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The rules for the lyrics are complex and particularly difficult to execute
since
the lyrics are composed on the spot: The song is composed of 10 lines,
consisting
of 5 couplets of 2 lines each Each line of the couplet has 8 syllables
The
syllable count is complicated by rules covering adjacent sounds The rhyming
structure has the form: A B B A A C C D D C Vicente Martinez de Espinel was
a Spanish writer and musician who revived the décima, using Andalusian
Jíbaro
traditions and medieval
Moorish influences. The two varieties are seis,
a dance music, and aguinaldo,
derived
from Spanish Christmas carols.
Seis
The seis originated in the later half of the 17th century in the southern part
of Spain.
The word means six, which may have come from the custom of having
six couples
perform the dance, though many more couples eventually became quite
common.
Men and women form separate lines down the hall or in an open place
of beaten
earth, one group facing the other. The lines would approach and cross
each other and
at prescribed intervals the dancers would tap out the rhythm
with their feet.
The melodies and harmonies are simple, usually performed on the cuatro,
guitar,
and güiro, although other indigenous instruments are used depending
on
the available musicians. The 2/4 rhythm is maintained by the güiro and
guitar.
Guaracha
A lively and highly danceable music style with lyrics, originating in Spain.
Characterized mostly by its rhytm, it is generally played with a bolero section
in 2/4 time and a clave section in either 6/8 or 3/4 time, although the order
of
these sections is sometimes reversed. Typically, a guaracha ends with a
sensual
rumba section. La Negra Tomasa composed in the 1940's, is an interesting
(only vocals and percussion), example of this genre. Another example is
Corneta
sung by Daniel Santos. The guaracha came to Puerto Rico from Cuba
in the mid-19th
century, and developed into the jíbaro style that most closely
approaches
contemporary Latin dance rhythms.
Aguinaldo
The Aguinaldo is similar to Christmas carols, except that they are usually sung
in a parranda, which is rather like a lively parade that moves from house to
house
in the neighborhood, looking for holiday food and drink. The melodies were
subsequently used for the improvisational décima and seis. There are aguinaldos
that are usually sung in churches or religious services, while there are aguinaldos
that are more popular and are sung in the parrandas.
Types of Aguinaldos include: Aguas Buenas,Aguinaldos-cadenas, aguinaldos-
plenas,
aguinaldos-seises, aguinaldos-villancicos, bombas navideñas, cabayos,
cadenas, Cagüeño, Costanero o Costeño, de Trulla, guarachas
navideñas,
Isabelino, Jíbaro, Lamento, Manola, Parranda, plenas
navideñas, Yabucoeño,
and Yumac.
Plena
Plena is a narrative song from the coastal regions of Puerto Rico, especially
around Ponce. Its origins have been various claimed as far back as 1875
and
as late as 1920. As rural farmers moved to San Juan and other cities,
they
brought plena with them and eventually added horns and improvised
call and
response vocals. Lyrics generally deal with stories or current events,
though
some are light-hearted or humorous. Manuel A. Jiménez, or El Canario,
is the most highly celebrated of the original plena performers.
In the 1940s and 50s, artists like Cesar Concepción and Mon Rivera
made
plena slicker and made some hits internationally, but the music's popularity
sunk drastically by the mid-1960s.
Plena's popularity blossomed in the 1990s, and the revival has survived and
influenced foreign genres from Jamaica, Cuba, Brazil and other Latin and
Caribbean
countries. Artists like Willie Colón united plena and bomba with
salsa
music to great critical acclaim and popularity, while other important bands
of this revival include Plena Libre (long-time leaders of the genre) and Plenealo.
Son and mambo
Son and mambo are types of Cuban music that became very popular in Puerto
Rico
in the 1930s. Puerto Rican migrants soon brought the music to New York City,
where it evolved into salsa music in the early 1950s.
Salsa
Latin music on the island today is most widely represented by salsa, which
in
English means sauce. Salsa, which is essentially Cuban son and son montuno
in both rhythm, stylistic origin, and instrumentation, underwent several stylistic
modifications in El Barrio of New York City, where a large number of migrants
from Puerto Rico settled. In the late 1960s, Puerto Ricans added to and expanded
this Cuban music genre with influences from rock music, Puerto Rican plena,
Cuban son montuno, chachachá, mambo, rumba, cumbia and Latin jazz. Famous
Puerto Ricans in the early years of salsa included such artists as Richie Ray,
Bobby Cruz, Papo Lucca, Tommy Olivencia, Héctor Lavoe, Bobby Valentin,
Luis "Perico" Ortiz and Tite Curet Alonso.
The 1980s experienced the rise of "salsa romantica" and such artists
as
Frankie Ruiz, Willie Gonzalez, Tommy Olvencia and Eddie Santiago,
who sang
a softer and more romantic version of salsa.
