Cuba: The Ultimate Salsa Collection, issued by ARC in 2018, assembles 29 tracks that traverse Cuba’s rich salsa lineage, with emphases on son cubano and timba. The anthology gathers recordings from notable figures such as Rafael Borrego Peña, Cesar Pedroso, and Mayito Rivera, presenting pieces like “Aquel Amor” and “Harley Davidson de Cuba.” The compilation’s breadth offers a survey of Cuban salsa’s rhythms and phrasing, spotlighting the intricate percussion and brass interplay characteristic of the island’s dance music traditions.Among the varied selections, “Reunión de Cantores” stands as a featured track, exemplifying the vocal call-and-response and syncopated grooves that underpin the genre’s vitality. Listeners may find in this set a useful reference for the evolving salsa idioms that have flourished in Cuba, reflected in the contributions of artists like Elsa Torres and Joe Gallardo. The album serves as an archival signal of Cuba’s salsa canon circa the early 21st century.

Cuba: The Ultimate Salsa Collection, issued by ARC in 2018, assembles 29 tracks that traverse Cuba’s rich salsa lineage, with emphases on son cubano and timba. The anthology gathers recordings from notable figures such as Rafael Borrego Peña, Cesar Pedroso, and Mayito Rivera, presenting pieces like “Aquel Amor” and “Harley Davidson de Cuba.” The compilation’s breadth offers a survey of Cuban salsa’s rhythms and phrasing, spotlighting the intricate percussion and brass interplay characteristic of the island’s dance music traditions.Among the varied selections, “Reunión de Cantores” stands as a featured track, exemplifying the vocal call-and-response and syncopated grooves that underpin the genre’s vitality. Listeners may find in this set a useful reference for the evolving salsa idioms that have flourished in Cuba, reflected in the contributions of artists like Elsa Torres and Joe Gallardo. The album serves as an archival signal of Cuba’s salsa canon circa the early 21st century.