Punk cubano emerged during the Special Period crisis, giving young disaffected Cubans an outlet to express their angst and rage, often toward the Cuban government. Carmen Torre Pérez joins Rebecca to speak about the counter-cultural genre and its DIY ethics.

Songs played: 
Jodidos y perdidos, Rotura
Eres tú, Eskoria
Azul, Akupunktura
Esta no es mi puta guerra, Eztafilokoko
Ruido en el sistema, Pólvora Soxial

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

(Rerun of nueva trova episode, first aired in July 2023)

Nueva trova is one of the few Cuban genres that is for listening and reflecting instead of dancing - it's sung poetry, much like other Latin American singer-songwriter genres, namely nueva canción. Rebecca has an in-depth conversation with independent scholar and former Cuban diplomat Eva Silot Bravo about the major figures of nueva trova and how it came to be closely identified with the ideology of the Cuban Revolution. The genre's relationship with the government shifted in the wake of the economic crisis of the 1990s, as newer artists began to openly critiqued the preferential treatment given to foreigners, as well as emigrate abroad.

Songs played:
Pablo Milanés, Mis 22 años
Silvio Rodríguez, Sueño con Serpientes
Xiomara Laugart, Paria
Carlos Varela, Foto de Familia
Gema y Pavel, Se Feliz

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Ethnomusicologist and percussionist Johnny Frias joins Rebecca to speak about one of the lesser known Afro-Cuban folkloric practices, the tonada trinitaria, from the central Cuban city of Trinidad. We then delve into the rumba percussion style that has become dominant in recent decades, guarapachangueo, created by a group of brothers from the outskirts of Havana known as Los Chinitos.

Songs played:
Una corona al General Maceo, Conjunto Folclórico de Trinidad
Plegarias, Grupo Abbilona (Los Chinitos)
Caridad, Pancho Quinto
El conflictivo, Humo + La Liga Rumbera

Learn more about guarapachangueo in Rebecca's book: Geographies of Cubanidad: Place, Race and Musical Performance in Contemporary Cuba 

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Afrocuba de Matanzas is widely considered one of the best preservers of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and dance on the island, but the group also created one of the funkiest and most exciting musical innovations in 1973 when they blended rumba percussion and batá drumming to create batarumba. As the years went on, batarumba became even more complex and versatile, as Afrocuba musicians added in instruments and rhythms from son, Abakuá, Iyesá and adapted the songs of Celia Cruz to a batarumba format.

Songs played:

Tambor, Afrocuba de Matanzas
Baila Mi Guaguancó, Afrocuba de Matanzas
Caridad, Afrocuba de Matanzas
Rinkinkalla, Celia Cruz & Sonora Matancera
Rinkinkaya, Ritmo y Canto

Learn more about batarumba in Rebecca's book: Geographies of Cubanidad: Place, Race and Musical Performance in Contemporary Cuba 

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Grammy-nominated percussionist, recording artist and educator Michael Spiro joins Rebecca to speak about his apprenticeship in Matanzas with masters of Afro-Cuban folkloric drumming, differences in drumming styles between Havana and Matanzas, and his innovative recordings, which fuse batá drumming with other Afro-diasporic traditions, such as Brazilian samba, Candomblé, and Zimbabwean mbira music. 

Songs played:

Inspiración a Santiago, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas
Para Clave y Guaguancó, Clave y Guaguancó
Osain, Michael Spiro & guests
Butsu Mutandari/Iyesa, Michael Spiro & guests
Maracambique, Michael Spiro, Joe Galvin & guests
Stardust (El Encanto), Michael Spiro,Wayne Wallace & guests

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Acclaimed pianist/bandleader/composer/author/educator Rebeca Mauleón discusses the long and incredibly versatile career of pianist/composer Chucho Valdés, who founded the groundbreaking jazz fusion group Irakere 50 years ago.  In 2018, Mauleón and Valdés co-authored the book Decoding Afro-Cuban Jazz. In both his Irakere compositions and in his solo career, Valdés has often drawn from Afro-Cuban folkloric music—rumba, batá drumming—for inspiration.

Songs played:

Misa Negra, Irakere
El Tata Cimarrón, Irakere
Xiomara, Irakere
Ochún, Chucho Valdés featuring Regina Carter

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Ethnomusicologist and prolific scholar Peter Manuel joins Rebecca to speak about the many centuries of musical exchange between Cuba and Spain, which birthed genres like the Cuban punto and contributed to the evolution of flamenco in Andalucía. Author and editor of numerous books on Caribbean and Indian popular music, including an important anthology of Cuban musicology, Manuel's newest book is Flamenco Music: History, Forms, Culture. 

Songs played:
Fandango, Antonio Soler
Controversia, Justo Vega & Adolfo Alfonso
Corazón Tu Eres Mi Amigo, Luis Gómez
Guajira, Pepe Marchena
Juro Que, Rosalía
Me Voy Contigo, Remedios Amaya

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

In our first episode en español (!!!), Rebecca interviews Mario Seguí Correoso, a Santiago-based percussionist who has worked with various groups over the course of his career: an innovative rumba group (Kokoyé), a son/salsa group (Sonora La Calle), and currently a more traditional son group (Los Jubilados), as well as a percussion-based group (Los Tambores de Enrique Bonne). We talk about how difficult the situation has been for musicians since the pandemic.

**IF YOU DON'T SPEAK SPANISH, CHECK OUT A TRANSCRIPT OF THE CONVERSATION TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QfvV7JelKB2tDjsNFkT_LxXPwOgUO89anRFCIAMMtMI/edit?usp=sharing

Songs played:

Manigueta, Los Tambores de Enrique Bonne
Calle Enramada, Los Jubilados
(title unknown), Grupo Folklórico Kokoyé

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Congolese scholar Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse joins Rebecca to speak about the many sub-styles and evolutions within Congolese popular music over the past 60 years. While many in the West refer to the music as "soukous," that's only one specific style of rumba, which also includes rumba chachacha (Joseph Kabasele & African Jazz), rumba odemba (Franco Luambo & OK Jazz), rumba cavacha (Zaiko Langa Langa), and ndombolo (Wenge Musica, Koffi Olomide, Papa Wemba). Dr. Nzeza also explains the significance of the seben, the improvisatory second section of a rumba song featuring virtuosic guitar playing.

Songs played:
Madre Rumba, La Sonora Matancera featuring Celia Cruz and Celio Gonzalez
Africa Mokili Mobimba, Joseph Kabasele & African Jazz
Alimatou, Franco Luambo & OK Jazz
Nzinzi, King Kester Emeneya
Mulolo, Wenge Musica

An homage to Grand Kallé (Joseph) Kabasele by Cuban artists and musicians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-BVoI93Q4

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Rebecca is joined by reggaeton scholar Petra Rivera-Rideau, who co-created the Bad Bunny Syllabus to provide historical and social context for Bad Bunny's music. His massive hit Un Verano Sin Tí  was the most globally streamed album of 2022 and the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys. We speak about what makes him such a unique, versatile artist, and then delve into the ways Cuban and Puerto Rican music have diverged in recent decades. 

Songs played:
Controversia, Ismael Rivera
El Apagón, Bad Bunny
Titi Me Preguntó, Bad Bunny
Yo No Soy Celoso, Bad Bunny

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Intro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions