Putumayo Presents Cuba

Beautiful and surprising music from this often-overlooked Spanish Carribbean country.

While the music of Cuba and Puerto Rico has been making headlines recently, Putumayo World Music travelled to the often-overlooked Spanish Caribbean country, the Dominican Republic, to discover some of the most beautiful and surprising music we've ever heard. The collection is a tribute to the music and culture of a fascinating Caribbean country and will appeal to fans of Latin, African and world music. If you like Cuban music, you'll love this exploration of bachata, merengue and son from the Dominican Republic.

Like its Spanish Caribbean cousins, Cuba and Puerto Rico, Dominican culture is a blend of African and Spanish elements with hints of a long-lost Native American legacy. While pop merengue hits have dominated the Latin popular music scene for some time, the local music of the Dominican people remains largely undiscovered outside of the community. Republica Dominicana features rootsy Dominican son (a cousin of the Cuban version) and traditional merengue, the bouncy Caribbean party music for which the country is best known. The focus, however, is on bachata, a fascinating blend of African percussion, Iberian melodies, and sly, prominent guitar playing that sounds like a mixture of West African soukous, South American harp and Spanish flamenco.