Carlos Aldama’s Life in Batá
Cuba, Diaspora, and the Drum
This book recounts the life story of Carlos Aldama, one of the masters of the batá drum, and through that story traces the history of batá culture as it traveled from Africa to Cuba and then to the United States.
Timba Brava: Maroon Music in Cuba
from Rhythms of the Afro-Atlantic World
My essay, “Timba Brava: Maroon Music in Cuba,” describes the historical development and contemporary performance of the Cuban music/dance style called timba.
Shades of Race in Contemporary Cuba
Both Cuba and the U.S. are melting pots, where various racial and national sources feed the continual process of nation building and cultural production.
An excerpt (in Spanish) from a talk entitled "Afro-Latin Diaspora and the Drum"
at Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, Chiclayo, Peru, 2011.
