Arsenio Rodriguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music (Studies In Latin America & Car)

Book Description

Arsenio Rodríguez was one of the most important Cuban musicians of the twentieth century. In this first scholarly study, ethnomusicologist David F. García examines Rodríguez's life, including the conjunto musical combo he led and the highly influential son montuno style of music he created in the 1940s. García recounts Rodríguez's battle for recognition at the height of "mambo mania" in New York City and the significance of his music in the development of salsa. With firsthand accounts from relatives and fellow musicians, Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music follows Rodríguez's fortunes on several continents, speculating on why he never enjoyed wide commercial success despite the importance of his music.

García focuses on the roles that race, identity, and politics played in shaping Rodríguez's music and the trajectory of his musical career. His transnational perspective has important implications for Latin American and popular music studies.

Customer Reviews:

Arsenio Rodríguez bio.......2007-06-10

The book all of us Arsenio-ologists have been waiting for, the discography and sidemen info are worth the double its sale price alone....

Great Resource and Interesting Read.......2006-11-21

What a treasure to have an English-language resource that shines light on this important figure, a man who was, and is, simultaneously revered and neglected. The source of many of salsa's most enduring innovations, Arsenio Rodriguez' contributions spanned the mambo era and found resonance when this music re-emerged later as "salsa." Garcia does a fine job of illuminating this for the reader. It should not surprise Americans, as Garcia points out, that these innovations were inspired by Arsenio's profound understanding of Cuba's African traditions. Most refreshing, however, is finding an author who also understands the importance of Arsenio's music as "music for dance." Garcia engages his reader on this point and drives home the critical relationship between Arsenio's music and the dancers, and the importance of this rapport in energizing and sustaining his innovations. Arsenio emerges in this biography as a critical voice in dispelling an entrenched notion that music for dancing cannot be serious music (I am reminded of Ned Sublette's "dancing is an intense listening state," from Cuba and its Music.) And Garcia makes this statement forcefully.

I also applaud Garcia's dissection of this musician/dancer connection--one that is enlivened by interviews with musicians and dancers. He missteps, however, in his definition of the son montuno "basic step." What he describes is more likely a "variation"--one that reflects the inventive styling and footwork of dancers responding to the push and pull of Arsenio's "clave feel." Son montuno was indeed danced using timing that Cubans call "contratiempo." Garcia's analysis of that timing, however, is simply too idiosyncratic.

Overall, this book is substantive. It presents English-language readers with another important resource in moving the discussion of Afro-Cuban music and dance (including salsa), and its West African roots, forward.

Chariots of Chrome: Classic American Cars of Cuba

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This book will rev your motor

Chariots of Chrome: Classic American Cars of Cuba

Manufacturer: Boston Mills Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1550463942

Book Description

A photographic cruise of Cuba's vintage cars.

Cuba is a vintage car lover's paradise. Until the 1960s, Cuba was the world's leading importer of American automobiles. As many as ten thousand of these mid-century American cars are still used in Cuba, making it the world's largest living automotive museum.

Vintage Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Fords, Pontiacs, Ramblers, Packards, Studebakers and Hudsons are common on Cuban streets and coastal highways, with hot primary colors, dazzlingly ornate chrome, sinfully luxurious interiors, and defiantly large girths. Some cars have been restored to their former glory. Others have been kept in working condition by using Russian truck engines and hand-forged parts.

Chariots of Chrome is an eye-popping pictorial tribute to those generously proportioned American automobiles, once loved and now lost, that still enjoy a vibrant old age in Cuba. Dazzling color photographs capture these beauties against the backdrop of the island's picturesque villages and Old Havana's many landmarks.

This pictorial tribute of historic cars is sure to light any auto aficionado's cigar.

Customer Reviews:

This book will rev your motor.......2004-08-19

If you're an antique car lover then Chariots of Chrome by Simon Bell and George Fischer is the book for you. Lavishly done with rich, full color, well done photographs, Chariots is a feast for the eyes. Cubans, it seems, have maintained hundreds of vintage American cars while most of the world has "moved on." Cut off from the American car market, Cubans, once the largest importer of Detroit automobiles, have been forced to nurse along what they have. Whether equipping these cars with Russian truck engines, hand forging their own replace parts, or taking parts from cars no longer able to keep rolling, the Cubans of the last half of the twentieth century have proven themselves very adept at improving. This book is as much a tribute to their resourcefulness as it is to the cars pictured between the covers.

