| SALSA |
Salsa music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salsa
Stylistic origins: Primarily Cuban son, mambo, rumba and Puerto Rican music
Cultural origins: 1960s and 70s New York City Latin melting pot
Typical instruments: guitar, trumpet, trombone, piano, claves, cowbell, timbales, conga
Mainstream popularity: Very popular in Latin America, Japan and United States
Derivative forms: Timba
Subgenres
Salsa erotica - Salsa gorda - Salsa romantica
Fusion genres
Charanga-vallenata - Mereng-house - Salsa-merengue - Songo-salsa - rock-salsa - vallenato-salsa
Regional scenes
Colombia - Cuba - Japan - Mexico - Panama - Puerto Rico - United States - Venezuela
Other topics
Salsa dancing - Musicians
Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly Caribbean and Latin genre that is popular across
Latin America and among Latinos abroad. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the
term can be used to describe most any form of popular Cuban-derived genre, such as chachachá
and mambo. Most specifically, however, salsa refers to a particular style developed by the 1960s
and '70s New York City-area Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants to the United States, and
stylistic descendants like 1980s salsa romantica. The style is now practiced throughout Latin
America, and abroad; in some countries it may be referred to as música tropical [1]. Salsa's
closest relatives are Cuban mambo and the son orchestras of the early 20th century, as well as
Latin jazz. The terms Latin jazz and salsa are sometimes used interchangeably; many musicians
are considered a part of either, or both, fields, especially performers from prior to the 1970s [2].
Salsa is essentially Cuban in stylistic origin, though it is also a hybrid of various Latin styles mixed
with pop, jazz, rock and R&B [3]. Salsa is the primary music played at Latin dance clubs and is the
"essential pulse of Latin music", according to author Ed Morales [4], while music author Peter
Manuel called it the "most popular dance (music) among Puerto Rican and Cuban communities,
(and in) Central and South America", and "one of the most dynamic and significant pan-American
musical phenomena of the 1970s and 1980s" [5]. Modern salsa remains a dance-oriented genre
and is closely associated with a style of salsa dancing.
Contents:
1 The word salsa
2 Characteristics
2.1 Songs and instrumentation
2.2 Rhythm
3 History
3.1 Origins
3.2 1960s
3.3 1970s
3.4 1980s
3.5 1990s to the present
4 References
5 Notes
The word salsa
Salsa means sauce in the Spanish language and has more recently acquired a musical meaning
in both English and Spanish. In this sense salsa has been described as a word with "vivid
associations but no absolute definitions, a tag that encompasses a rainbow assortment of Latin
rhythms and styles, taking on a different hue wherever you stand in the Spanish-speaking world"
[6]. The term has been used by Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants in New York analogously to
swing or soul, which refer to a quality of emotionally and culturally genuine music in the African
American community. In this usage salsa connotes a frenzied, "spicy" and wild musical experience
that draws upon or reflects elements of Latin culture, irregardless of the specific style [7].
Some people object to the term salsa on the basis that it is vague or misleading; for example, the
style of people like Tito Puente evolved several decades before salsa was a recognized genre,
leading Puente to once claim that "the only salsa I know comes in a bottle. I play Cuban music".
Because salsa can refer to numerous styles of music, some observers perceive the word as a
marketing term designed to superficially categorize music in a way that appeals to
non-aficionados [8]. For a time the Cuban state media officially claimed that the term salsa music
was a euphemism for authentic Cuban music stolen by American imperialists, though the media
has since abandoned this theory [9].
Various music writers and historians have traced the use of salsa to different periods of the 20th
century. World music author Sue Steward has claimed that salsa was originally used in music as a
"cry of appreciation for a particularly piquant or flashy solo". She cites the first use in this manner to
an unnamed Venezuelan radio DJ [6]. Max Salazar traced the word back to the early 1930s, when
Ignacio Piñerio composed "Échale Salsita", a dance song protesting tasteless food [10]. Though
Salazar describes this song as the origin of salsa meaning "danceable Latin music", author Ed
Morales has described the usage in the same song as a cry from Piñeiro to his band, telling them
to increase the tempo to "put the dancers into high gear". Morales claims that later in the 1930s,
vocalist Beny Moré would shout salsa during a performance "to acknowledge a musical moment's
heat, to express a kind of cultural nationalist sloganeering [and to celebrate the] 'hotness' or
'spiciness' of Latin American cultures" [11].
