Son, Danzón, Timba, and More: A Listener’s Guide to the Sounds of Cuba

Cuban music isn’t one sound. Across generations, musical traditions have developed and evolved, shaped by African and European influences and by musicians who continually found new ways to build on what came before.

That range is at the heart of the Afro-Cuban All Stars. Led by legendary bandleader Juan de Marcos, the orchestra reaches across generations of Cuban music, from son and danzón to rumba and contemporary timba.

Before Juan de Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All Stars take the stage at the Center for the Arts, get to know some of the sounds you might hear.

Son

Son is one of the foundations of Cuban music and a major influence on many of the styles that followed. Developed in eastern Cuba, son brought together Spanish-derived melodies and string instruments with African-derived rhythms and percussion. By the early 20th century, it had spread across Cuba and become one of the country’s most influential musical forms.

What to listen for: A strong dance pulse, call-and-response vocals, and the interplay of percussion, bass, and melody, often organized around the rhythmic pattern known as the clave.

Listen: A Toda Cuba Le Gusta, the title track from the Afro-Cuban All Stars’ landmark debut album, is identified as son. Alto Songo, from the same album, is son montuno, a closely related style.

Danzón

Danzón developed in Cuba in the late 19th century as both a musical form and a partner dance. Compared with the driving rhythms of son, it often has a more measured, elegant character, with instrumental passages that give melodies room to unfold.

What to listen for: A measured tempo, an orchestral quality, and shifts between restrained melodic passages and more rhythmic sections.

Listen: Habana del Este, from A Toda Cuba Le Gusta, is identified as danzonete-chá, itself an example of how Cuban musical forms have evolved, overlapped, and influenced one another.

Rumba

With rumba, rhythm moves front and center. Rooted in Afro-Cuban communities, rumba developed around percussion, singing, and dance. Rather than referring to a single rhythm, Cuban rumba encompasses several forms, including guaguancó.

What to listen for: Layered percussion, call-and-response singing, improvisation, and rhythmic conversation among the performers.

Listen: The Afro-Cuban All Stars makes the connection explicit with Fiesta de la Rumba. The track is identified as guaguancó, one of the principal forms of Cuban rumba.

Timba

Then fast-forward to contemporary Cuba. Timba emerged in the late 20th century as a high-energy form of Cuban dance music. Drawing on earlier Cuban traditions while incorporating elements of jazz and funk, it can feature dense rhythms, powerful horn sections, and sudden musical shifts.

What to listen for: Punchy brass, layered rhythms, changes in tempo and intensity, and an energy designed to get people moving.

The distance between danzón and timba might seem enormous. But listen closely and the connection becomes clearer — generations of Cuban musicians continually borrowing from, reshaping, and building on the traditions that came before.

Listen: For a taste of the Afro-Cuban All Stars’ more contemporary side, explore Distinto, Diferente. The group’s second album was conceived as a journey through a century of Cuban music, moving from traditional styles to the modern sounds of timba.

So Where Does Salsa Fit?

Salsa and Cuban styles such as son and timba are closely related, but the terms aren’t interchangeable. Salsa developed internationally from Cuban musical foundations along with influences from Puerto Rican and other Latin traditions. Timba developed in Cuba later, drawing from son and other Afro-Cuban traditions while incorporating elements of jazz and funk.

For the Afro-Cuban All Stars, those connections are the point. The orchestra doesn’t represent one period or one definition of Cuban music. Its repertoire reaches across styles and generations.

A Bridge Between Past and Present

For de Marcos, moving among these different styles isn’t simply a way to showcase the breadth of Cuban music.

“What I’m trying to do is create a bridge between contemporary and traditional Cuban music,” he said.

Since founding the orchestra three decades ago, de Marcos has built that bridge by bringing generations of musicians together and drawing on traditions that stretch across Cuba’s musical history. The Afro-Cuban All Stars’ landmark debut album alone moves through son, son montuno, guaguancó, guajira-son, danzonete-chá, guaracha, mozambique, and other Afro-Cuban sounds.

When the Afro-Cuban All Stars takes the stage, that history isn’t just something to know. It’s something to hear.