Members of the Indians tribes Tainos and Caribs were the first slaves brought to the island for the sugar production. Under Spain, they were were forced to speak Spanish and accept Christianity, slaves gave their African gods the names of Christian saints and continued to worship them in their native languages. This form of worship is known has "Santeria", it preserves many African religious, ritual and musical traditions and is still practiced today. In those ceremonies, you can hear West African rhythms in their nearly original form. The hourglass shape bata drum is used in Santeria to contact the orichas (deities believed to represent and control the forces of nature.

The son, one important form the the merging of African and Spanish influences resulted in, it is the root of most familiar styles of Afro-Cuban dance music. A blend of the music of the Spanish farmers (campesinos) and African slaves, it is believed to have originated toward the end of the 19th century slavery was abolish in 1878), in Oriente, the eastern province of Cuba. It was played by small bands, using guitar or tres, maracas, guiro, claves, bongo, a marimbula and a botija. The more urban style played in Havana at the beginning of the century became a national style in 1920.

In the '20s, the addition of a string bass to replace the marimbula and botija and a trumpet were the main additions to the son. A great blind tres player, Arsenio Rodrigez revolutionized the son in the late 30s. He expanded the form by including tumbadora (conga drum), a cowbell, a piano and two additional trumpets. With Rodrigez, the escribillo section (call-and-response) became a full blown montuno or mambo section, with heavy rhythms to backup solos. This later gave rise to the dance we know as the mambo.