Music writer Peter Manuel claims that salsa came to describe a specific style of music in the
mid-1970s "when a group of New York-based Latin musicians began overhauling the classic
big-band arrangements popular since the mambo era of the 1940s and '50s", and that the term
was "popularized" in the late 1960s by a Venezuelan radio station and Jerry Masucci of Fania
Records [12]. In contrast, Ed Morales cites the use of salsa for a specific style to a New
York-based editor and graphic designer named Izzy Sanabria. Morales also mentions an early use
of the term by Johnny Pacheco, a Dominican performer who released a 1962 album called Salsa
Na' Ma, which Morales translates as "it just needs a little salsa, or spice" [11].
Characteristics
Samples of salsa music
"Quimbara" (file info)
Song by popular singer Celia Cruz
"Ay Mi Cuba" (file info)
Song by pioneer Tito Puente
"Salsa Cubana" (file info)
Song by modern band Los Van Van
Salsa music is a broad term that is used with various meanings depending on the context; its exact
meaning is the subject of arguments among aficionados. Author Ed Morales has said the obvious,
most common perception of salsa is an "extravagant, clave-driven, Afro-Cuban-derived songs
anchored by piano, horns, and rhythm section and sung by a velvety voiced crooner in a sharkskin
suit". He also defines it as "nothing more than a new spin on the traditional rhythms of Cuban
music" and "at once (both) a modern marketing concept and the cultural voice of a new
generation", representative of a "crystallization of a Latino identity in New York in the early 1960s".
Peter Manuel also recognizes the commercial and cultural dichotomy to salsa, noting that the
term's broad use for many styles of Latin pop music has served the development of "pan-Latin
solidarity", while also noting that the "recycling of Cuban music under an artificial, obscurantist
label is but one more example of North American exploitation and commodification of third world
primary products; for Latinos, salsa bridges the gap between "tradition and modernity, between
the impoverished homeland and the dominant United States, between street life and the chic night
club, and between grassroots culture and the corporate media" [13].
The singer Rubén Blades once claimed that salsa is merely "a concept", as opposed to a definite
style or rhythm. Some musicians are doubtful that the term salsa has any useful meaning at all, with
the bandleader Machito claiming that salsa was more or less what he had been playing for forty
years before the style was invented, while Tito Puente once responded to a question about salsa
by saying "I'm a musician, not a cook" (referring to salsa's original use to mean sauce). Celia Cruz,
a well-known salsa singer, has said, "[s]alsa is Cuban music with another name. It's mambo,
chachachá, rumba, son ... all the Cuban rhythms under one name" [14].
A trombone, sometimes considered a defining characteristic of salsaAt its root, however, salsa is
a mixture of Spanish and African music, filtered through the music histories of Cuba and Puerto
Rico, and adapted by Latin jazz and Latin popular musicians for Latino populations with diverse
musical tastes [6]. The basic structure of a salsa song is based on the Cuban son, beginning with
a simple melody and followed by a coro section in which the performers improvise [15]. Ed
Morales has claimed that the "key staples" of salsa's origins were the use of the trombone as a
counterpoint to the vocalist and a more aggressive sound than is typical in Cuban music [16].
Peter Manuel claims that the term salsa is so vague as to be meaningless; however, the style that
evolved along with the word can be characterized as using timbales and trombones in greater
numbers, and use of Puerto Rican elements like the declamatory exclamation le-lo-lai [17].
Songs and instrumentation
A modern salsa band lineup including less traditional salsa instruments such as a saxophone and
a full drumset.Salsa bands play a wide variety of songs, including pieces based on plenas and
bombas, cumbia, vallenato and merengue; most songs, however, are modern versions of the
Cuban son. Like the son, salsa songs begin with a songlike section followed by a montuno break
with call-and-response vocals, instrumental breaks and jazzy solos [18].
The most important instrumentation in salsa is the percussion, which is played by a wide variety of
instruments, including claves, cowbells, timbales and conga [19]. Apart from percussion, a variety
of melodic instruments are commonly used as accompaniment, such as a guitar, trumpets,
trombones, the piano, and many others, all depending on the performing artists. Bands typically
consist of up to a dozen people, one of whom serves as band leader, directing the music as it is
played. Two to four players generally specialize in horns, while there are generally a one or two
choral singers and players of the bongo, conga, bass guitar, piano and timbales. The maracas,
clave or güiro may also be played, typically by a vocalist. The bongocero will usually switch to a
kind of bell called a campana (or bongo bell) for the montuno section of a song. Horns are typically
either two trumpets or four trumpets or, most commonly, two trumpets with at least one saxophone
or trombone [20].