If you're a lover of things old and wonderful photography then Chariots of Chrome is the book for you. You'll also come to respect the mechanical genius of the Cuban car owner and mechanic.

Heroes Of The Revolution: American Cars And Cuban Beats

Average customer rating:

Bood book but not good printing

Heroes Of The Revolution: American Cars And Cuban Beats
Robert Polidori
Manufacturer: edel CLASSICS GmbH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3937406131
Release Date: 2004-09-01

Book Description

Survivors from pre-revolutionary times, American limousines line the streets of Cuba, adding to the Caribbean island's undeniable charm. Havana is the best place of all to admire these classic automobiles. Star photographer Robert Polidori presents a brilliant photographic exhibition of these fascinating relics, some lovingly maintained, some in decay, which do so much to define the street scene of the Cuban capital. Music CD's: Accompanied by original Cuban music - including the stars from Buena Vista Social Club Company Segundo, and Omara Portuodo; The Book summons up mellow memories of glamorous days in old Havana.

Customer Reviews:

Bood book but not good printing.......2006-04-24

It is a pity that a good photographic material is loost in a deficient printing. The paper is porous and it make photos look dim.

Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles

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Cars & Cuba Knockout
A Classic on Cuban Classic Cars

Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles
Christopher P. Baker
Manufacturer: Interlink Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1566565464

Book Description

This unique homage to Cuba's astonishing wealth of antique cars is also a paean to the extraordinary people who keep their weary cacharros running with resourcefulness, ingenuity and great humor. In a collection of vibrant images, this book reveals the timeworn splendor of classic American automobiles spanning eight decades.

Customer Reviews:

Cars & Cuba Knockout.......2004-12-05

Yes, we've all seen great photos of classic cars in Cuba--but this book will make you swoon. Your knees will buckle, and you will become feverish with desire to get yourself to Cuba as soon as possible. Magnificent.

A Classic on Cuban Classic Cars.......2004-08-14

Chris Baker is the preeminent travel writer covering Cuba today. His guidebooks for National Geographic Traveler and Moon Publishing are biblical Baedekers for anyone traveling to the island. "Mi Moto Fidel," his book-length journey around the island on a BMW motorcycle, reads like a Hemingwayan novel -- and has garnered prestigious writing awards. Now, with "Cuba Classics," Baker has taken his already impressive act to a new level, displaying his skill as a photographer, which is nothing short of artistry. His stunning photographs of vintage American autos -- so plentiful in Cuba -- are not only wonderful depictions of cars not seen in the U.S. for decades, but are the subjects of photos that demonstrate a photographer's instinctively artistic command of format, color, tone, and lighting. Settings for the autos often speak to the greater issue of the Cuban landscape, both urban and rural. It's a must book for car buffs, for anyone interested in photographic artistry, for anyone enamoured of beautiful writing. As a long-time fan of Baker's journalism, I have found myself asking what else could he possibly do to present another aspect of this island country he knows and loves? "Cuba Classics" is the latest answer to that question. Kudos.

Drumming For The Gods Pb (Studies In Latin America & Car)

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If I could give 6 stars........
A rare blend of scholarship and freshness
Invaluable reading for any drummer or practitioner
A True "MUST HAVE"

Drumming For The Gods Pb (Studies In Latin America & Car)
Maria Velez
Manufacturer: Temple University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1566397316

Book Description

"I am Felipe Garcia Villamil" begins Drumming for the Gods, the life history of the Afro-Cuban artist whose music has survived both political and personal upheaval. "Balogún for thirty years. Olóaá, of Matanzas, Cuba, for about forty years. Omóañá for almost forty-five years. OlúIyesá [he who knows the secrets of the Iyesá drums]." A practitioner of sacred drumming for almost his entire life, Felipe practiced his trade in Cuba both before and after the Revolution and brought it with him to New York, where he continues to play for the gods.

