While English is its dominant language, the United States has long been a Latin-American as well as Anglo-American nation-state. This critical edition of the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans shows that while its music was notable for an in-group Cuban sensibility, Machito's organization was essentially a U.S. band, not a Cuban band. This North Americanness manifests itself in reception as well as in musical style.

The edition presents several sides of Machito and his Afro-Cubans' repertoire: 1) vocal numbers featuring the group's two lead singers (Frank "Machito" Grillo and Graciela); 2) a jazz soloist (Charlie Parker); and 3) arrangements representing the band's three major arrangers, including the early period of Cuban dance music (dominated by arranger José Madera); the jazz-tinged mambo style (dominated by René Hernandez); and the bebop oriented style (dominated by Chico O'Farrill).