A cowbell, an important percussion instrument.Salsa essentially remains a form of dance music;
thus many songs have little in the way of lyrics beyond exhortations to dance or other simple words.
Modern pop-salsa is often romantica, defined partially by the sentimental, lovelorn lyrics, or erotica,
defined largely by the sexually explicit lyrics. Salsa also has a long tradition of lyrical
experimentation, with singer-songwriters like Ruben Blades using incisive lyrics about everything
from imperialism to disarmament and environmentalism [21]. Vocalists are expected to be able to
improvise during verses and instrumental solos. References to Afro-Catholic religions, such as
Santeria, are also a major part of salsa's lyrics throughout Latin America, even among those artists
who are not themselves practitioners of any Afro-Catholic religion [22].
Rhythm
A pair of claves, commonly used to play the clave rhythm.Salsa music is traditionally based on a
4/4 time signature, and is mostly phrased in groups of two bars (eight beats), such as recurring
rhythmic patterns and main phrases of the chorus. Typically, the overall rhythmic patterns played on
the percussion instruments are rather complicated, with several different patterns played
simultaneously. The clave rhythm is an important foundation of salsa; all salsa music and dance is
governed by the clave rhythm. The most common clave rhythm in salsa is the so called son clave,
which is eight beats long and can be played either in 2-3 or 3-2 style. The 2-3 version contains two
clave strikes in the first half of the eight beats and three in the second, while the 3-2 has the halves
reversed [23].
Instrumentalists do not generally play out the exact clave rhythm, except when using the percussion
instrument also known as claves. In most other cases, the clave rhythm simply functions as a basis
for the instrumentalists and singers to use as a common rhythmic ground for their own musical
phrases. The instrumentalists emphasize the differences of the two halves of the eight beat clave
rhythm; for example, in an eight beat long phrase used in a 2-3 clave context, the first half of the
phrase is given more straight notes that are played directly on beat, while the second half instead
contains notes with longer durations and with a more off-beat feeling. This emphasizes that the first
four beats of the 2-3 son clave contain two "short" strikes that are directly on beat, while the last
four beats contain three "long" clave strikes with the second strike placed off-beat between beats
two and three. Salsa songs commonly start with one clave and then switch to the reverse partway
through the song, without restarting the clave rhythm; instead, the rhythm is shifted four beats using
breaks and stop-time.
Some percussion instruments have standardized patterns that reoccur in most salsa music with
only minor variations. For example, this is a common 2-3 clave based on a rhythmic pattern called
the cáscara, which is played on the shells of the timbales during the verses and less energetic
parts of a song:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
*.*.**.**.**.*.* (* = cáscara strikes)
During the chorus and solo parts, the timbalero often switches to the following rhythm, which is
normally played on a cowbell mounted on the timbales set:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
+.*.+++*.++*+.+* (+/* = weak/accented cowbell strikes)
The timbales pattern above is often backed up by a handheld cowbell, mainly played during the
chorus as well but by another person, that uses a simpler rhythm also based on the 2-3 clave:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
+.*.+.**+.**+.** (+/* = low/high-pitched cowbell strikes)
History
In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Cuban music within Cuba was evolving into new styles derived
primarily from son and rumba, while the Cubans in New York, living among many Latinos from
Puerto Rico and elsewhere, began playing their own distinctive styles, influenced most importantly
by African American music [24]. Their music included son and guarachas, as well as tango, bolero
and danza, with prominent influences from jazz [25]. While the New York scene continued evolving,
Cuban popular music, especially mambo, became very famous across the United States. This was
followed by a series of other genres of Cuban music, which especially affected the Latin scene in
New York. The result, by the mid-1970s, was what is now known as salsa music.
Salsa evolved steadily through the later 1970s and into the '80s and '90s. New instruments were
adopted and new national styles, like the music of Brazil, were adapted to salsa. New subgenres
appeared, such as the sweet love songs called salsa romantica, while salsa became a major part
of the music scene in Venezuela, Mexico and as far away as Japan. Diverse influences, including
most prominently hip hop music, came to shape the evolving genre. By the turn of the century,
salsa was one of the major fields of popular music in the world, and salsa stars were international
celebrities.
