From Cuba to Mexico via ports like Veracruz and Yucatán, guaracha, son montuno and rumba crossed the Gulf, inspiring a new wave of sound. Radios, dance halls and Mexican cinema turned tropical rhythms into part of everyday life. Between the late ’50s and mid ’70s, Mexican Sonoras took that fire, added their own swing, and created a unique tumbao — brass blazing, congas rolling, voices full of sabor.