History of Cuban Salsa

The Cuban Son is the root of most Salsa music today.

       The Cuban Son is the first place that the Clave Salsa rhythm was played in  public. After the Slave revolution and later emancipation in La Hispañola, many rich French Caribbean families and their house slaves emigrated to the Oriente Provence in Cuba from what is now Haiti. Some of these slaves were educated in music and knew both European music and African secular music.

       In 1917, the "Danzon" was the most popular national dance in Cuba. Then a new musical style known as the Cuban Son appeared in Havana. The Son had the same elements as the "Danzon" but was different in its form. It is due to the Son that the African instruments came to light to animate the orchestras that were prevalent and typical at the time in Havana.

       In the Son, it is the rhythm that is most prominent. The Son originated in the Eastern region of Cuba, known as the Oriente Provence, among the country folk.  This was due to the influence of the freed African slaves that arrived shortly after the emancipation from the French.