Salsa’s Return to its Roots There is a lot to be said about the evolution of Hispanic American music over the years. Much like any other genre of music, it has several sub-fields and unique styles; ranging from ballads to different dance hall compositions. The blend of Cuban son montuno and Latin jazz formed one the most popular Latin American dance music in all the Americas. The iconic dance music that just happens to share the same name with America’s favorite condiment, salsa, has been prevalent in the Latino communities since early the early 1960s. With salsa’s rise in New York, it’s only fitting that New York born Marc Anthony is one of the most popular performers of salsa music today. Anthony’s 2013 album 3.0 is a return to his salsa roots that was so prominent on his 2004 album Valio la Pena. To get the best understanding of Anthony’s 3.0 album, some additional information on Anthony’s cultural background is needed. Marco Antonio Muniz was born on 1968 to Guillermina and Felipe Muniz in New York City. Growing up in El Barrio, Anthony was exposed to the Spanish traditions of the locals, leading to his successful career as the top selling salsa artist of all time. …show more content…
The two most popular instrumentations of tropical salsa are son conjunto and string charanga. The son conjunto is a horn based sound where the horn section, usually consisting of trumpets, carry the melody of song. The horns are accompanied with several membranophones, such as bongos and congas, and a piano. The string charanga is a more chordophone arrangement, using either guitars or violins. The strings are accompanied by the same instruments as the son conjunto arrangement. Across 3.0, Anthony uses son conjunto and string charanga to create the rhythmic salsa beats on each song. On one song, the violin may be the lead instrument, while on another song the horns and bongos will take center
“Santo Domingo” highlighted the stunning, fast-paced playing of Quintero, who rapped and fingered the strings of her guitar almost simultaneously, creating a clean and indiscernible rhythm between the two.
Latin Jazz is a style of music that blends rhythms and percussion instruments of Cuba and the Caribbean with jazz and its fusion of European and African music. Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, was the culmination of the long interaction between American and Cuban musical styles. A distinctive syncopated rhythm and the Cuban habanera rhythm were endowed to American jazz music in the early 20th century. In the following decades, Latin American melodies and dance rhythms permeated the United States, while American jazz made its way into the Caribbean and Central and South America. In the 1940's the swing era expanded their repertory to include rumbas and congas. The d...
The tradition still takes place today in many areas of Mexico. However, some parts of Mexico do the dance a little differently. The dance is more common in the central regi...
Bachata is a creolized music, meaning that there is both European and African influence. It is also a descendent of a few different Dominican Republic and Cuban forms of music – primarily son, but also merengue and ranchera. Son is music of the African diaspora, commonly involved in debates of African retention. Elements of African music, such as call-and-response and preference for polyrhythm survived the middle passage and are deeply rooted in Caribbean tradition. Stringed instruments are believed to have been part of the European influence on the area, as well as harmonic patterns, as well as verse-chorus structure and prominent duple meter. Modern groups consist of two electric acoustic guitars, an electric bass guitar, a guira (A Dominican Republic percussion instrument), and bongos (Hutchinson). Bachata is thought to have originated in the rural areas, being the music of choice at rural friendly gatherings, similar to son’s roots. Bachata then migrated to the cities with the impoverished as they looked for work. With this move the music transformed into something entirely different from its romantic, seren...
that inspired the people with the music. Marc Anthony Muniz born September 16, 1968, better known by his stage name Marc Anthony, is an American actor, singer, record producer, and television producer. Anthony is also the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and five-time Latin Grammy winner has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads. Anthony has won numerous awards and his achievements have been honored through various recognitions. He was the recipient of the 2009 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Chair's Award. He also received the "2009 CHCI Chair's
In a complete Mariachi group today there are as many as 6 to 8 violins, 2 trumpets, and a guitar, which are all standard European instruments. Then there is a high-itched, round-backed guitar called the vihuela, which when strummed in the traditional manner gives the mariachi its typical rhythmic vitality; a deep voiced guitar called the guitarr'o which serves as the bass of the ensemble; and a Mexican folk harp, which usually doubles the base line, but also ornaments the melody.