Origins
Salsa's roots can be traced back to the African ancestors that were brought to the Caribbean by
the Spanish as slaves. In Africa it is very common to find people playing music with instruments
like the conga and la pandereta, instruments commonly used in salsa. Salsa's most direct
antecedent is Cuban son, which itself is a combination of African and European influences. Large
son bands were very popular in Cuba beginning in the 1930s; these were largely septetos and
sextetos, and they quickly spread to the United States [26]. In the 1940s Cuban dance bands grew
much larger, becoming mambo and charanga orchestras led by bandleaders like Arsenio
Rodriguez and Felix Chappotin. In New York City in the '40s, at the center for mambo in the United
States, the Palladium Dancehall, and in Mexico City, where a burgeoning film industry attracted
Latin musicians, Cuban-style big bands were formed by Cubans and Puerto Ricans like Machito,
Perez Prado, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez [27]. New York began developing its own
Cuban-derived sound, spurred by large-scale Latino immigration, the rise of local record labels
due to the early 1940s musicians strike and the spread of the jukebox industry, and the craze for
big band dance music [28].
Mambo was very jazz-influenced, and it was the mambo big bands that kept alive the large jazz
band tradition while the mainstream current of jazz was moving on to the smaller bands of the
bebop era. Throughout the 1950s Latin dance music, such as mambo, rumba and chachachá, was
mainstream popular music in the United States and Europe. The '50s also saw a decline in
popularity for mambo big bands, followed by the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which greatly inhibited
contact between New York and Cuba. The result was a scene more dominated by Puerto Ricans
than Cubans.
1960s
The Latin music scene of early 1960s New York was dominated by bands led by musicians such
as Ray Barretto and Eddie Palmieri, whose style was influenced by imported Cuban fads such as
pachanga and charanga; after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, however, Cuban-American
contact declined precipitously, and Puerto Ricans became a larger part of the New York Latin
music scene. During this time a hybrid Nuyorican cultural identity emerged, primarily Puerto Rican
but influenced by many Latin cultures as well as the close contact with African Americans [29].
The growth of modern salsa, however, is said to have begun in the streets of New York in the late
1960s. By this time Latin pop was no longer a major force in American music, having lost ground
to doo wop, R&B and rock and roll; there were a few youth fads for Latin dances, such as the soul
and mambo fusion boogaloo, but Latin music ceased to be a major part of American popular
music [30]. Few Latin record labels had any significant distribution, the two exceptions being Tico
and Alegre. The same period, however, saw white youth joining a counterculture heavily
associated with political activism, while black youth formed radical organizations like the Black
Panthers. Inspired by these movements, Latinos in New York formed the Young Lords, rejected
assimilation and "made the barrio a cauldron of militant assertiveness and artistic creativity". The
musical aspect of this social change was based on the Cuban son, which had long been the
favored musical form for urbanites in both Puerto Rico and New York [31].
The Manhattan-based recording company, Fania Records, introduced many of the first-generation
salsa singers and musicians to the world. Founded by Dominican flautist and band-leader Johnny
Pacheco and impresario Jerry Masucci, Fania's illustrious career began with Willie Colón and
Héctor Lavoe's El Malo in 1967. This was followed by a series of updated son montuno and plena
tunes that evolved into modern salsa by 1973. Pacheco put together a team that included
percussionist Louie Ramirez, bassist Bobby Valentin and arranger Larry Harlow. The Fania team
released a string of successful singles, mostly son and plena, performing live after forming the
Fania All Stars in 1971; just two years later, the All Stars sold out Yankee Stadium [30].
1970s
From New York salsa quickly expanded to Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia,
Mexico, Venezuela, and other Latin countries. The number of salsa bands, both in New York and
elsewhere, increased dramatically, as did salsa-oriented radio stations and record labels [32].
Popular performers like Eddie Palmieri and Celia Cruz adapted to the salsa format, joined by
more authentically traditional singers like Willie Colon and Ruben Blades [33]. Colón and Blades
worked together for much of the 1970s and '80s, becoming some of the most critically and
popularly acclaimed salsa performers in the world. Their lyricism set them apart from others;
Blades became a "mouthpiece for oppressed Latin America", while Colón composed "potent",
"socio-political vignettes". Their 1978 album Siembra was, at that time, the best-selling Latin
album in history [34].
