Snapshots from Cuba; Cuban music at EMP popular music summit next month in Seattle


Cuban music researcher Ned Sublette (of "Afropop Worldwide" radio show and Qbadisc records fame) sends BoingBoing these snapshots he took on a recent trip to Cuba. Ned leads escorted tours of Cuba with other experts on the music, culture, and history of the island; listen to sounds from their latest trip here. Next month, he'll be participating in the EMP pop music conference in Seattle (admission for non-members is $55). This annual event is put on by the Experience Music Project, a museum founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen that combines "interactive and interpretive exhibits to tell the story of the creative, innovative and rebellious expression that defines American popular music." From the event website:

EMP's annual Pop Music Studies Conference celebrates the diversity of ways one can talk about music, bringing together leading academics and writers, thoughtful musicians, and dedicated listeners for a jampacked long weekend of panels. This year's conference theme, "Skip a Beat: Rewriting the Story of Popular Music," has produced work on a range of topics, including politics and pop; rock’s avant-garde; Bob Dylan; African music; riot grrl; jazz fusion; and the Ego Trip collective spinning a wheel of topics that includes "Will the Real 'New Tupac' Please Stand Up?" About 100 papers or other presentations will be given at the conference, which begins with a welcome reception and keynote by Greil Marcus the evening of Thursday, April 10; continues all day Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12; and concludes with early panels and a wrap-up session the morning of Sunday, April 13.

Link to EMP conference details, More of Ned's Cuba snapshots: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Discuss