style  Reggaeton & Bachata

We list & review over 380 Salsa dvd video

style  Cuban - NY - LA

Editor : Edward roland Perez of the American Museum of Natural History's public programs, presented by the
Museum's Department of Education, were made possible in part by grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Salsa: Latin American Music in the United States

         Bomba and Plena
      by Dr. Roberta Singer

  "Bomba and plena are the only distinctively African-rooted music and
dance forms of Puerto Rico.  They developed in such coastal towns as Ponce,
Loiza Aldea, and Mayaguez where in the 1800's large communities of black
workers gathered around the sugar cane mills."  As the workers moved to San
Juan and other urban areas, bomba and plena became a part of the urban
cultural life, performed for entertainment at informal social gatherings.

  Bomba is danced by a mixed couple who take turns showing off their
skills, competing with each other and with the lead drummer.  Bomba dancing
and singing is often accompanied only by percussion instruments: "fua"
(sticks struck on a resonant surface) and bomba drums (barrel shaped) with
the low-pitched "buleador" providing supporting rhythm and the high-pitched
"subidor" dialoging with the dancers.  Bomba is sung in a call-and-response
pattern with a lead singer and a coro (chorus).  The words are traditional
and improvisatory, often revolving around the community.

  Plena is the traditional street music of San Juan.  One style, "parada
21", is named for the bus stop in Santurce, PR near which where many of the
players and singers came from and performed.  Plena is more melodic than
the percussion-based bomba.  Its origins are from Africa, but it has been
Creolized and incorporates European musical elements.  The plena's words
deal with contemporary events and is often called "el periodico cantado"
(the sung newspaper) (similar to the "corridos" of Northern Mexico and
Southern Texas - edward).  The plena dance is also performed by a couple,
but is less an integral part of the music.  While Bomba cannot usually be
performed without the dancers, plena can.  The instruments used in a plena
include several sizes of "panderetas" (hand-held drum), "requinto" (solo
drum), "guiro" (scraped gourd), accordion, harmonica and perhaps a guitar
and conga drum.  The drummers do not necessary dialogue with the dancers
but do perform solos.

  Some bomba and plena musicians include Manuel "Canario" Jiminez, Cesar
Concepcion, and Rafael Cortijo.  They began adapting the music and number
of musicians to use more congas, horns, and string bass.  "In the late
1960s, many New York conjuntos playing what is now called salsa began to
reinterpret plena, bomba, and other Latino forms such as the Colombian
cumbia and Dominican merengue in the salsa format."  Although traditional
bomba and plena are not played frequently in NYC, some younger New York
Puerto Rican groups are reviving the styles.
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Dominican Merengue
      by Dr. Roberta Singer

  The Merengue is one of the most popular dance and music styles in the
world.  Its origins are from the "perico ripiao" ensembles from the
Dominican Republican region of Cibao.

  "Perico ripiao" originally referred to a method of cooking the "perico",
or parrot.  After a successful hunt, the families would "party down".
Accompaning the dancing during these celebrations were small groups playing
the "tres" (three-stringed guitars), "guira", "maracas", "tambora"
(two-headed drum), and "marimba" (similar to the vibraphone).  The words of
the merengue were usually improvisations on the themes of love, nature,
women, work and community events.  In the late 1800s, people migrated out
of Cibao and took the music with them.  The original tres was replaced by
the guitar, which was replaced by the accordion.

  Merengue has two distinctive rhythms played on the tambora, influenced by
either African or Spanish music.  The Cibao version has a Spanish-rooted
heritage.  The African-rooted and Haitian influenced version (Haiti
occupied DR from 1822-1844) mainly occurs in the southern part of DR and
also has more of an African drum style to it.

  Under the possible influence of band leaders such as Machito and Tito
Rodriguez, several Merengue orchestras formed in DR: La Orquesta Santa
Cecilia and Los Magos del Ritmo del Feliz del Rosario.  Piano, basses,
saxophones, trumpets and trombones were added, replacing some of the
original instruments.  One can hear perico ripiao bands in the Washington
Heights (or Quisqueya Heights) and Jackson Heights neighborhoods of NYC and
in Corona, Queens.
 

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     Popular Dance in Cuba: Cuban Son and New York Salsa
       by Dr. Morton Marks

  "Since the mid-nineteenth century, Cuban popular music has played an
important role in urban western culture.  From the habaneras danced in the
salons of New York City in the 1860s to the congas, rumbas, cha-chas,
son-montunos and mambos of more recent vintage, Cuban dance has exerted a
powerful international influence."