The 1970s saw a number of musical innovations among salsa musicians. The bandleader Willie
Colón introduced the cuatro, a rural Puerto Rican guitar, as well as Brazilian music. Larry Harlow,
the arranger for Fania Records, modernized salsa by adding an electric piano. By the 1980s
Fania Records' longtime leadership of salsa was weakened by the arrival of the labels TH-Rodven
and RMM. Salsa began spreading throughout Latin America in the 1970s, especially to Colombia,
where a new generation of performers began to combine salsa with elements of cumbia and
vallenato; this fusion tradition can be traced back to the 1960s work of Peregoya y su Combo
Vacano. However, it was Joe Arroyo and La Verdad, his band, that popularized Colombian salsa
beginning in the 1980s [35].
1980s
The 1980s was a time of diversification, as popular salsa evolved into sweet and smooth salsa
romantica, with lyrics dwelling on love and romance, and its more explicit cousin, salsa erotica.
Salsa romantica can be traced back to Noches Calientes, a 1984 album by singer José Alberto
with producer Louie Ramirez. A wave of romantica singers, mostly Puerto Rican, found wide
audiences with a new style characterized by romantic lyrics, an emphasis on the melody over
rhythm, and use of percussion breaks and chord changes [36]. However, salsa lost popularity
among many Latino youth, who were drawn to American rock in large numbers, while the
popularization of Dominican merengue further sapped the audience among Latinos in both New
York and Puerto Rico [37]. The '80s also saw salsa expand to Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Europe
and Japan, and diversify into many new styles.
In the 1980s some performers experimented with combining elements of salsa with hip hop music,
while the producer and pianist Sergio George helped to revive salsa's commercial success. He
created a sound based on prominent trombones and rootsy, mambo-inspired style. He worked
with the Japanese salsa band Orquesta de la Luz, and developed a studio orchestra that included
Victor Manuelle, Celia Cruz, José Alberto, La India, Tito Puente and Marc Anthony. The Colombian
singer Joe Arroyo first rose to fame in the 1970s, but became a renowned exponent of Colombian
salsa in the 1980s. Arroyo worked for many years with the Colombian arranger Fruko and his band
Los Tesos [38].
1990s to the present
Vallenato fusionist Carlos Vives in concertIn the 1990s Cuban salsa became more prominent,
especially a distinct subgenre called timba. Using the complex songo rhythm, bands like NG La
Banda and Los Van Van developed timba, along with related styles like songo-salsa, which
featured swift Spanish rapping. The use of rapping in popular songo-salsa was innovated by
Sergio George, beginning with his work with the trio Dark Latin Groove, who "breathed the fire of
songo rhythms and the energy of rap and soul into salsa" [39].
Salsa remained a major part of Colombian music through the 1990s, producing popular bands like
Sonora Carruseles, while the singer Carlos Vives created his own style that fuses salsa with
vallenato and rock. Vives' popularization of vallenato-salsa led to the accordion-led vallenato style
being used by mainstream pop stars like Gloria Estefan. The city of Cali, in Colombia, has come
to call itself the "salsa capital of the world", having produced such groups as Orquesta Guayacan
and Grupo Niche [40].
Salsa has registered a steady growth and now dominates the airwaves in many countries in Latin
America. In addition, several Latino artists, including Rey Ruiz, Marc Anthony, and most famously,
the Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, have had success as crossovers, penetrating the
Anglo-American pop market with Latin-tinged hits, usually sung in English [41].
The most recent innovations in the genre include hybrids like merenhouse and salsa-merengue,
alongside salsa gorda. Since the mid-1990s African artists have also been very active through the
super-group Africando, where African and New York musicians mix with leading African singers
such as Bambino Diabate, Ricardo Lemvo, Ismael Lo and Salif Keita. Salsa is only one of many
Latin genres to have traveled back and influenced West African music [41].
References
Jones, Alan and Jussi Kantonen (1999). Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco, A Cappella
Books. ISBN 1556524110.
Manuel, Peter (1988). Popular Music Traditions of the Non-Western World, 46-50, New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195053341.
Manuel, Peter (1995). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae,
Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1566393388.
Morales (2003). The Latin Beat, Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306810182.
Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA, The Rough Guide. ISBN 185828421X.
Roberts, John Storm (1972). Black Music of Two Worlds, New York: Praeger. cited in Manuel, pg.
48
Salazar, Max (November 1991). "What Is This Thing Called Salsa?" Latin Beat Magazine.
Steward, Sue (2000). "Cubans, Nuyoricans and the Global Sound" Broughton, Simon and
Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.) World Music, Vol. 2: Latin &
North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, 488-506, London: Rough Guides. ISBN
1858286360.
