Songo
Los Van Van · 1969
- Recorded in
- Cuba
Published
His name was Juan Formell.
A bass player who started a band that became the heartbeat of Cuba.
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To Formell, it meant "Keep moving. Keep getting better." And that's exactly what they did with Cuban music.
They plugged Cuban music in.
Electric bass. Synthesizers. Drum machines. One of the first Cuban dance bands to do it.
They built a new rhythm: songo.
Songo became the foundation timba was built on. Bands like NG La Banda and Charanga Habanera took inspiration from it.
The songs were about real Havana life.
The food, the lovers, the neighbors, the struggle. And often, they meant more than they said.
Fifty years. Still dancing.
Formell kept people dancing until he died in 2014. His son leads the band today. That groove under this carousel? That's songo.
He told Cuba to keep moving. It never stopped.
Where did you first hear Los Van Van? Tell us in the comments. Best songs go on the playlist.