Decades before that, Ferrer specialized in boleros, slow, romantic songs that were the popular music of Cuba in the 1950s.

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Salsa's success also testifies to the enduring appeal of son, the dance music of Batista's Cuba of the 1950s from which salsa derived.

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When he was a student, much of Cuba's traditional music was off limits.

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Born in Cuba to a family of musicians, Nicola performed around the world and composed music for films and theatre during a career that spanned more than 40 years.

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Septen was co-founded in 1948 in the northern city of Cap-Haitien by saxophonist Ulrich Pierre Louis at a time when most Haitian bands were playing music from neighboring Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

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