In Puerto Rico, the debate between aficionados of Spanish rock and fans of
salsa music had become part of a class antagonism between the growing middle
class on the island until the arrival of reggaeton.
As to instrumentation, salsa music uses a heavy and varied bass line, with
percussion instruments such as the conga, maraca, bongo, timbales, claves
and
a cowbell. Horns and wind instruments also play a very important part in the
music.
Boogaloo
Boogaloo or Bugalu (shing-a-ling, popcorn music) is a genre of Latin music
and
dance that was very popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo
originated
in New York City among teenage Cubans and Puerto Ricans. The style
was a fusion
of popular African American R&B, rock and roll and soul with
mambo and son montuno.
Boogaloo entered the mainstream through the American
Bandstand television program.
Puerto Rican Pop music
In the 1940s and 50s, the city of New York established itself as a melting
pot of
Latinos from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia,
Mexico
and elsewhere in Latin America. The result was a series of big band
groups becoming
major stars playing rumba, mambo, Latin jazz and chachachá.
The Morales Brothers,
Rafael Cortijo and Tito Rodríguez are probably
the best-known Puerto Rican stars
of the period.
Out of Cortijo's band came Rafael Ithier, who formed El Gran Combo in 1963
in
order to create a popular dance music based on Cortijo's plena roots. The
band
was successful within a few years when "Akangana" became a major
hit.
In the 1970s, Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants in New York City produced
salsa music by adding rock elements to native forms like plena.
Several international pop-stars have come from Puerto Rico or are of Puerto
Rican
descent, including Danny Rivera, and Chucho Avellanet, alongside Chayanne,
Jennifer Lopez (although she's a native New Yorker), Luis Miguel, (born in
P.R.
although he's of Spaniard and Italian descent and raised in Mexico), Ednita
Nazario,
Nydia Caro, Yolandita Monge, Lucecita Benitez, Noelia, Luis Fonsi,
Obie Bermudez,
and Ricky Martin. Boy bands like Menudo and Los Chicos also
topped charts
worldwide for a period, and began the careers of Martin and Chayanne,
respectively.
Menudo has been recognized by many around the world to be history's
greatest
boy band; but this title is debatable nowadays, with the success generated
by The
Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Menudo's phenomenal fame reached the United
States, the rest of Latin America, Europe and Asia. During the group's golden
era
of the early 1980s, the terms Menudomania and Menuditis were invented
Latin House
In the second half of the 1980s, some the pioneers of house music of
Latin-American
descent gave birth to this genre by releasing house records in
Spanish. Early
examples include "Amor puertoriqueño" by Raz on DJ International
and "Break 4 Love" by Raze. However, the undisputed queen without
a crown
was the American-Puerto Rican singer Liz Torres, who released Spanish
versions
of her songs "Can't Get Enough", "Mama's Boy" and "Payback
Is A Bitch".
Freestyle
In 1984, Puerto Ricans in New York were beginning their own sound of Freestyle
music. The single that many consider the first true Latin Hip-Hop record (was
not
called Freestyle until much later) was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam's "I
Wonder If I Take
You Home." The song was originally signed to Personal
Records in New York and
not released in the U.S. It was licensed to CBS Records
in England and became a
big club record on import. The response the record
received from the Latin Hip-Hop
clubs led Columbia Records to pick up the single
for U S release where it became an
anthem for teen-age girls. The song reached
#34 on the Pop charts in August of
1985 and Lisa Lisa became a role model for
young Hispanics all over her hometown
of New York. Then came other Freestyle
artists that were Puerto Rican such as
Marc Anthony, Cynthia, George LaMond,
La India, Judy Torres, TKA, Lil Suzy and
Lissette Melendez. India and Marc
would later get more recognition when they
stopped singing Freestyle music
and began singing Salsa.
Afro-Rican jazz
Afro-Rican jazz is an original concept developed by trombonist, composer/
arranger
William Cepeda that celebrates the heritage of Puerto Rican music
and its African
roots while creating a new shade of jazz with a hip flavor. Steeped
in the
jazz tradition (having studied and performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Lester
Bowie,
Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, David Murray and Donald Byrd among others),
Cepeda
developed this unique artistic expression by incorporating a contemporary
jazz
perspective with the musical and cultural traditions of his homeland, Puerto
Rico.
Reggaeton
There are two existing versions of reggaeton origin: some say that it originated
in
Panama, others argue that this musical direction comes from Puerto Rico.
That is
actually where the majority of reggaeton singers come from.
Reggaeton actually
developed from Jamaican Reggae, but was certainly influenced
by various other musical directions, like for example, North American Hip-Hop
and Puerto Rican rhythms.
But let's first take a look at the Spanish-speaking rap and reggae that have
made
an essential contribution to the development of reggaeton.