Tex-Mex is a fusion of Northern Mexico and Southern Texas culture that initiated some time after the Spanish-American war when Texas was originally a part of Mexico. Tex-Mex can be used to talk about food as well as music, a culture in its own community. Tejano music dates far back into the mid-part of the 19th century, starting with a “more pop-oriented urban form relying on keyboards and synthesizer in place of the accordion.” (Broughton, 2000) It is said that this genre of music initiated when German, Polish, and Czech immigrants introduced the accordion, and from then on, evolved into three subgenres of Tejano music. Something that stands out about Tejano music is its instrumentation and orchestration as seen in conjunto, Banda, and grupo, the three subgenres that emerged throughout the spread of time with the influences of many artists
As stated earlier, there is no one creator of salsa, but the genre includes traditional elements of its cultural influences. Additionally, different cultures will play salsa in a particular way that is unique to their country: “. . . each African nation re-traditionalised the salsa sound along its own ethnic lines” (Román-Velasquez: 218). Despite these traditional elements, salsa can also be marketed as popular music. For example, there is a large market for salsa and Latin music in Europe (Román-Velasquez: 216). The music is also used to promote Latin themed businesses: “. . . salsa music has become popular along with Latin food and themed bars and there has been a growth of commercially run clubs, bars and restaurants” (Román-Velasquez: 217). The popularity and party culture associated with salsa, streaming from clubs and dancing, allowed promoters to easily commercialize the
Last is the danzon, with more Spanish origin that African. It consists of an orquesta made up of cornets, saxophones, clarinets and percussion. The horns make the danzon easily distinguishable from the rumba and son. In the middle of the danzon there is a percussion break, in which everyone begins to dance. It is a more respectable, less provocative dance with a much slower tempo. It was danced by the more upper class Cubans as opposed to the son and rumba, which were working-class dances.
Gina Valdes was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up on both sides of the U.S.A-Mexico border. Growing up on both sides of the border greatly influenced her life and her writing, since she was able to experience both traditions and customs at first hand. Crossing borders and identity are both reoccurring themes that Gina decides to interpret in her writings. The English and Spanish languages as well as both cultures weave through her life. Valdes received degrees from the English and Spanish departments at the University of California, San Diego. She has also taught both languages at various universities such as at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University. Gina Valdes is the author of two bilingual poetry collections Puentes y Fronteras (Bridges and Borders) and Comiendo Lumbre (Eating Fire) both are from the Bilingual Press. English con Salsa is a poem from one of her poetry collections where she uses all the techniques and themes she is best known for.
The bajo sexto is a unique Mexican stringed instrument. The name bajo sexto translates to English as “sixth bass”. It is a combination of both a bass guitar and a regular guitar. No one really knows the origins of the instrument. It was in the 1800’s when the instrument first appeared, but has gained popularity since then. It is also to have been said it could be the ancestor to both the bass guitar and the twelve string guitar. Since it plays both bass and guitar it is used for folk music. It is popular in the northern part of Mexico, which plays norteno music and also Tex-Mex. The bajo sexto has started to appear in other genres of music like Cumbia, Banda and Narco corridos. Since it has become very popular, Mexican states have started
The music in la danza del venado sets the mood for the story. The rhythm of the music coincides with the pace of the deer performer. The music slows as the deer starts to die, and speeds up when interacting with the hunters. The instruments used in la danza del venado music are percussions. Such as: the reed flute, percussions, rasps, gourds, rattles. In addition to the instruments. Chanting
Morales, Ed. The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova to Salsa and Beyond. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo, 2003. Print.
The melody is consistent with the song. The string instruments are prominent whereas the timpani and oboe just go along with the melody. Esta es una pieza sencilla binaria; claramente no hay devolución del material melódico apertura en la segunda parte del movimiento.
According to his review of A Guide to Latin American Music by Gilbert Chase, Charles Seeger describes Chase’s description of the music culture, “The quantitative distribution of more than 2700 entries, which include some multiple listing, is interesting” (Seeger, 1946, 304). Chase explains a plethora of countries in Latin America and their specific musical features. Furthermore, thanks to his detailed work, the reader can see how many common features can be seen. Firstly, a common feature among all genres is the use of aerophones. The aerophones used could include, panpipes of various varieties, flutes, trumpets (as seen at the Boogat performance in Ottawa) and many more. Another common feature among all the genres is a strong rhythmic presence. In essentially all Latin American music, a steady, metrical rhythmic quality can be heard keeping the music energetic and easy to follow. To keep the rhythm, another common feature to Latin American culture is the drum. Most commonly found in the Afro-Latin genre, as a result of influence from African culture, can be seen throughout Latin America. A popularized western form of this type of music, is that of mariachi. Finally, Latin American culture is known for its vibrancy in their music. The music is generally quite expressive of feelings, strong moral messages found in protest songs, and their colorful, elaborate