In a brief interview published in the Tropicana                       International magazine (Nº 5,1997), the extremely                       popular Puerto Rican singer Andy Montañez stated                       that salsa  is not a rhythm but a mixture, "...                       a hybrid born of the guaguancó , the rumba ,                       the son montuno , the plena , the bomba  and                       even the merengue ... ". And he added: "I                       have always believed that the roots of this type of music                       are embedded here in Cuba."  This statement affirms                       what we intend to ratify, since apparently not everybody                       is clear on this: salsa  is                     not a rhythm in itself, but a name that embraces different                     musical genres, under a commercial label that succesfully                     launched a product to the market.  
Nevertheless, the                     relevance of   salsa  in                     the international dissemination of several Caribbean   dancing                     music is beyond doubt. Also beyond doubt is its own development                     and its impact on the work of musicians who in countries                     like Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela                     and others, have based their work on Latin dancing rhythms.                     Thus, a sort of feedback has luckily existed, and composers                     and musicians engaged in musical arrangements in the country                     have taken advantage of it when creating their own interpretations                     of a contemporary and novel   dancing music.  
In                     Cuba, for instance, this feedback, together with our own                     internal musical development and the talent of creative young                     musicians, gave birth to the so-called Cuban                     salsa first   and timba later,                     with a sound and style quite different from that of New York                     and Puerto Rico salsa , but unquestionable influenced                     by the salsero movement at the very beginning.
Salsa  music                     appeared in New York City during the 60´s, though many                     years before, Cuban rhythms and the work of our musicians                     were known there, due to their performances since early in                     the 20th century. The Matamoros trio, for example, was so                     successful that it even made some recordings there, thus                     making the Cuban son,  the guaracha and                     other rhythms present in that great city.
During the first                     years of the 30´s, the                     Cuban musician Don Aspiazu arrived in New York with his orchestra,                     with Mario Bauzá as one of its members and Antonio                     Machín as its singer. With them   the popularity                     of the son  grew to the point of being always present                     in NY music world. Cuban rhythms, increasingly popular, have                     been and are still introduced in the work of many Latin musicians                     living there. Years later, with the creation of the Afro                     Cubans by the Cuban singer "Machito" and under Mario Bauzá's                     musical direction, the foundations of the so-called Latin                     jazz were laid with the incorporation of our rhythms to this                     important manifestation.  At the beginning of the 60´s, an entire                     Latin and Cuban musical atmosphere already existed in New                     York. There was also a great number of Cuban and Puerto Rican                     musicians, among other Latin Americans, living in the great                     city and striving to go ahead in life. There was, therefore,                     a great diversity of rhythms and musicians, a true sauce                     with multiple spices to be promoted and launched to the market.                     In this "sauce", Cuban ingredients, having the son  as                 its main spice, turned into the predominant flavor.