Washburne, Cristopher (Fall 1995). Clave: The African Roots of Salsa, Kalinda!, newsletter for the
Center for Black Music Research.
Notes
1. ^ Morales, pg. 46
2. ^ Unterberger, pg. 50
3. ^ Morales, pg. 33 Morales claims that many Afro-Cuban purists continue to claim that salsa is a
mere variation on Cuba's musical heritage (but) the hybridizing experience the music went through
in New York from the 1920s on incorporated influences from many different branches of the Latin
American tradition, and later from jazz, R&B, and even rock. Morales' essential claim is confirmed
by Unterberger's and Steward's analysis.
4. ^ Morales, pg. 33
5. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 46
6. ^ a b c Steward, pg. 488
7. ^ Jones and Kantonen note the relation to swing; similarities to the African American use of soul
are by Singer and Friedman, cited in Manuel, pg. 46, to describe "Puerto Rican and Cuban
musical expression in New York". Manuel describes salsa as spicy, zesty, energetic, and
unmistakably Latino
8. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 74; Manuel does not cite a specific source for the Puente
claim, nor mention any specific individuals who object to the term on the basis of vagueness, a
misleading nature or marketing objections.
9. ^ Steward, pg. 494
10. ^ Salazar dates this song to 1933, however Morales, pgs. 56 - 59, mentions the same song
and dates it to 1932
11. ^ a b Morales, pg. 56-59
12. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 48; Manuel, in Caribbean Currents,
pg. 74, ascribes the term specifically to the name of a Venezuelan radio show and claims the word
was "promoted" by Fania Records
13. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 46
14. ^ Cruz is cited in Steward (with ellipsis), no specific source given; Manuel, pg. 46 notes that
"many Latin musicians" consider the term salsa to be "artificial"; the rest of this paragraph comes
from Morales, pgs. 55-56: If mambo was a constellation of rhythmic tendencies, then, as leading
salsa sonero (lead singer) Rubén Blades once said, salsa is a concept, not a particular rhythm.
15. ^ Morales, pg. 55
16. ^ Morales, pg. 60 Morales cites the Venezuelan scholar César Miguel Rondón, in El Libro de
la Salsa, as noting that Eddie Palmieri's arrangement of the trombone in a way that they always
sounded sour, with a peculiarly aggressive harshness.
17. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 74
18. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 83 Manuel claims that some 90 percent of salsa songs can
be basically categorized as modernized renditions of the Cuban son (or guaracha, which is now
practically identical).
19. ^ Unterberger, pg. 50
20. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 83
21. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 80
22. ^ Steward, pgs. 495 - 496 Steward mentions Celia Cruz as not being an adherent of an
Afro-Catholic religion, yet who refers to the goddess Yemaya in her performances.
23. ^ Clave: The African Roots of Salsa
24. ^ Morales, pg. 33
25. ^ Morales, pg. 34
26. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 47, notes that Cuban dance music had
achieved a presence in New York City as early as the 1930s, when it was imported by Puerto
Rican immigrants and a few enterprising Cuban groups
27. ^ Steward, pg. 488-489
28. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 47
29. ^ Steward, pg. 489 discusses Latin dance crazes in the Western world; Morales, pg. 57
discusses the development of mambo and the New York scene; Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg.
72 discusses the impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its effects
30. ^ a b Steward, pg. 489
31. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 73
32. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 48
33. ^ Roberts, pgs. 186 - 187, cited by Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 48
34. ^ Steward, pgs. 489 - 492
35. ^ Steward, pgs. 488 - 506
36. ^ Steward, pg. 493
37. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 49
38. ^ Steward, pgs. 493 - 497
39. ^ Steward, pgs. 493 - 494
40. ^ Steward, pgs. 488 - 506
41. ^ a b Steward, pgs. 488 - 499
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_music"
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salsa
Stylistic origins: Primarily Cuban son, mambo, rumba and Puerto Rican music
Cultural origins: 1960s and 70s New York City Latin melting pot
Typical instruments: guitar, trumpet, trombone, piano, claves, cowbell, timbales, conga
Mainstream popularity: Very popular in Latin America, Japan and United States
Derivative forms: Timba
Subgenres
Salsa erotica - Salsa gorda - Salsa romantica
Fusion genres
Charanga-vallenata - Mereng-house - Salsa-merengue - Songo-salsa - rock-salsa - vallenato-salsa
Regional scenes
Colombia - Cuba - Japan - Mexico - Panama - Puerto Rico - United States - Venezuela
Other topics
Salsa dancing - Musicians
Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly Caribbean and Latin genre that is popular across
Latin America and among Latinos abroad. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the
term can be used to describe most any form of popular Cuban-derived genre, such as chachachá
and mambo. Most specifically, however, salsa refers to a particular style developed by the 1960s
and '70s New York City-area Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants to the United States, and
stylistic descendants like 1980s salsa romantica. The style is now practiced throughout Latin
America, and abroad; in some countries it may be referred to as música tropical [1]. Salsa's
closest relatives are Cuban mambo and the son orchestras of the early 20th century, as well as
Latin jazz. The terms Latin jazz and salsa are sometimes used interchangeably; many musicians
are considered a part of either, or both, fields, especially performers from prior to the 1970s [2].
