Amoeba Music

By Robert Leaver

             In the annals of Afro-Cuban folklore and in particular its most celebrated form of musical expression, the rumba, one group stands as the most vaunted and enduring- Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. Rumba developed in the docks of Havana and Matanzas, Cuba beginning in the 19^th century as dockworkers, mostly of African ancestry, passed the time using boxes (cajón) like drums to accompany them as they created songs. Over time the conga drums, clave (sticks), catá (a wooden block hollowed with a slit and played with sticks), and the maruga (an iron shaker) became the standard instrumentation and the guaguancó, columbia, and yambú... Read More

Genre:

World

City Of Origin:

Matanzas, Cuba

Formed Date:

c. 1950