This book focuses on three periods of Felipe's life, each marked by changes in his personal life and by important historical events. The first period covers his formative years during which he received his initial training. Through Felipe's story, we explore the legacy of slavery in Cuba, the nature of Afro-Cuban religions and their musical traditions, and the history of bata drums. The second period covers the critical years of the Cuban Revolution. Here we see the effect of social turmoil both on music and religious practice (santero, palero, and abakua). The third period covers Felipe's life in New York as a refugee/immigrant, and the role of music in rebuilding his identity. Felipe's story illuminates his cultural practices and beliefs as well as the ways in which an individual musician selects and modifies the elements of his cultural heritage to create a voice that is personal and unique. Felipe not only lives through history but also makes history, shaping an identity that cannot be described as "Cuban immigrant," "Afro-Cuban," "religious drummer," or "santeria initiate," but is composed of all of them.

Through Felipe's experiences, Maria Teresa Velez reveals the interaction between social, political, economic, and cultural forces and an individual's own actions. The professionalization of musicians in Cuba following the Revolution and the plight of Afro-Cuban immigrants in New York are seen as large historical and social problems to which Felipe must personally respond. A noted ethnomusicologist, Vlez provides the most insightful and comprehensive English-language study of an individual Cuban religious drummer available. Drumming for the Gods is a must-read for those interested in ethnomusicology, Caribbean studies, and Afro-Cuban religions and culture.

Customer Reviews:

If I could give 6 stars...............2005-01-20

This book is the absolute best available about Afro-Cuban religious traditions, music, and culture that I have ever seen. Velez writes in a clear style and with great respect for Mr. Villamil's heritage. Finally a book in english has addressed the controversy surrounding lineages and lines within Afro-Cuban religion. Not to mention one of the few books that describes festivles and musical celebrations within these religions instead of 'new age magic'. Secondly, the voice and mannerisms of Mr. Villamil come through the pages as if you were watching a documentary. As a long time (medio asiento) affiliate en La Regla de Ocha this book has truly touched my heart. Instead of spewing out made-up "secrets" it conveys the feeling, culture, and legacy of these little known traditions with utmost dignity. If you enjoyed the book I would suggest seeking out some of Mr. Villamil's CD's under the group Emikike it is amazing. Velez deserves some kind of award for this work because it is truly astounding..... just when I was about to give up on English books concerning Afro-Cuban culture.
Charles Panella
", but you have to keep hammering away there because he was destined for that and I wasn't. This is my religion and I love it with all my heart" FGV

A rare blend of scholarship and freshness.......2000-05-04

The first thing to be said about Ms.Velez' book is that it is written in a disarmingly straightforward style - a rare if not unique occurrence in contemporary scholarly writings. Without shying away from tackling the complexities of an issue (and there are many in the book) Ms. Velez' style allows the reader to concentrate on the content rather than wrestle with tortuous syntax and intricate constructions. It is perhaps for this reason that the author manages so felicitously to blend her cultivated voice with that of the "informer" in a delicately balanced counterpoint. This, in turn, is well suited to the multifaceted role of F.G.V., who play the role of a self-centered first actor as well as that of an anonymous yet ideally representative prototype of a time and a place. Or rather, multiple times and places.

Invaluable reading for any drummer or practitioner.......2000-04-05

If you consider yourself a serious drummer in the Afro-Cuban styles (batá, bembé, palo, abakuá, rumba, comparsa, etc.), you must read this book, as you will learn a great deal from it. It is refreshing to see the music and the culture through the eyes of a musician and practitioner himself (Mr. García Villamil), a true living legend. Every page is loaded with TONS of information, dating from his Yoruba great-grandfather's time to the present.

A True "MUST HAVE".......2000-04-05

This is truly a unique book. Not only is it informative, but also easy to read. I don't know of any other source that delves as deeply into the life of a single Afrocuban religious musician or practitioner as this book does. It is a gold mine of information not only for the serious student of Afrocuban culture, but also for any practitioner.

Average customer rating:

Time warp
Keep them on street
Fascinating account of Cuban ingenuity and skill.

Cars of Cuba
Cristina Garcia
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0810926318

Customer Reviews:

Time warp.......2001-04-20

This book is fabulous and every admirer of American cars of that era should have it. Not only does it give you beautiful glossy pictures of a variety of old American cars in Cuba, but it places them in beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) Cuban settings. There is some insight into the place that these cars have in Cuban society to this day; they are actually regarded as a member of the family, not merely as transportation. I recently spent some time in Cuba and rode around in a '58 Rambler, a '53 Chevy, and a '48 Pontiac! Not that it was always a pleasant experience (the Rambler reeked of exhaust fumes; I tore my jeans climbing out of the Chevy; and the Pontiac, with a diesel truck engine, was noisier than Kennedy Airport at rush hour), but it is amazing how they manage to keep those old cars running seemingly against all odds. This book is a tribute not just to the cars themselves, but to "the most brilliant mechanics on the face of this blue-green planet," as Garcia calls them. How ironic it is that, after four decades of Soviet/Russian influence, the prerevolutionary American cars are so prized and the newer Ladas are widely scorned.

