Biography of NG La Banda

NG La Banda is a Cuban musical group founded by flutist José Luis Cortés. NG stands for "nueva generación" - next generation. In the late 80's this group was founded with musicians like Elpidio Chapottin (trumpet), Feliciano Arango, Rodolfo Argudin-Peruchin (piano), Tony Cala (voice), Issac Delgado (voice), German Velasco (sax), and Giraldo Piloto (drums), among others. NG La Banda is probably best known for coining and "inventing" the style of Cuban music called Timba. Fronted by the eccentric flautist, Jose Luis Cortés, La Banda became known as the music of the people, emanating from the barrios and the poorest parts of Havana, yet many intellectuals deemed it too dirty and vulgar to be a valid art form. Cortes became known as "El Tosco" or "Rude Boy" because of his sexual lyrics and unabashed stage and street presence. As a result of NG La Banda's trailblazing and revolutionizing sound, many more Timba bands sprung up throughout the 1990's. NG LA Banda undoubtedly had a groundbreaking impact on the Cuban Music scene and even internationally. "The intellectuals say that timba is crap," Cortés says. "But this is a racist concept. Cuban popular music has always been the music of the people, of the poor barrios, where there are very few whites. This is the music that comes from below, that makes people want to dance. But just because people dance to it doesn't mean it's not as serious as any other serious music. Timba is not your father's, or your grandfather's, Cuban music; not the sweet traditional sounds of the international hit Buena Vista Social Club. Timba is the sound of Cuba now, a rhythmically dense, relentlessly energetic music played by highly skilled musicians for a demanding dance-floor audience, with lyrics that draw from and become part of the language of the streets."