Salsa is essentially Cuban in stylistic origin, though it is also a hybrid of various Latin styles mixed
with pop, jazz, rock and R&B [3]. Salsa is the primary music played at Latin dance clubs and is the
"essential pulse of Latin music", according to author Ed Morales [4], while music author Peter
Manuel called it the "most popular dance (music) among Puerto Rican and Cuban communities,
(and in) Central and South America", and "one of the most dynamic and significant pan-American
musical phenomena of the 1970s and 1980s" [5]. Modern salsa remains a dance-oriented genre
and is closely associated with a style of salsa dancing.
Contents:
1 The word salsa
2 Characteristics
2.1 Songs and instrumentation
2.2 Rhythm
3 History
3.1 Origins
3.2 1960s
3.3 1970s
3.4 1980s
3.5 1990s to the present
4 References
5 Notes
The word salsa
Salsa means sauce in the Spanish language and has more recently acquired a musical meaning
in both English and Spanish. In this sense salsa has been described as a word with "vivid
associations but no absolute definitions, a tag that encompasses a rainbow assortment of Latin
rhythms and styles, taking on a different hue wherever you stand in the Spanish-speaking world"
[6]. The term has been used by Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants in New York analogously to
swing or soul, which refer to a quality of emotionally and culturally genuine music in the African
American community. In this usage salsa connotes a frenzied, "spicy" and wild musical experience
that draws upon or reflects elements of Latin culture, irregardless of the specific style [7].
Some people object to the term salsa on the basis that it is vague or misleading; for example, the
style of people like Tito Puente evolved several decades before salsa was a recognized genre,
leading Puente to once claim that "the only salsa I know comes in a bottle. I play Cuban music".
Because salsa can refer to numerous styles of music, some observers perceive the word as a
marketing term designed to superficially categorize music in a way that appeals to
non-aficionados [8]. For a time the Cuban state media officially claimed that the term salsa music
was a euphemism for authentic Cuban music stolen by American imperialists, though the media
has since abandoned this theory [9].
Various music writers and historians have traced the use of salsa to different periods of the 20th
century. World music author Sue Steward has claimed that salsa was originally used in music as a
"cry of appreciation for a particularly piquant or flashy solo". She cites the first use in this manner to
an unnamed Venezuelan radio DJ [6]. Max Salazar traced the word back to the early 1930s, when
Ignacio Piñerio composed "Échale Salsita", a dance song protesting tasteless food [10]. Though
Salazar describes this song as the origin of salsa meaning "danceable Latin music", author Ed
Morales has described the usage in the same song as a cry from Piñeiro to his band, telling them
to increase the tempo to "put the dancers into high gear". Morales claims that later in the 1930s,
vocalist Beny Moré would shout salsa during a performance "to acknowledge a musical moment's
heat, to express a kind of cultural nationalist sloganeering [and to celebrate the] 'hotness' or
'spiciness' of Latin American cultures" [11].
Music writer Peter Manuel claims that salsa came to describe a specific style of music in the
mid-1970s "when a group of New York-based Latin musicians began overhauling the classic
big-band arrangements popular since the mambo era of the 1940s and '50s", and that the term
was "popularized" in the late 1960s by a Venezuelan radio station and Jerry Masucci of Fania
Records [12]. In contrast, Ed Morales cites the use of salsa for a specific style to a New
York-based editor and graphic designer named Izzy Sanabria. Morales also mentions an early use
of the term by Johnny Pacheco, a Dominican performer who released a 1962 album called Salsa
Na' Ma, which Morales translates as "it just needs a little salsa, or spice" [11].