Reggae developed in
the 70's in Jamaica and has gone through numerous changes
since then, having been combined with other sounds and rhythms. Panama was
the
first place where Reggae was performed (by Chicho Man) in Spanish, while
the first
Spanish rap (performed by Vico C) appeared in Puerto Rico. It all
happened in 1985,
and in the years to come this movement arrived in other Latin
American countries as
well as in the United States.
During this peak of Spanish-speaking music movement,
Vico C managed to make a
breakthrough with his Spanish rap and "merengue house" (a mixture
of rap and meregue).
In the 90's, one began talking about typical Panamanian Spanish
reggae (commonly
confused with reggaeton). In Puerto Rico one began listening not only to rap
but also
to Jamaican reggae, which had a great success there.
The first reggae songs, heard
in Puerto Rico were, for instance, "Dembow" by
Nando
Boom, "Pantalon caliente" by Pocho Pan, "Dulce" by
La Atrevida or also international
successes performed by Gringo Man and El
gran General, such as "Muevelo"
and "Son bow".
The first sounds resembling modern reggaeton, appeared
in Puerto Rico in "The
Noise"
disco between 1993 and 1994, where one listened to the rap of Vico
C, containing
Jamaican sounds.
In Puerto Rico, reggaeton was first referred to as " Underground",
mainly due to its
often coarse lyrics and unvarnished language and also because
it used to be distributed
secretly among young people.
Romantiqueo
A recent sound known as "Romantikeo", is very similar to American
R&B. It is a
fusion of Reggaeton, pop, & R&B, but resembles R&B
the most. Many artists such
as Arcangel, De La Ghetto, RKM & Ken-Y, Zion
Y Lennox, Don Omar, Wisin Y
Yandel, Jowell & Randy, & more.
Example are Zion featuring Akon song tilte The Way She Moves. Another example
is
Calle 13 (band) song tilte Un beso de Desayuno.
Rap
A specialized style of rap exists in Puerto Rico that reflects its ambiguous
yet evolving
identity as a musical community. Recently, the messages found
in underground rap
songs have been provocative and assertive. Rap group El
Sindicato and rock band
Fiel a la Vega collaborated in creating the politically-conscious
song, "O Luchamos o
Nos Entregamos" (Either We Fight or We Give In).[1]
Religious activism can be
found in the song Amor al Rescate song "Somos
Hermanos" (We Are Brothers).
Assimilating English into his mostly Spanish
song Poesia Subterranea, Puerto Rican
rapper SieteNueve incorporates fundamental
aspects of hip-hop into his music video,
such as graffiti and breakdancing,
and he also expresses appreciation of his hometown,
Villa Palmeras. As songs
such as SieteNueve's are underground, and not too mainstream,
in Puerto Rico,
they receive even less attention elsewhere around the world.
descarga (lit. “unloading”) – Jam session format in Latin
music in
which the musicians “unload” their best licks. Developed
by Cuban
musicians in the late 1950s and going strong today.
Fania – Record label
created in New York in 1964 by Jerry
Masucci and
Johnny Pacheco to promote Latin music. The Fania
label, known as “The
Latin Motown,” is synonymous with the
rocketed popularity of the music
through the late 70s, which fused
Cuban standards with modern lyrics and the
buzz of jazz, soul, r’n’b
and rock.
frame – The base of connection in salsa dancing, it can be open
or closed,
but always involves an intimate circle of conscious
energy. Helpful metaphors
include a suspension bridge, or a
slightly elastic chalice V -ing between the
two partners. See
also masacote.
guaguancó (folkloric) – Up-tempo flirtation or sexual
courtship
dance of the Cuban folkloric rumba complex that sometimes
mimics the motions
of rooster and hen. Also, the melodic rhythm
behind it, often brought into
salsa music, which originatied in
Matanzas circa 1880, and is traditionally
sung a capella in
call-and-response pattern, with claves, palitos and three
congas including a soloing player on quinto.
guajeo – Repeated rhythmic
cycle of notes or chords
(a.k.a. montuno
or vamp) played on stringed instruments
like tres, guitar and violin. This
is the rhythmic stream that
propels the son and similar Cuban music.
guajira – In music it refers to
a rhythm and style that incorporates
a tres guitar or two, a piano, and slow, smooth percussion. Its
exuberant,
escapist style usually includes a celebration of the
beauties of nature and
of women, often coaxed along by a liberal
flow of rum and cigars. Can also
refer to a woman from the country
as in the Cuban classic, “Guantanamera.”
guaracha – Cuban form
similar to the son, but higher in tempo
and adhering
strictly to a four line verse structure. Possibly
deriving its name from guaracheonce
a mainstay of Cuban comic
theater, the guaracha includes playful, roguish and
sometimes
bawdy lyrics.
guira – A metal version of the guiro, originally a pointed
metal
cylinder
designed to grate vegetables but transformed into an
upbeat timepiece when
vigorously scraped with a metal stick
or Afro haircomb in merengue and bachata
groups.
guiro – A legacy of the Caribbean Indians, these serrated
gourds are
scratched with a stick, used especially in cha-cha-chá.