  Most of Cuba's culture, including its dances, resulted from what Fernando
Ortiz termed "Cuban counterpoint,", the balance of Cuba's Iberian and
African components.  One of the best examples is that of "son-montuno."
Depending on where one lived in Cuba, the main cultural influence on music
and social activities was either Spanish or West/Central African.  In those
regions where tobacco was grown, many of the farmers were from Spain or the
Canary Islands.  Whereas, in the sugar cane growing regions, many workers
were slaves brought from West and Central Africa in the mid 1800s.  As the
slaves were brought to Cuba, they formed "cabildos" (religious
brotherhoods) and kept alive the religious and secular dances of Yoruba,
Fon, Ejagham, and Kongo-Angola.

  The Yoruba and Fon religions worshiped many gods, summoning them in
various dances, often possessing the dancer so that the gods "danced in
their (the dancer's) heads".  The Ejagham men formed secret societies,
Abakua', whose members danced in secret society rites or carnival parades.
The members wore masks, "i'remes" (or "diablitos", little devil in
Spanish), representing ancestral figures.  The Kongo-Angolans brought their
music and dance, profoundly impacting Cuban culture.  Their non-ritual
celebrations, "congueri'as", featured their "makuta" and "yuka" dances.
The yuka, similar to the modern rumba, is composed of the "ronquido" and
the "campanero".  The former is a series of lateral steps, while the
latter's steps form a figure-eight pattern.  The dancers also performed a
Kongo ritual combat dance, the "mani'", similar to the Brazilian "capoeira"
and congueri'as.

  The "yambu'", "guaguanco'" and the "columbia", all imitative dances,
collectively form the "rumba" and are related to older Kongo forms.  The
yambu' is a slow tempoed danced, often associated with older people,
mimicking their motions and difficulty performing every day tasks.  The
guaguanco', a modern version of the rumba, includes the "vacunao", a pelvic
movement.  In this form, the dance has two sections: the first simulates
the man chasing a female partner as they dance apart; the second, the
vacunao, symbolizes his conquest of her.  Although the vacunao is similar
to the "zapateo", a European couples dance, and the "umbigada", another
pelvic thrust in early Angolan influenced samba dances, it is clearly from
the Kongo dance styles.

  The columbia, started in rural areas, is a male solo dance featuring
acrobatic and mimetic forms, making it the most complex of all the rumbas.
The dancer may imitate a ball player, bicyclist, cane-cutter or cripple or
perform some of the Abakua'n ireme' steps.  The dancer and the main drummer
challenge each other throughout the dance.  "Comparsas", on the other hand,
are collective street rumba dances.  Neighborhoods would form a comparsa
and perform in carnivals and other occasions.  The dance is similar to the
Brazilian samba using dramatic or allegorical themes.  The "conga" is a
simpler form of the rumba made popular in the United States in the late
1930s.

  "Cuba's two most important dances, the "danzo'n" and the "son-montuno",
emerged from radically different social environments.  Both changed
dramatically as they moved from eastern to western Cuba, from a more
Iberian zone to a more Afro-Cuban one."  The danzo'n, descendant from the
French "contredanse," was brought to Cuba by French planters fleeing Haiti
in the late 1700s and eventually evolved in the mid 1800s into the simpler
"danza" or "habanera."  In the late 1870s, the danza evolved into the
danzo'n and is now considered the national dance of Cuba.  Until the late
1920s, the danzo'n was limited to the upper classes at their private clubs
and societies.  Then, the danzo'n incorporated a more syncopated final
section.  In 1938, Antonio Arcano created the "mambo" a new rhythm danzo'n
composed of a more swinging, riff-based section played by the charanga
orchestras of flute and violins.  Soon, the black and working-class Cubans
began dancing the mambo.  Pe'rez Prado in Mexico and Machito in New York
City popularized the mambo in their big bands.  The "cha-cha" evolved from
the mambo, and thus is also a descendent of the contredanse.

  The son-montuno started as a couples dance in Oriente, a Cuban province.
The accompanists were typically composed of Spanish-based folk guitarists
and Afro-Cuban percussionists.  As it moved westward to Havana, the music
and dance styles grew and evolved with more percussion, especially in the
final montuno section.  It became very popular in the 1930s, often
mistakenly called the rumba.  Its Spanish and African musical elements form
the basis of today's salsa as well as urban dance music around the world,
including French-speaking areas of West and Central Africa and the
Caribbean, and Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Possible Derivations, drawn by edward perez

makuta

yuka composed of ronquido and campanero steps

rumba ----+---> yambu'   : slow tempoed dance
       +---> guaguanco': chase and conquest
       +---> columbia  : male solo dance
       +---> comparsa  : collective street dance
       +---> conga   : simpler form from 30's in US

contredanse ---> danza/habanera ---> danzon ---> mambo ---> cha-cha

son-montuno ---> modern salsa (see following articles)
------------------------------------------------------------------
 

          Bibliography

Galan, Natalio. _Cuba_y_Sus_Sones_.  Pre-textos/Musica, Valencia, Spain,
1983.

