QC&pg=PA170&lpg=PA170&dq=1900+havana+mayoral+decree&source=bl&ots=257AA9GTpo&sig=uUZj9iKs0Pmwg7pYPt7DZJ_U_is&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CwJ0U4CLGJK7oQTXsYCYCw&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=1900%20havana%20mayoral%20decree&f=false

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