Jibaro – Caribbean
term for a person from the country, the hills,
people
normally regarded as humble, unsophisticated, hard
working—the salt of
the earth, if you will. Sometimes a certain
music indigenous to the Islands,
especially Puerto Rico, is
called “Jibaro music.”
lao gung – Energy points in the center
of the palm, important
to consider
and feel as part of your partner connection. Try
gathering a “Chi ball’ by
slowly drawing your palms together
without touching, pulsing the palms gently
but with intention.
macho – A term describing strong or potent “peformative
intent”
as
pertaining to musical rhythmic force and affective interplay
between musicians
and dancers. Afro-Cuban religious beliefs
attribute such power to both female
(Ochún, Yemayá) and male
Orishas (Ogún, Elleguá).
malanga – Dance or party, derived
from the nickname of a famous
Cuban
rumbero also known as José Rosario Oviedo, who died
tragically and mysteriously
in the 1930s.
mambo – Most commonly, it refers to a New York style of dancing
“On2” (with
the break step happening on the second beat of the music),
kept largely alive
through the teaching of Eddie Torres, but now
spread into almost all evolved
salsa communities around the globe.
The term also refers to a Haitian priestess
in the Palo Monte religion,
as well as their chants.
maracas – Another legacy of the Caribbean Indians,
these small,
round
dried gourds or coconuts with beans inside and handles
attached are a greatly
underestimated instrument. When shaken
by a virtuoso, the seeds or pellets
inside smash against the head
in a single sharp note, as precise as any electronic
pulse. Found
throughout the Americas as well as Africa, in modern Salsa
music
the maracas became important percussion instruments
as they add a driving pulse
in the high frequency spectrum, like
the high-hat in pop/rock.
marimba, marimbula –The powerful marímbula
with its deep,
earthy
voice, replaced the botijas in the role of bass. Its cedar
wood box with metal
tongues bolted to one side and a sound-
hole cut above the prongs derives from
the thumb pianos
known as mbiras and sanzas, found all over Africa.
masacote - A word with Cuban
origins, it is the sound and
feeling you get
from merging the basic percussion instruments
in salsa, as when you can hear
and feel all those complex
polyrhythms tugging as one. Moreover, it refers
to your own
fusion into this process, when two or three, or many, become
one.
merengue – National dance of the Domincan Repulic, made
so by Trujillo’s
presidential campaign in the 1930s, though its
origins go back as far the second
half of the 18th century.
The folkloric merengue is performed at a fast temp
by singers,
accordion, the tambora and guira. In modern popular (electrified)
bands a very “busy” piano replaces the accordion while horns such
as brass and saxophones throw out sharp, darting, interchanging
rhythmic punches.
Its lively, swinging two-step is a great way to
improve your hip motion—and
though the dominant pulse is
very straight, it has underlying relation to (usually
3-2) clave.
montuno – Repeated rhythmic cycle of notes or chords played
on the piano
that underpins modern salsa and timba. Also,
section featuring the call and
response interplay between the
coro and sonero. Also, more loosely, any section
featuring
instrumental improvisations. Compare with guajeo.
moña – Riffs performed
on trombones and trumpets, usually
spontaneously
improvised; also a section of a salsa arrangement
in which these riffs are
performed. Moñas serve to heighten the
sonic energy of a salsa arrangement,
and contribute to its climactic
story-telling.
Orishas – Deities in the Yoruba-derived Santéria religion
practiced
in Cuba and Puerto Rico (also called orixas in the Brazilian
equivalent of
candomblé). They are gods of natural and human
energies, as you can
see from this partial list: Babalu Aye – deity
of disease and illness.
Elegua – trickster and messenger between
human and divine. Obatala – father
of orishas and humankind. Ogún –
deity of iron, war and labor.
Orunmila – deity of wisdom, divination
and foresight. Oshún – goddess
of rivers, love, fertility and art.
Oyá – goddess of wind, hurricanes,
and the underworld gates.
Changó – warrior god of thunder, fire,
and drums. Yemayá –
goddess of the sea and Mother of mankind.
piano – Piano solos arrived in
Latin dance music through the
improvisations
woven in to courtly Cuban danzóns in the late
19th century. By the 1930s
they replaced the quieter tres guitar
used in the son sextets and septets.
plena – Puerto Rican music and dance
form originating in the
1920s from
the lower class regions of the island's southern coast.
