Afro-Cuban percussion contributes essential characteristics to the richness of Latin American musical folklore, and its rhythmic systems hold a complexity and sophistication that deserve greater study among both learned and popular musical spheres.

In Conga Drums in Space and Time, author Jorge Pardo presents an exploration of the surprising ways rhythms can create three-dimensional space when properly structured, considering Afro-Cuban percussion in particular. He charts the emotional excitement felt by listeners when exposed to syncopated rhythms using a thought-provoking theory...