For the Cuban timba group Tiempo Libre, a 2002 gig at Ravinia provided some needed encouragement. But the importance of the gig for the young musicians really hit home when bandleader Jorge Gomez met ...

In 1960, New York became the melting pot for Afro-Cuban rhythms by default. Cut off from La Habana, La Gran Manzana became the birthplace of salsa. Meanwhile, far from stagnating, Cubans behind the ...

The Cuban music form known as timba developed in the 1980s, but exploded in popularity throughout the '90s. While training in jazz and classical conservatories, many Cuban musicians were looking for a ...

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. It all started with a coat hanger: “If they catch you, you have to pay,” says Jorge ...

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from ...

Question: What do you get if you mix contemporary Cuban music with jazz? A relatively new genre called timba, says Jorge Gómez, the pianist and director of Tiempo Libre, a timba group he started in ...

When Fidel Morales returned to Havana in 2004 after an extended stay in Panama, and traveling the world as a master drummer, he had an exact focus on the type of record he wanted to produce. Salsa Son ...