Cuban salsa or timba is often considered fast and energetic, even pushingly so. But in reality, there's a whole spectrum of music under that umbrella, including songs that have somehow "softer" or "gentlier" vibe. That vibe might come from the harmony, the energy of the solist singer or the sound of the instrumentation. These songs are awesome to dance to!

The list has 12 carefully selected songs, where the gentleness or smoothness is created in various ways: from the timba ballad vibe of La Calentura to the soul-esque Cama Gigante or the interesting harmonies of Relación Internacional.

Note! Son music sounds often more "chill" than salsa or timba music, but this list is specifically about music that is danceable as Cuban salsa (or casino) instead of son.

Every song is "fresh" in it's own way. For example:
💥 Gasolina de Avion and Se Terminó are honest pop-ish timba songs.
🎶 Ella, Asi Como Yo and Iguales y Diferentes are very pop-ish salsa songs with a delicate intro but anthem-type energetic coros in the end!
🔥 Yo Estoy Bien, Tu Boca and Chica Pasarela represent the timba end of the playlist, with a "fresh" take!

Game: How many mentions of "salsa fresh" do you hear during the playlist?

There are countless bands and artists that record under the laber "salsa", and some will have even dozens of albums spanning multiple decades. On this list, I have gathered three songs from each artist or band. The songs reflect their music in the context of social dance parties of today.

Los Van Van
One of the most important groups of Cuban popular dance music. The group was formed in 1969 by Juan Formell, and it's musicians have changed throught the years. In the 70's, Los Van Van developed the music style songo via combining son, rumba and international pop music. A big part of the Cuban popular salsa and timba music of today is on this same continuum.

Adalberto Álvarez y Su Son
The music of the late Álvarez combines the aesthetics of classic son and modern Cuban popular dance music, both in it's energy and musical forms. He was one of the major players of modernized son music both before and after the year 2000.

Elito Revé y su Charangón
The heavy roller of Cuban popular dance music! Pushing energy and hitting grooves, no unnecessary ballads but being 100% itself. The foundation of the group's sound and rhythms is in modernized changüí and timba music. Note that the group was founded in 1956 by Elito's father Elio Revé, so sometimes the artist name can change between the two on albums that were released mid 2000's or earlier.

Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera
I still remember when I got my hands on HDP's first album in the summer of 2009. Musically ambitious, utilizing the entire spectrum of Cuban popular dance music, it was powerful and dynamic. Timba at its best! Since then, the band has become perhaps the biggest and best-known name in the Cuban music scene today. I chose some older songs for the list, ones that you might not hear at every party nowadays, so that there would be something new on the list even for more active salsa dancers!

Eduardo Sandoval
A new name to many, but Sandoval has a long career in Cuban dance music as a musician (trombone, especially in jazz music). As a singer and composer, he has made just under 10 singles in collaboration with various artists. The music is really fresh, interesting, and "tightly composed." Most songs last only 3-4 minutes, but they manage to go through the entire structure of timba music, with all its changes!

Alain Pérez
One of my current favorite artists: interesting music that breaks genre boundaries and stimulates the brain in a unique way. Pérez was involved in creating today's timba music in the 1990s, and released his first album under his own name in 2014. The songs are also very diverse, ranging from sensitive salsa ballads to boleros, groovy timba with unique tumbaos, classic salsa aesthetics, and modernized son. The songs usually have many musical layers, which is why you can still discover new aspects in old songs even after many years!