En la Calle

Directo al Corazon	Lo Ultimo En Vivo This is the way to hear what one of Cuba's top bands can do--live. Under the leadership of bass player Juan Formell, it's a nonstop party, recorded in 1996 on their home turf, in Havana's Salon Rosado de la Tropical, before a decidedly partisan crowd. And the band certainly r...	En Primera Plana	Ya No Hace Falta	Yo No Me Parezco a Nadie
Chapeando	Te Gusto O Te Caigo Bien	The Best of Los Van Van For 30 years, Los Van Van have been Cuba's finest dance band. Under the direction of bassist Juan Formell, the group created its own style called songo, which updated the traditional charanga blend of flute and violins with trombones, electronic keyboards, and three powerfully ch...	Pupy el Buenagente	Asi Soy

Start here. This is the very definition of Timba by the band who started the movement.
Buena vista was not the golden age of Cuban music. The golden age is now, ushered in by NG and Timba. If you're not familiar with cuban music, and a song starts out slow, stick with it and wait for the "Mambo", which in modern parlance is the frenetic jam session of the song that usually starts about 2/3 way to the end. Thats when the flames erupt and the smoke billows. I dare you to try to sit still in your chair cuando suenan los metales del terror. Ataca Chico. Also see timba dot com, extensive article on NG la banda.

The birth of Timba!
NG La Banda is widely considered the original Timba band. It was NG and their founder/leader, Jose Luis Cortes "El Tosco," that really originated the Timba style of Cuban salsa (with influences from Irakere and Los Van Van, whom Tosco had played with prior to forming NG). This CD is actually a compilation of their top hits from their first two releases in Cuba, and features the original band members, including vocalist Isaac Delgado, drummer Giraldo Piloto, conguero Juan "Wickly" Nogueras, and the rest of the amazing NG cast. Every cut on this CD absolutely smokes! The compositions and arrangements are dynamic and sophisticated, with strong jazz, funk, and other influences. The vocals are great, the percussion intense, and the horns (known as "los metales del terror" - the terror horns) are phenomenal. This band is still arguably one of Cuba's best, although they have fallen a bit behind with the development of the Timba style from the younger bands. However, they are still top notch and I'm quite sure that they have some surprises in store for the future. If you really want to hear the origins of Timba and what NG La Banda is capable of, this CD is the place to start. It is simply awsome!

A Necessary Album
Despite NG's recent decline (pretty much after "Cabaret Panoramico," another great album), I still think it fair to label this as the most influential Cuban album of the last decade. It is a must for any collector of modern Cuban music, although someone only familiar with Buena Vista and the folkloric music that has been so heavily promoted recently may not enjoy it.If you like to get down, though, it's pretty hard to do better than this CD. Not a single track is a throw away and the first song, a homage to La Habana's different barrios, is practically legend in Cuba. Get it -- you'll probably play it repeatedly for years without getting sick of it, like I do.