Javier Garcia was born in Madrid to a Cuban father and spent his earliest years in Spain before heading to boarding school in Ireland (from whence his mother comes), finishing high school in Miami after the age of 16. So what kind of Spanish accent does he have? Well, by his own admission, something of a Cuban one when he sings, a kind of a Spanish one when he talks… (we called him and asked!)

Amparo Sanchez – una cantante y guitarrista de España – no se atemoriza de mezclar géneros, geografías e influencias. En la página web de su banda Amparanoia, explica: “Mi paranoia es la música y la idea era mezclar ritmos y etilos, divirtiendome desde la rumba hasta la ranchaera, o el bolero y el ska…” (Por supuesto, Amparo + paranoia = Amparanoia.) Escuchen el tema del 2006 “La vida te da” y oigan la rumba Afro-cubana interpretada por esta talentosa española.

We’ve all heard of the bolero, which has its modern roots in nineteenth century Santiago de Cuba (even though we might not be able to hum one on cue). But what about the cuartetazo? Born in Córdoba, Argentina, and derived from Spanish and Italian dances, the name is derived from the fact that the earliest players were invariably four-piece bands. The rhythm is similar to merengue.