Leon, Argeliers. _Del_Canto_y_el_Tiempo_.  Editorial Letras Cubanas,
Havana, 1984.

Rodriquez, Olavo Alen.  _Generso_de_la_Musica_Cubana_, primera parte.
Ministry of Education, Havana, 1977.
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       The Cuban Son and New York Salsa
      by Dr. Roberta Singer

  "Cuban ``son'' music is to salsa as roots are to a tree.  Salsa has many
roots, but the style that gave rise to and shaped it more than any other is
the son.  The son is the most important and influential music to have
evolved in 20th Century Cuba.  Armando Sa'nchez, leader of Conjunto Son de
la Loma, states that the son ``is a people's music-a true expression of the
Cuban people's history and life.''  This music, more than any other,
expresses and identifies the ethos of the Cuban people."

  Son originated in the 1800's in the mountains of Oriente, a Cuban
province.  It evolved from the "changui'", a form of music rooted in
African music brought to Cuba by the African slaves in the early 1900's and
carried on by their descendants.  As the Africans moved to Havana, the son
became a popular music style of the working class.  Musicians began to
incorporate African and Spanish music styles, such as the rumba and the
music of "santeri'a," "decima" and "guajira." By the 1920's, son was the
most popular music and dance for Cubans at all levels of society.  By
synthesizing African and Spanish music styles and appealing to all Cubans,
son essentially became Cuba's national music.

  After World War I, many wealthy tourists and white upper class Cubans
flocked to Havana, creating a demand for night life.  Son was played in the
night clubs but Sa'nchez commented, "The whites couldn't understand the
African rhythms and the musicians had to adjust. ... We had to accept their
standards and ``whiten up'' the music."  Two of the most typical
"conjuntos" (ensembles) at this were Sexteto Habanero and Septeto Nacional

  By 1918, Sexteto Habanero developed the "son conjunto" sound: three
voices, string bass, "tres" (6 or 9 string guitar), maracas, bongos, claves
(wooden sticks struck together for the time-line rhythm), trumpet, and
guitar.  In the late 20', Septeto Nacional expanded the son style, by using
tighter vocal harmonies, rhythmic complexity, and a faster tempo.  This
faster, more complex style became internationally popular.  However, in the
late 30's, Arsenio Rodri'guez (one of Cuba's greatest musician and
composer) began reconnecting son with its African roots. "Arsenio brought
us back to our roots, and in doing that, he moved us forward," states
Sa'nchez.

  Through his many innovations in style and instrumentation, Rodri'guez
expanded the son sound to emphasize or re-incorporate many of the African
elements which many of the earlier son conjuntos omitted or simplified.  He
synthesized and maintained the integrity of African and Spanish elements.

  Some of his innovations were 1) adapting the guaguanco' to the son style;
2) adding a cowbell and conga to the rhythm section; 3) expanding the role
of the tres as a solo instrument, and 4) introducing a "montuno" (or mambo)
section for melodic solos.  Arsenio's songs made philosophical statements
about Cuba, community life, and ethnic pride.  His style became known as
"son montuno" and formed the basis of the mambo craze in the 40's,
influencing Latin popular music in New York for years to follow.

  By the 30's, the popularity of son and mambo spread to Puerto Rico where
musicians incorporated the style with their own.  As Cuban and Puerto Rican
musicians emigrated to the US, especially New York, they took that style
with them, forming Cuban/Puerto Rican son conjuntos.  "Since the 1960's
Arsenio's sones and his conjunto sound have been reinterpreted by salsa
musicians.  While salsa has many roots, and its primary exponents are
Puerto Rican, the Cuban son is clearly the primary foundation of salsa."

  "Salsa" is primarily a commercial tag for contemporary Latin pop music.
It connotes a felling as well as a variety of redefined/reinterpreted
styles and traditions.

  African-American big-band jazz stimulated the formation of Latin
big-bands in the late 40's.  Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and African-Americans
joined to play a style which integrated the compositional concepts of the
big-band horn sections with the Afro-Cuban rhythm sections, eventually
evolving into the New York Latin sound, mostly played by Puerto Ricans.