Topical and often satirical,
it combined the Spanish verse structure
with African call-and-response and
percussive emphasis.
ponche – The upbeat pulse of merengue played on conga
or
tambora, giving
a little lift or lilt on the fourth beat of each bar.
quatro - Evolving from the
Spanish guitar, the quarto is the
Puerto Rican
counterpart to the Cuban tres, with four instead
of three strings, and central
to plena music.
rhumba – Often confused with rumba, but nothing like it. It’s
a
generic term for a much slower style of son, and the dance which
evolved
into the ballroom box, a much slower and politer
(read Puritanical) version
of the sexually explicit and much
quicker rumbas of Cuba.
resistance – While Cuban writer Antonio Benitez-Rojo
considers clave
and the polyrhythmic music grown up around
it as an instance of healthy cultural
resistance to European
domination and its “apocalyptic” culture,
we mean it here
merely as the form of equal and opposite energies in the body
that connect center to periphery and that allow two partners
to cohere (see
also frame). It involves fluid response, and a
solid base, as if together you
and your partner were both the
cup and the brimming liquid it holds.
rueda de casino – Circular style of
Cuban group salsa,
danced with a
caller and from two couples to however
many the room will fit. “Rueda
de Casino” means “roulette
wheel,” which is what the circle
of dancers can look like,
but it also refers back to the dance’s origins,
when couples
began performing together in the hotel and casino “Casino
de la Playa” in 1953. Also called “rueda” or “casino
style.”
rumba – Cuban percussion-based music and dance
complex comprising: yambú,
the slowest “old person’s”
dance; guaguancó, a quick
tempo partner dance featuring
a sexual motif; and rumba columbia, a virtuoso
solo dance
performed by males sometimes with blades or other prop
to extremely
fast and mind-bogglingly polyrhythmic
percussion. Rumba also describes the “party” occasion
when any of these dances are performed.
salsa clunk – This term of infinite
precision describes
the action of
dancers dancing technically on time, but
completely off of the feel of salsa
music. “Clunk” is
caused by undue emphasis given to the break step
on
1 and 5, when emphasis is not in the music. Also called the
“ salsa
sag” or “salsa mountain” because the clunk can come
from
dancers dragging or sagging on the 1 and 5 because too
erect in the pause steps
of 3 and 7.
salsa dura – Style of salsa that stylistically has a core
arrangement
scheme similar to the son montuno (as popularised
by Arsenio Rodríguez)
i.e.: contratiempo, climactic energy,
sonic power and density, timbral heterogeneity,
and space
for instrumental solos.
salsa romantica – A dominant style of salsa in the
mid- to
late-80s
which wrapped languid bolero vocals around catchy
if often formulaic salsa
tunes. Some of archetypes of the style
are Jerry Rivera, Rey Ruiz, Lalo Rodriguez
and Eddie Santiago.
samba – Extremely fast Brazilian dance and rhythm built
out
of a very
wide range of percussion, from the enormous
booming surdus to the high tiny
tambores, quicas, shakers
and bells. “Street Samba” gives a nod
to the forms of
Brazilian carnival, versus the style codified for ballroom
partner dancing.
son – “Son is salsa,” it’s said, as these
wandering guitar and
percussion trios were the traveling taproot of the music that
became
mambo and salsa. It involves a distinctively Cuban
synthesis of African percussion
and call-and-response
tradition, and melodic rhythms melding with the creolized
Spanish guitar, language and poetic heritage.
soneo – Vocal rhythmic improvisation
of the main singer
in son, rumba
and salsa groups, deriving from African
traditions of call-and-response. Also
called pregón.
sonero – Main singer in son, rumba and salsa groups,
as
distinguished
from the coro, or back-up, singers. Soneros
not only need base vocal talent,
but skills in rhythmic vocal
improvisation in the soneo-and-coro sections,
always hanging
their improvisations on and around clave.
songo – Cuban dance rhythm developed
in the late 1960s
which features
a drumset performing timbale figures and the
conga player playing a busy-sounding
variant of guaguancó.
son montuno (lit.: “mountain-son” “sound from the mountains”) –
A
son that begins on the coro section, so there is no first "verse"
to
it. (For instance, “Que Bueno Baila Usted.” This is different
from,
say “Son De La Loma” which has a whole verse section
before it
gets to the coro. According to musicologists the verse
section shows the influence
of European music with its closed for,
while the coro/soneo section reveals
the African influence with its
open form (i.e., the singer improvises until
they’re done and then
takes it out).
synergy – The magic of truly interactive dancing. It means
leads
are
not only leads, follows not only follows, but both both. Leads
are attentive
and responding to (following) follows, and follows
taking the lead by tossing
provocations to make the lead take
heed. Who knows where such spiraling exchange
may take you?
T’ai Chi (lit “Supreme Ultimate”) – A Chinese
martial art form
developed during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) and consisting
of slow,
circular and stretching meditative motions that develop}
bodily balance and
increase life energy (Chi).
tambora – This essential merengue drum is double-ended
and
held on the
lap, allowing a driving, thrumming triple rhythm to
be stoked by the left hand’s
palm and fingers while the right
hand produces a backing beat with a stick.