Keep them on street.......2000-02-06

A copy of "Cars of Cuba" should be given for every owner of a trailer queen automobile and all the over-restoration adepts... For real vintage car lovers it's great to see that the old Chevys, Fords, Packards, Studes and even Hudsons are still used as daily drivers by careful owners, near 50 years after the production (the paint appearance doesn't matter). Cristina Garcia and Joshua Greene, we wait anxiously for "Cars of Cuba - tome II".

Fascinating account of Cuban ingenuity and skill........1999-01-21

A fascinating account of the ingenuity and skill of Cuban car buffs. Old American cars are kept running without the benefit of spare parts availability. It made me realize how wasteful we are in America - the Cubans would love to have access to the cars we sent to our junkyards decades ago! We go into debt to have the latest vehicle, when the one we just got rid of could have lasted a lifetime if only we had appreciated what we had and had given it the level of tender loving care that the Cubans do. The book has some very interesting stories on the Cuban car culture and how some individual 50's era American cars were kept running, and has great photos. My only complaint is that I want to know more! I want the author and photographer to go back to Cuba and take a good U.S. mechanic and a mechanical engineer with them. Then, take a lot more photos of the cars but don't limit us to the exterior. I want to see dashboards, engines, underbody, spare parts, everything! I want to see the machinery and tools inside their shops. I want to know, in full depth, all the details on how they adapt Russian parts to these cars. I want all the intimate technical details from beginning to end on a particular car. So much for the proposed sequel - Cars of Cuba gave me an evening of great pleasure as I read about and looked at pictures of Cuba's living car museum.

Che's Chevrolet, Fidel's Oldsmobile: On the Road in Cuba

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The Pictures Present History of Cuban Life in the Fifties.

Che's Chevrolet, Fidel's Oldsmobile: On the Road in Cuba
Richard Schweid
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807828920
Release Date: 2007-01-02

Book Description

Vintage U.S.-made cars on the streets of Havana provide a common representation of Cuba. Journalist Richard Schweid, who traveled throughout the island to research the story of motor vehicles in Cuba today and yesterday, gets behind the wheel and behind the stereotype in this colorful chronicle of cars, buses, and trucks. In his captivating, sometimes gritty, voice, Schweid blends previously untapped historical sources with his personal experiences, spinning a car-centered history of life on the island over the past century.

Packard, Studebaker, Edsel, De Soto: cars long extinct in the United States can be seen at work every day on Cuba's streets. Havana and Santiago de Cuba today are home to some 60,000 North American cars, all dating back to at least 1959, the year the Cuban Revolution prevailed. Though hardly a new part has arrived in Cuba since 1960, the cars are still on the road, held together with mechanical ingenuity and willpower.

Visiting car mechanics, tracking down records in dusty archives, and talking with car-crazy Cubans of all types, Schweid juxtaposes historic moments (Fidel Castro riding to the Bay of Pigs in an Oldsmobile) with the quotidian (a weary mother's two-cent bus ride home after a long day) and composes a rich, engaging picture of the Cuban people and their history. The narrative is complemented by fifty-two historic black-and-white photographs and eight color photographs by contemporary Cuban photographer Adalberto Roque.

Customer Reviews:

The Pictures Present History of Cuban Life in the Fifties........2005-12-03

This is a history of Cuba replete with fifty-two old photographs, called 'historic', with emphasis on its dependence on America's automobiles. "Following the Revolution, [when Castro took over], relations between the United States and Cuba went from bad to worse." America was the major exporter of the sugar, with U.S. based oil companies plentiful in Havana, only ninety miles from Key West Florida.