  Big band leaders, such as Puerto Rico's Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez
and Cuba's Machito, expanded the mambo section of the son, creating its own
style and form, the first major "cross-over" from Afro-Carribbean music.
The cha-cha-cha and the mambo, both internationally popular, were also
incorporated into this style, forming the foundation for "salsa."

  Until the US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1962, the New York
and Cuban musicians continually interacted, forming parallel Latin music
styles.  After 1962, New York-based music began incorporating the
inspiration of the world around them, forming a distinctively New York
style.  One result of the Latino and Black communities interaction was
Latin "bugalu", adapted from the popular African-American dance of the mid
60's.  Latin bugalu used the standard Latin musical instruments, added a
set of trap drums, and had lyrics sung in Spanish and English.  Another
result of the interaction was the incorporation of the cumbia, merengue,
and bomba, plena, "jibaro" (from the mountains) music styles from
Columbian, Dominican, and other Puerto Rican peoples living in New York.

  "The influx of Cubans in the early 1980's and the visits of some Cuban
bands here have resulted in a reconnection with and influence of Cuban
music.  But salsa remains a uniquely New York phenomenon whose primary
exponents are still New York Puerto Rican musicians, although musicians
form all over the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as European
Americans, also participate in its performance."

------------------------------------------------------------------
Possible Derivations, drawn by edward perez

chanqui' ---+---> son conjunto ---> adapted guaguanco\ ---> son montuno
santeria ---+                         added montuno  /
decima   ---+
guajira  ---+

incorporated cha-cha-cha and mambo ---> salsa

incorporated Latin and Black styles ---> bugalu
------------------------------------------------------------------
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     The Evolution of New York Salsa Music
       by Dr. Morton Marks

  "The term ``salsa'' began to circulate in the late 1960s as a cover term
describing a range of popular Latin musical styles in New York City.  It
encompasses a broad range of musical genres, instrumental combinations and
cultural influences, ranging from Cuban son montuno to bebop, Cubop, Puerto
Rican bomba and plena, Dominican merengue, Cuban Yoruba ritual musica and
Afro-American jazz and rhythm and blues.  The discography included below is
intended to reflect the diversity and range of New York salsa."

  The main source of inspiration for salsa is the Cuban son montuno.
Certain Cuban conjuntos, such as Arsenio Rodriguez and Chapottin, provided
much of the direct inspirations for the sound of some mid-60s New York
bands, including Orchesta Harlow and Johnny Pachecho.  Because of their
influence, salsa and popular Cuban music of the 50s are nearly identical.

  However, salsa is not just comprised of Cuban music.  Many jazz artists
began interacting with Cuban music as far back as the early 1900s.  Some of
those interactions resulted in Juan Tizol's composition "Caravan" for Duke
Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia".  These mixed Afro-Cuban
elements with Middle Eastern titles (also heard in the Middle Eastern and
Islamic influence on true flamenco songs - edward).  Other interactions
reflect the inclusion of Afro-Cuban percussion instruments into bebop jazz.
This kind of interaction also includes those of Jerry Gonzalez' Fort Apache
Band, where Bud Powell's compositions, such as "Parisian Thoroughfare",
mixed with a strong rumba-based rhythm section.

  Mambo is another example of a perfect fusion of big band jazz and
Afro-Cuban rhythmic organization (see "The Mambo Kings" for a good example
of this fusion - edward).  The structure of mambo, "son-montuno-mambo", has
become the basic format for many New York salsa bands.  An opening melody
is followed by a "coro" backing improvisations sung by the "sonero"
(soloist), followed by a mambo section, which features the trumpet and reed
sections calling and responding to each other.

  Salsa conjuntos could be considered as either an expanded Cuban conjunto
or a scaled-down mambo band.  By including bongos and congas from the
conjuntos and timbales from "charanga" orchestras which played "danzon",
salsa shows the evolution of the Afro-Cuban rhythm section.  Charangas also
became part of the New York sound, incorporating trumpets from conjuntos
and violins from charangas.  (See "El Paso de Encarnacion" on Orquesta
Harlow's "Salsa" album below.)

  The jazz and rhythm and blue genre contributed the trap drum, featured in
the mid-60s bugalu style.  Some songs show a direct connection to son
montuno.  Pete Rodriquez' mid-60s release of "Micaela" is a cover or
re-work of the song "Micaela me boto" recorded by Cuba's Chapottin and
Miguel Cuni.  Bugalu also contained some non-Cuban styles, such as hand
claps on the off-beat from the R&B genre.  By the late 60s, bugalu evolved
into more of a Latin-soul sound.  Thus, the interaction between Latin music
and R&B went both ways, with Latin percussion being assimilated into and
assisting the evolution of Afro-American soul music.

