NG La Banda: The Birth of Timba

If Los Van Van laid the groundwork with songo, it was NG La Banda that lit the fuse on timba — and gave the genre its name.^[1]

El Tosco's new generation

NG La Banda — "NG" for nueva generación — was founded in 1988 by the flutist and composer José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés, who, along with much of his horn section, came directly from the pioneering Cuban band Irakere.^[1] Cortés's vision was to fuse the popular dance appeal of Los Van Van with the jazz sophistication and virtuosity of Irakere.^[1]

Crystallizing timba

After several years of experimentation, NG La Banda recorded "En La Calle" (1989), widely considered the first true timba album.^[1] The band's aggressive brass, dense Afro-Cuban grooves, and street-wise lyrics defined the new sound, and Cortés himself is the figure most often credited with coining the very word "timba" to describe it.^[1]

Why it matters

NG La Banda turned the innovations of songo into a full-blown genre and dominated Cuban dance floors through the 1990s, putting Cuban music back at the center of the Spanish-Caribbean dance scene.^[1] As both the creators and namers of timba, the band — and El Tosco — stand at the very heart of modern Cuban popular music.^[2]