Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance. It originates in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Spanish colonizers and of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves. It is secular, with no religious connections. The details of how it developed are not fully known.^[1]

The term spread in the 1930s and 1940s to the faster popular music of Cuba (the Peanut Vendor was a classic), where it was used as a catch-all term, rather as salsa today. Also, the term is used in the international Latin-American dance syllabus, where it is a misnomer: the music used for this slower dance is the bolero-son.

The term is also used today for various styles of popular music from Spain, as part of the so-called Cantes de ida y vuelta, or music that developed between both sides of the atlantic. Flamenco Rumba in particular is more related to the Guaracha, an ancestor of Cuban Rumba.

[edit] Types

• Cuban Rumba, percussion, song and dance styles that owe their origin to African slaves in Cuba.
• Rumba (dance), international dance styles that correspond to slower Cuban music, such as the bolero-son.
• Flamenco Rumba, a style of flamenco music from Spain also known as Gypsy Rumba or Rumba Gitana.
• African Rumba, a style of music that originated in Congo, and evolved into Soukous music.

[edit] References

1. ^ Orovio, Helio 2004. Cuban music from A to Z. Revised by Sue Steward. ISBN 0822331861 A biographical dictionary of Cuban music, artists, composers, groups and terms. Duke University, Durham NC; Tumi, Bath. p191