Rumba Shock

With this BIS recording, rumba may finally break out. "This [album] could be the beginning of a new wave that respects Cuban culture from a rumbero's criteria," predicts Sublette, writing in the album's liner notes. "Or it could be an isolated accomplishment by some producers of great taste and dedication. That decision will get made in Cuba."

Diez currently is negotiating with a U.S. label to release the album here later this year. But for her, the mere fact that the record is finished is sweet, not only because she is pleased with the results, but because the project initiated more musicians in the ways of rumba.

Ned Sublette

The rumba: Still a thrill

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More About

• Cary Diez
• Havana
• Ned Sublette
• Rumba Soy Yo
• Latin Music

"This album was a convocation. I don't think it could have had any title but La Rumba Soy Yo," Diez says. "Not because the rumba is something that belongs to a certain group of people, but because once people discover true rumba, it becomes part of them, and there's no going back."