Editing Salsa music (section)

===1990s: Pop salsa and timba explosion===
[[File:Marc Anthony 2009 White House.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Marc Anthony performing at the White House (2009)]]

The 1990s was marked by "pop salsa" in the US, and the "timba explosion" in Cuba.

[[Sergio George]] produced several albums that mixed salsa with contemporary pop styles with Puerto Rican artists like [[Tito Nieves]], [[La India]], and [[Marc Anthony]]. George also produced the Japanese salsa band [[Orquesta de la Luz]]. [[Brenda K. Starr]], [[Son By Four]], [[Víctor Manuelle]], and the Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan enjoyed crossover success within the Anglo-American pop market with their Latin-influenced hits, usually sung in English.<ref>Steward 2000, pp. 488–499</ref> More often than not, clave was not a major consideration in the composing or arranging of these hits. Sergio George is up front and unapologetic about his attitude towards clave: "Though clave is considered, it is not always the most important thing in my music. The foremost issue in my mind is marketability. If the song hits, that's what matters. When I stopped trying to impress musicians and started getting in touch with what the people on the street were listening to, I started writing hits. Some songs, especially English ones originating in the United States, are at times impossible to place in clave."<ref>Washburne 2008 p. 191. Sergio George quote.</ref> As Washburne points out however, a lack of clave awareness does not always get a pass:

<blockquote>Marc Anthony is a product of George's innovationist approach. As a novice to Latin music, he was propelled into band leader position with little knowledge of how the music was structured. One revealing moment came during a performance in 1994, just after he had launched his salsa career. During a piano solo he approached the timbales, picked up a stick, and attempted to play clave on the clave block along with the band. It became apparent that he had no idea where to place the rhythm. Shortly thereafter during a radio interview in San Juan (Puerto Rico), he exclaimed that his commercial success proved that you did not need to know about clave to make it in Latin music. This comment caused an uproar both in Puerto Rico and New York. After receiving the bad press, Anthony refrained from discussing the subject in public, and he did not attempt to play clave on stage until he had received some private lessons.<ref>Washburne 2008 p. 192</ref></blockquote>

In Cuba, what came to be known as the "timba explosion" began with the debut album of [[La Charanga Habanera]], ''Me Sube La Fiebre'', in 1992.
Like NG La Banda, Charanga Habanera used several new techniques like gear changes and song-specific tumbaos, but their musical style was drastically different and it kept changing and evolving with each album. Charanga Habanera underwent three distinct style periods in the 90s, represented by the three albums<ref>Moore (2010: v. 5: 16).</ref>
[[Manolín "El Médico de la salsa"]], an amateur songwriter discovered and named by El Tosco ([[NG La Banda]]) at med school, was another superstar of the period. Manolín's creative team included several arrangers, including Luis Bu and Chaka Nápoles. As influential as Manolín was from a strictly musical point of view, his charisma, popularity and unprecedented earning power had an even more seismic impact, causing a level of excitement among musicians that had not been seen since the 1950s. Reggie Jackson referred to Manolin as "the straw that stirs the drink."—Moore (2010: v. 5: 18)<ref>Moore (2010: v. 5: 18).</ref>

The term ''salsa cubana'' which had barely taken hold, again fell out of favor, and was replaced with ''timba''. Some of the other important timba bands include Azúcar Negra, [[Manolín "El Médico de la salsa"]], Havana d'Primera, Klimax, [[Paulito FG]], Salsa Mayor, Tiempo Libre, Pachito Alonso y sus Kini Kini, [[Bamboleo (band)|Bamboleo]], Los Dan Den, Alain Pérez, [[Issac Delgado]], Tirso Duarte, Klimax, [[Manolito y su Trabuco]], Paulo FG, and Pupy y Los que Son Son.

Cuban timba musicians and New York salsa musicians have had positive and creative exchanges over the years, but the two genres remained somewhat separated, appealing to different audiences. Nonetheless, in 2000 [[Los Van Van]] were awarded the first ever [[Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album]].

In Colombia, salsa remained a popular style of music producing popular bands like [[Sonora Carruseles]], [[Carlos Vives]], Orquesta Guayacan, [[Grupo Niche]], [[Kike Santander]], and  Julian Collazos. The city of [[Cali]] became known as Colombia's "capital of salsa".<ref>Steward 2000, p. 504</ref> In [[Venezuela]], Cabijazz was playing a unique modern blend of timba-like salsa with a strong jazz influence.