THE RUSH

I distinctly remember the first time I experienced that Timba adrenaline rush myself. It was February, 1999 -- my first night ever in Havana, Cuba -- and that night, in no uncertain terms, marked the birth of this website. When I walked into the La Cecilia nightclub to hear "El Médico de la Salsa", a group I had never heard of, I was unfamiliar with even the word "Timba". When I walked out I was completely unable to think about anything else. I spent the next four years of my life returning to Cuba and studying Timba in every possible way, and the live recordings I brought back inspired Bruce Ishikawa to create www.timba.com.

Like many of you, I'd been awaiting this disc for over a year and I tore open the shipping envelope like a hungry bear and played it at full volume. The opening moments overwhelmed me. After a brief overdubbed a capella harmonization of the infamous el puente coro, the roar of the crowd fades in and the band soars into a neck-twisting rollercoaster ride -- one of the most intense show-opening arrangements since Issac Delgado's La temática -- three choruses of driving Latin Jazz blues in Gmi and then a turnaround riff that lifts you up off of your feet only to slam you down hard into a dramatic and completely unexpected F# pedal and one of Chaka Nápoles' most vicious piano tumbaos. With my eyes closed and my headphones cranked, that was all it took to transport me back to La Cecilia with my heart pounding and my jaw on the ground. [audio example 1]