In February, 1960, Cuba made a major mistake by agreeing to sell "five million tons of sugar over a five year period to the Soviet Union." This was during the Cold War. "In March, President Dwight Eisenhower responded...by drastically reducing American purchases of Cuban sugar. In June, when the first shipment of Soviet crude [oil] arrived, Shell, Standard, and Texaco refused to refine it at their Cuban installations. As a result, Castro's Revolutionary government took them over and 'nationalized' them. In 1959, the president of Airtex, a Chicago-based manufacturer of fuel and water pumps, wrote a Christmas letter to the company's Cuban dealers, "We really admire the work that is being done by your maximum leader, Fidel Castro." He was wrong. By that fall, Castro had put severe restrictions on the import and sale of North American cars.

From 1950 to 1958, the number of cars on the island had jumped from 70,000 to 167,000. At the same time, a large majority of Cubans were illiterate and too poor to afford minimal health care. The tourist trade was booming, and "the island had the largest per capita sales of Cadillacs in the world." In Havana, Chevrolets dominated sales. Tourism was off dramaticallly during the first year of the Revolution. One shipment of 1960 Oldsmobiles left Detroit in 1959, and a few 1960 Chevrolets. Che claimed one of the latter, though he is shown driving a Studebaker on the day he married in 1953. Fords were also plentiful in 1956 with Plymouths and Valiants never reaching Cuban shores.

The first car in Cuba arrived in 1902. The last trolley ran in 1952 replaced by buses. "By 1930, some were calling for the city to eliminate trolley service entirely." They used a type of trolley (pictured) with spoked wheels and "to make a trip in a trolley from one end of the capital to the other means to have to submit oneself to a truly distressing torture." The Astro bus station was a center of "community interaction, an urban hub where people come to eat, drink, or shop as well as to catch a bus to some other place to to wait for somebody arriving on one." I guess when the KAT transit center is built here, it will resemble the one they had in 1953. Some of our current buses are as torturous to ride as their old trolleys.

During the Thirties, the Ford V-8 and Lincoln were popular in Cuba and, in the Forties, the Packard for the wealthy. The color photos don't add anything to the historic collection as they show history in the making. Written by a Nashville native (I wonder if he knew Bernie Schweid who I would see occasionally on Nashville local television shows?) who settled in Barcelona, Spain, he compares Cuban revelry to the nightlife in Spain where "everyone likes to go out and meet their friends for a drink in the evenings." I have a 1958 glossy 8x10 of my extremely handsome friend, Carlos Ubach, doing just that in Barcelona.

Other books by Richard Schweid include BARCELONA: AN OLYMPIC SEASON, THE COCKROACH PAPERS and CONFEDERATE CATFISH FISHING IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA. He is senior editor of the city magazine, 'Barcelona Metropolitan' and produced an Oscar-nominated film 'Balseros,' about Cuba -- a place which clearly fascinates him, as this book shows.

Average customer rating:

2005 CARS OF CUBA Calendar

Manufacturer: Moss Runn Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

Classic Cars | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0964687399

American Dream Car in Cuba: Vintage Cars on the Road

Average customer rating:

Disappointing

American Dream Car in Cuba: Vintage Cars on the Road
Martino Fagiuoli
Manufacturer: CV Export
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 8890059605

Book Description

A photographic exploration of classic American cars across the Cuban landscape, this incredible collection shows all the glamour and mosaic of vintage Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Fords, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, Dodges, Chryslers, and Buicks. This volume covers vehicles produced from the '20s to the '50s and is divided into three sections: "Cars on the Road" shows the vintage vehicles as they travel through the island's exotic landscape and mixes the stories of the people along the road with them; "Vintage Cars" provides details on the most famous models in the industry and shows how many owners have preserved their vehicles; and "Car Drivers" views the men and women who drive and repair these beautiful cars with wit and wizardry.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2002-02-27

I visited Cuba last year and was amazed at all the wonderful American cars, so I really wanted to enjoy this book when I bought it. It has a few great photos, such as the cover photo, but mostly the photos are pretty dull and repetitive and don't really say anything about Cuba. The text, mostly by a Cuban writer, is boring waffle with very few facts and historical data. Where are the interesting anecdotes about Ernest Hemingway, or even Fidel Castro and other famous characters and their cars? The wonderful little pocket-size book on Cuban cars by Cristina Garcia is much more interesting. I'm still waiting for a really good photo book on the subject.

Average customer rating:

Cars of Cuba
Cristina GARCIA
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MYXI9E

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