Tambora and
saxophones often set up a darting call-and-response relationship
which drives the dance.
timba – Energetic, unruly wave of Cuban dance music
beginning in
1980s
Havana, it augments the already dense Latin percussion
setup with a set drummer
layering in further syncopations,
drawing from son, songo and rumba as well
as jazz, pop,
funk and rap.
timbales – A descendent of the round-bottomed kettle drums
(tympani)
brought by Italian opera companies to Cuba in the 19th century, it was
adopted
by military brass bands and commandeered by the charanga
orchestras which played
danzóns. In modern salsa bands, being the loudest
drums and accompanied
by the cutting woodblocks, bells, cymbals and
even snare drums, they operate
most closely to a set-drummer’s role in
rock and pop.
tres – A creolized evolution of the Spanish guitar, the Cuban
tres has
three double strings, a smaller head, and carried the son style.
trumpet, trombone & saxophone – More fitting with the city’s
brashness,
these instrument transformed the early Cuban rural sweetness with
sometimes
searing solos. Their integration into son is largely attributed to
the Big Band
craze and its influence in Havana in the early 1930s.
tumbao – Used variously to refer to the “anticipated” bass
line in salsa songs as well
as the conga part (which links with the bass part
on the 3-side of clave). It also
refers to the rhythmic sway of hips, say,
just walking down the calle.
vallenato (lit. “music of the valleys”) – The
term refers more to an orchestration
than a specific rhythm. A traditional vallenato group
consists of an accordion, a
scraper called a guacharaca, and a hand drum called
a caja vallenata. Vallenato
groups traditionally play four rhythms called son,
paseo, a 6/8 merengue and puya.
yambú – Slowest song and dance form
of the folklori rumba where couples,
dancing around each other, use softer movements in imitation of the
gait of old
people.
Salsa Groups and Artists: A Short List with Comments
Africando – Didn’t even know there was such a thing as African
salsa? This group,
which means in Wolof “Africa Reunited,” has
been rockin’ it since 1992, with a lot
of good slower songs, a distinctively
African guitar, and lyrics in various African
languages and French.
Alfredo
de la Fe – Fantastic violinist during the Fania era, he’s
out on the road
again with his five-string electrified violin.
Aventura – Wonderfully sultry and “steet” bachata group,
with occasional
merengues and reggaeton. “Un beso”—yum.
Jose
Alberto – Called “El Canario” for his trilling, whistled
melodies, “the
canary” can make you believe it’s a real flute
till you see him on stage whistling
these lines himself, or dueling with his
favorite flautist and sparring partner,
Dave Valentín.
Marc Anthony – Crossover hearththrob, he’s
been groomed in the RMM
studios to be a great success, and he has been since
his first solo album,
Otra nota (1993).
Ray Barretto – This conga master has worked behind the great jazz
soloists
since the fifties, and is himself one of the handful of key bandleaders
from
that era onward. Called “hard hands” for his tough, attacking technique,
he is also somewhat of a purist, continuing to play his jazzy mambo right
through
the disco, merengue and rap crazes. His “Indestructible” will
destroy
you.
Rubén Blades – Blades pioneered the deal between rock and salsa,
and is definitely one of the more versatile, experimental writers and
musicians
that salsa has heard. One of the few salsa singers not content
to sing throwaway
lyrics, his is Latin fusion music with an edge, and
message. Find a handful
of classics on Caminando (1991), but every
recording has something special,
and often quite different.
Jimmy Bosch – A regular on the salsa congress circuit, his rockin’
trombone
gets any group up and pumpin’. As director of his own
group and member
of Spanish Harlem Orchestra, he’s compiled
some great CDs in the New
York salsa dura vein.
Willie Colón – Salsa’s perhaps best known trombone player,
and inspiration for
Bosch, Colón was colossally important to salsa for
the contributions of his horn
as well as collaboration with Rubén Blades
and Héctor Lavoe during the
Fania era.
Conjunto Céspedes – Though out of San Francisco, you’ll
think they were
singing straight from Cuba (the singers are Cubans), and with
authentic
guaguancó to back it up.
Elvis Crespo – His few salsas are just okay, but he’s hands down
the man
to go to for slow but energetic merengue, particularly off of his first
solo
album—does Suavemente ring a bell? Pintame is great too, and it’s
worth
checking out the group he cut his teeth in, Grupo Mania. In El Jefe he
tried
to get tough (and failed) and made those slow merengues TOO slow.
Celia
Cruz – Called “La reina de la salsa” (the queen of
salsa), no one in
Latin music has ever approached the status of Cruz in her
over 50-year
reign. Listen for her trademark call, “Azúcaaar!” Her
discography would
take pages, spanning the evolution of son to mambo to salsa
and even rap.
Joe Cuba –In 1954 Joe Cuba formed his first sextet with a honey-voiced
singer named Cheo Feliciano, and soon became the toast of thePalladium.
