Cubans in America

The fabulous Caribbean musics — calypso, beguine, merengue and mambo —widely pervaded US music; the makers of which were fascinated by the voluptuous rhythms of their Caribbean neighbours. In search of exoticism, the greatest performers took them up and mixed in their melodies and styles. They incorporated them in extraordinary fusions with jazz, blues and rock, gathered here by Fabrice Uriac and Bruno Blum, who comments on this compelling American introduction to a myriad of Caribbean genres — an initiation to pan-American popular music. Patrick FRÉMEAUX

The fabulous Caribbean musics — calypso, beguine, merengue and mambo —widely pervaded US music; the makers of which were fascinated by the voluptuous rhythms of their Caribbean neighbours. In search of exoticism, the greatest performers took them up and mixed in their melodies and styles. They incorporated them in extraordinary fusions with jazz, blues and rock, gathered here by Fabrice Uriac and Bruno Blum, who comments on this compelling American introduction to a myriad of Caribbean genres — an initiation to pan-American popular music. Patrick FRÉMEAUX