Biography
Among the singular voices defining New York’s late-twentieth-century music world, Ned Sublette ranked among its hardest to categorize, an achievement in a city whose experimental circles thrive on defying classification. His signature approach fused Cuban and country idioms in ways few had attempted. A Texas native who settled in New York in 1976, he explored numerous musical avenues before salsa captured his attention, among them formal conservatory training in classical guitar and composition, ethnomusicological research in New Mexico, and collaborations with John Cage, LaMonte Young, Glenn Branca, and Peter Gordon. During the early 1980s his Ned Sublette Band operated as a refined variant of cowpunk.
Sublette immersed himself in salsa during the 1980s and turned more decisively toward Cuban music following his initial visit to Cuba in 1990. Through his QBadisc imprint he has issued Cuban recordings in the United States and served as executive producer for Latin artists including Ritmo Oriental and Isaac Delgado. He also acted as senior co-producer for Public Radio International’s Afropop Worldwide program and, as of 1999, was completing a book on Cuban music. That same year he issued Cowboy Rumba, an album that wove the country music of his Texas origins together with Latin elements through partnerships with players from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and New York’s salsa circles.
Sublette immersed himself in salsa during the 1980s and turned more decisively toward Cuban music following his initial visit to Cuba in 1990. Through his QBadisc imprint he has issued Cuban recordings in the United States and served as executive producer for Latin artists including Ritmo Oriental and Isaac Delgado. He also acted as senior co-producer for Public Radio International’s Afropop Worldwide program and, as of 1999, was completing a book on Cuban music. That same year he issued Cowboy Rumba, an album that wove the country music of his Texas origins together with Latin elements through partnerships with players from Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and New York’s salsa circles.
Albums