Cuba’s
appeal then, and still 50 years later, lay in his punchy, modern jazzy
arrangements,
and his innovative inclusion of vibraphone in the Latin lineup.
His rollicking
1966 boogalú hit, “Bang Bang” became Latin music’s
first
million-seller. Listen also for the haunting “La Palomilla.”
Oscar D’Leon – Synonymous with Venezuelan salsa, D’Leon
is a compelling
performer. Since the debut of his first band, Dimensión
Latina in 1972, he
developed a passion for plush, rhythmic trombone choruses
which have
continued to infuse his immaculately polished orchestras ever since.
DLG
(Dark Latin Groove) – If you like funked-up salsa, you’ll
love this
groovy (though now defunct) group. Also good for practicing, witha
very
clear, and often slow beat, especially on their first CD.
Gloria Estefan – If you haven’t heard from her since the disco
days of Miami
Sound Machine, listen again. She’s made some wonderful
Latin music in
many styles, though dominantly Cuban-inflected.
Henry Fiol – New York singer with a hypnotic guajiro’s
voice playing
more traditional son.
Fruko –Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincon is also called the “Godfather
of Colombian
salsa,” for his talent in pumping out hits not only as a
singer, but in his smooth
grooming of other Colombian legends including Joe
Arroyo (“Rebelión,” “Pa’l
Bailador”) and
The Latin Brothers.
El Gran Combo – Along with La Sonora Poncña,
El Gran Combo pretty much
defines Puerto Rican style salsa: smooth, mathematically
precise, more
akin to
the sophisticated, brassy forties Swing bands injected with syncopated
Cuban
rhythms. Their list of hits across a 45-year career would fill a page
or so. They
have got the formula down.
Wayne Gorbea – Driving and jazzy, Gorbea leaves wide-open spaces in
the
music for improvised solos—which is why many DJs don’t play
him, though it’s
stomping good dance music, and a fixture for dancers
On2.
Larry Harlow – One of the diehard Cuban music aficianados who tweaked
and
reworked the brassy mambo model into the Fania brand of salsa.
Grupo Niche – As El Gran Combo is to Puerto Rico, so is Niche to Colombia,
particularly the more romantic songs of the late-80s and 90s. Probably
Colombia’s
most influential and best-loved pure salsa band.
Juan Luis Guerra – Along
with his group 4.40, Juan Luis Guerra has created
some of the most beautiful
bachatas and slow merengues around today, with
an
occasional salsa and cha-cha-cha thrown in for good measure. His taste
for
the Beattles and Manhattan Transfer infuses the Latin base with beautiful
harmonies
and some breathtakingly poetic lyrics. In a continuing age of
frenzied and
electrified merengue, his slower, more thoughtful pace and
authentic percussion
is refreshing.
La India – Introduced to the New York scene by none other than Eddie
Palmieri, La India’s searing and throaty vocals will catch you. Her second
album, Dicen que soy (1994) is full of very slow, obviously rhythmed songs
good for practicing, if you can wait through the sleepy introductions.
La 33 – Their take on Mancini’s “Pink Panther” (“La
pantera mambo”) is
fantastic, jazzy and sharp, and just about every song
they’ve done is an
On2-dancer’s dream.
Héctor Lavoe – His legend precedes him. “El cantante de
los cantantes,
” Lavoe’s jíbaro singing style and Fania backing
catapulted him into salsa fame.
He’s made scores of classics, such as “El
Cantante,” “Juana Pena,” “Todo tiene
su final,” “Borinquen” and “El
Todopoderoso,” but the quality of recordings out
there greatly varies—be
sure to listen before you buy.
Victor Manuelle – Part of the late-90s generation of salseros, his soupy
ballads
rocked the charts with the slick backing of New York studio musicians
and
RMM’s Sergio George. Try a “Best of” CD and you’re
sure to get a dozen
good ones.
Melcochita – West coast singer, sings in the nasally style of “los
viejitos,” has
done some excellent collaborations with his L.A. based
band and Seattle’s
Cambalache.
Orishas – Cuban roots with extremely
funky overlays of rap and hip-hop.
Though it stretches the definition of salsa,
many have a good kick on 3 and
7 and are great fun for rueda de casino.
Orquesta de la Luz – From the land
of the rising sun, Japan, this group has
been traveling the Congress circuit
for years singing in Spanish (though
reportedly none of them speak it). Not only a curiosity, they play some
seriously
jamming salsas and descargas.
Eddie Palmieri – A precocious musical talent, along with his brother
Charlie,
Eddie began his career with Tito Rodriquez and then his own charanga
orchestra.
Eddie has been making his eccentrically jazzy, manic brand of salsa
for 40 years,
often prefacing his songs with long, impressionist solos. Crucial
as a composer,
bandleader, and for bringing many talents up through his groups.
Go “Bilongo.”