  Another major component of New York salsa is the ritual music of Cuban
santeria, including their use of "bata" drums.  These are heard in Orquesta
Harlow's "Silencio" (on their "Salsa" album).  Yoruba drums, melodies, and
rhythm were also included into the sound (as in Irakere's and Los Papines'
music).  There is even a bata-doo-wop version of the old R&B tune "What's
Your Name?"

  Finally, many stylistic features came from the Puerto Rican bomba and
plena music.  Cesar Concepcion orchestrated plena songs for many big bands
in the 1940s, while Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera reintroduced and
popularized bomba and plenas in the 1950s.  Recent albums also show the use
of the plena rhythm, such as those of Willie Colon.  Rafael Cortijo's
"Maquina de Tiempo" contains musical styles from plenas, bomba, Puerto
Rican "aquinaldos" and jazz solos.

  "Thus, new styles keep evolving from a constant process of fusion,
re-fusion, cycles of revival and incorporation of folk traditions into the
mainstream of popular Latin Dance music.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Possible Mixtures, drawn by edward perez

son montuno, jazz, middle eastern styles ---> salsa
Afro-Cuban percussion, bebop             ---> salsa

big band jazz, son montuno, Afro-Cuban rhythms ---> mambo

jazz, rhythm & blues ---> bugalu

------------------------------------------------------------------

        Selected Discography

Baretto, Ray.  Acid. Fania SLP 346
            Hard Hands.  Fania SLP 362
            Charanga Moderna. Tico SLP 1087

Bataan, Joe.  Salsoul. Mericana XMS-124

Colon, Willie.  Guisando.  Fania LP 370
      The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.  Fania XSLP 00484
      (with Yomo Toro) Asalto Navideno.  Fania SLP-399
      (with Mon Rivera) There goes the Neighborhood.  Vaya JMV 42

Concepcion, Cesar.  La Plena y el Bolero de Puerto Rico.  Carino DBMI-5807

Cortijo, Rafael.  Maquina de Timepo.  Coco CLP-108
        (with Kako) Ritmos y Cantos Callejeros.  Ansonia SLP 1477

Cruz, Celia and Tito Puente.  Alma con Alma.  Tico SLP 1221

Cruz, Celia and Johhny Pacheco.  Celia & Johnny.  Vaya XVS 31

Curbelo, Jose.  Los Reyes del Manbo.  Carino Records DBMI 5809

Fania All Stars.  Live at the Red Garter, Vol 1.  Fania SLP 355.

Gillespie, Dizzy.  Afro-Cuban BOp.  Jazz Live (Italy) BLJ 8028.

Gonzalez, Jerry and the For Apache Band.  The River is Deep.  Enja 4040

Harlow, Larry.  Gettin' Off.  Fania SLP 334
      Salsa.  Fania SLP 00460
      Tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez.  Fania SLP 00404

Irakere.  Chekere Son.  Milestone M 9103

Machito.  Afro-Cuban Jazz.  Verve VE 2-2522
       Machito.  Mericana MYS 110
       Afro-Cubop.  Spotlight SPJ 138.
       Soul of Machito.  Cotique CS 1019

Pacheco.  Pacheco Presents Monguito.  Fania LP 341
       Tres de Cafe y Dos de Azucar.  Fania LP 00436

Palmieri, Eddie.  Mozambique.  Tico SLP 1126
        Justicia.  Tico SPL 1188
        The Sun of Latin Music.  Coco CLP 109xx

Patato y Totico.  Verve V 6-5037

Ponce, Daniel.  Arawe.  Antilles New Directions 8710

Puente, Tito.  Ran-kan-kan.  RCA Camden AC6 1-0457
            Para los Rumberos.  Tico CLP 1301

Rivera, Mon.  Mon y sus Trombones.  Vaya JMVS 54

Rodriguez, Arsenio with Chano Pozo.  Legends of Afro-Cuban Music.  SMC 1152

Rodriguez, Pete.  I Like it Like That.  Tico 7227 (Bugalu)

Rodriguez, Tito.  Live at the Palladium.  West Side Latino L31067

Ruiz, Hilton.  Something Grand.  RCA 3011-1-1N

Tico All-Stars.  Descargas at the Village Gate, Vol 3.  Tico SLP 1155

Totico y sus Romberos.  Montuno MLP 515

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