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Sue Miller – Cuban Flute Improviser, Writer & Academic

‘Globalized Incuriosity’ on the UK Latin and World Music ScenesSeptember 4th, 2013

Downloadable from here: Journal of European Popular Culture

Perceptions of authenticity in the performance of Cuban popular music in the United Kingdom: ‘Globalized incuriosity’ in the promotion and reception of uK-based Charanga del Norte’s music since 1998

Authors:  Sue Miller
DOI: 10.1386/jepc.4.1.99_1

Since its inception, my band has featured musicians from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, Charanga del Norte features more female musicians than most UK Latin bands. As I show, most promoters marketing the group have tended towards exoticization, using essentialized images of Latin culture, with an emphasis on not just the Cuban but all the Latin American members of the band. This meant the group was originally promoted as a northern UK-based salsa band, although audiences and promoters gradually became more aware of other forms of traditional Cuban music as a result of the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon. Promotion of us at World Music events has taken a slightly different stance and focussed more on publicizing the African roots of our ‘Afro-Cuban’ music

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