Johnny Pacheco – Though he’s best known
for co-owning the legendary Fania
label (with divorce lawyer Jerry Masucci),
he was also one of the important
band directors and a multi-instrumentalist performer in the phenomenal Fania
All Stars super-group.
La Sonora Ponceña – From the southern town of Ponce in Puerto
Rico, it
was founded in 1954 by Enrique ‘Quique’ Lucca and his
been directed since
the sixties by his son, the pianist “Papo” Lucca.
Listen for “Fuego en el 23,”
“
Cancion,” “Nica’s
Dream,” “Night in Tunisia” and “Remembranza,”
to
name just a few.
Johnny Polanco – Prime representative of “West Coast” salsa,
he’s got a
slick and rootsy style. “Guaguanco con Rumba” everyone
should have the
pleasure of dancing.
Tito Puente – Like Celia Cruz, Puente was reigning royalty for decades,
“ el
rey de los timbales.” His crackling timbale solos predated the Fania
craze by a good twenty years, swinging mambo, boogalú, bolero, rumba,
and cha-cha-cha at the Palladium since the late 40s and 50s. His 40s instrumental
“ Ran
Kan Kan” is probably the archetypal mambo and has been repeatedly
revamped.
Of all the Palladium graduates Puente took Latin the furthest into the
mainstream
with his series of latin jazz hits, and continued participation in the more
rock-oriented Fania endeavors as well as those of its succeeding label, RMM.
Domingo
Quiñones – Popular Puerto Rican singer, hand-percussionist,
and composer.
Originally back-up for José Alberto, he also wrote and
song some of the more
memorable salsa romanticas of the late-80s and after,
such as “Te Propongo.”
Puerto Rican Masters – I’ve only
come across one album from these guys, a live
one, but wow, what an album it
is.
Puerto Rican Power – Although they lost a great singer in Gilberto Santa
Rosa,
their own track record is nothing to shake a stick at. Decades of great,
polished,
generally up-tempo hits.
Jerry Rivera – Rivera’s boyish looks got him the name “El
niño de la salsa,”
emerging in the 80s with some excellent salsa
romanticas. He tried to refashion
himself into “el chico malo”—not.
But still, the boy can sing.
Roberto Roena – Bongo player extraordinaire, he’s
gathered some amazing
groups around him, and left some classics for posterity.
Frankie
Ruiz – Though his career was short (dying at 40 from decades
of drug
abuse), his legacy remains in recordings of his pained, romantically
husky voice
(“Bailando,” “Mirandote”).
Gilberto Santa
Rosa – A towering figure, this big, mustachioed man,
decidedly
of the pre-rap generation, possesses a rich, dark, romantic tenor.
His voice was
made for salsa romantica, and he continues to keep it fresh.
Sonora
Carruseles – Like it fast? Like it a little boogalú? This
Colombian
group is for you. “Micaela” is one you’ve no
doubt danced to already.
Spanish Harlem Orchestra – Formed in 2000, this group at the heart of
NYC is archetypal salsa dura. With fantastic instrumentalists including
Jimmy
Bosch and Chino Nuñez, and singer Ray de la Paz, and a sound
both
modern and historic and a swing that could revive the dead, this
orchestra
keeps things
hot and solid.
8
Michael Stuart – New-wave salsero and dancer who emerged in New
York
the late-90s. Has done a lot of reggaeton crossover, some of it
better than
others. For slow and low and “street,” hear “Mi tumbao.”
Cal Tjader – West Coast jazz vibes player, and drummer of Dave Brubeck’s
original “Take Five” trio, Tjader has made many classics on the “vibe” side,
like “Cubano Chant” and “Viva Cepeda.” More recently
he sparked the resurgence
of interest in salsa’s Cuban roots with his
project The Buena Vista Social Club.
Look for his groundbreaking collaborations
with conga monster Mongo
Santamaria.
Eddie Torres – Not only is he a great
teacher of New York On2, Eddie Torres
has compiled a fantastic album, Eddie
Torres and His Mambo Kings, for
those
that like the jazzy, sharp New York style.
Los Van Van – In the wake of the Cuban Revolution Juan Formell’s
Los
Van Van revolutionized dance music with a new rhythm and dance called
songo
and the addition of a drumset to the Latin percussion mix. Los Van
Van has
evolved with Formell’s enthusiasms, including synthesizers and
electronic
drums in the late 80s to topical Santeria and American rap in the
90s. The
mother of all timba music in Cuba, Los Van Van has influenced
several generations
of new groups and musicians, including NG La Banda,
and the solo projects of
Mayito Rivera and Cesar Pedroso. Other key
Cuban groups on today’s scene
include Paulito F.G. Adalberto Alvarez,
Issac Delgado and David Calzado’s
Charanga Habanera.
Carlos Vives – If you don’t hold it against him
that he was a star of Colombian
soap opera, you will love his accordion-based,
joyful vallenato
style.