Characteristics
Samples of salsa music
"Quimbara" (file info)
Song by popular singer Celia Cruz
"Ay Mi Cuba" (file info)
Song by pioneer Tito Puente
"Salsa Cubana" (file info)
Song by modern band Los Van Van
Salsa music is a broad term that is used with various meanings depending on the context; its exact
meaning is the subject of arguments among aficionados. Author Ed Morales has said the obvious,
most common perception of salsa is an "extravagant, clave-driven, Afro-Cuban-derived songs
anchored by piano, horns, and rhythm section and sung by a velvety voiced crooner in a sharkskin
suit". He also defines it as "nothing more than a new spin on the traditional rhythms of Cuban
music" and "at once (both) a modern marketing concept and the cultural voice of a new
generation", representative of a "crystallization of a Latino identity in New York in the early 1960s".
Peter Manuel also recognizes the commercial and cultural dichotomy to salsa, noting that the
term's broad use for many styles of Latin pop music has served the development of "pan-Latin
solidarity", while also noting that the "recycling of Cuban music under an artificial, obscurantist
label is but one more example of North American exploitation and commodification of third world
primary products; for Latinos, salsa bridges the gap between "tradition and modernity, between
the impoverished homeland and the dominant United States, between street life and the chic night
club, and between grassroots culture and the corporate media" [13].
The singer Rubén Blades once claimed that salsa is merely "a concept", as opposed to a definite
style or rhythm. Some musicians are doubtful that the term salsa has any useful meaning at all, with
the bandleader Machito claiming that salsa was more or less what he had been playing for forty
years before the style was invented, while Tito Puente once responded to a question about salsa
by saying "I'm a musician, not a cook" (referring to salsa's original use to mean sauce). Celia Cruz,
a well-known salsa singer, has said, "[s]alsa is Cuban music with another name. It's mambo,
chachachá, rumba, son ... all the Cuban rhythms under one name" [14].
A trombone, sometimes considered a defining characteristic of salsaAt its root, however, salsa is
a mixture of Spanish and African music, filtered through the music histories of Cuba and Puerto
Rico, and adapted by Latin jazz and Latin popular musicians for Latino populations with diverse
musical tastes [6]. The basic structure of a salsa song is based on the Cuban son, beginning with
a simple melody and followed by a coro section in which the performers improvise [15]. Ed
Morales has claimed that the "key staples" of salsa's origins were the use of the trombone as a
counterpoint to the vocalist and a more aggressive sound than is typical in Cuban music [16].
Peter Manuel claims that the term salsa is so vague as to be meaningless; however, the style that
evolved along with the word can be characterized as using timbales and trombones in greater
numbers, and use of Puerto Rican elements like the declamatory exclamation le-lo-lai [17].
Songs and instrumentation
A modern salsa band lineup including less traditional salsa instruments such as a saxophone and
a full drumset.Salsa bands play a wide variety of songs, including pieces based on plenas and
bombas, cumbia, vallenato and merengue; most songs, however, are modern versions of the
Cuban son. Like the son, salsa songs begin with a songlike section followed by a montuno break
with call-and-response vocals, instrumental breaks and jazzy solos [18].
The most important instrumentation in salsa is the percussion, which is played by a wide variety of
instruments, including claves, cowbells, timbales and conga [19]. Apart from percussion, a variety
of melodic instruments are commonly used as accompaniment, such as a guitar, trumpets,
trombones, the piano, and many others, all depending on the performing artists. Bands typically
consist of up to a dozen people, one of whom serves as band leader, directing the music as it is
played. Two to four players generally specialize in horns, while there are generally a one or two
choral singers and players of the bongo, conga, bass guitar, piano and timbales. The maracas,
clave or güiro may also be played, typically by a vocalist. The bongocero will usually switch to a
kind of bell called a campana (or bongo bell) for the montuno section of a song. Horns are typically
either two trumpets or four trumpets or, most commonly, two trumpets with at least one saxophone
or trombone [20].
A cowbell, an important percussion instrument.Salsa essentially remains a form of dance music;
thus many songs have little in the way of lyrics beyond exhortations to dance or other simple words.
Modern pop-salsa is often romantica, defined partially by the sentimental, lovelorn lyrics, or erotica,
defined largely by the sexually explicit lyrics. Salsa also has a long tradition of lyrical
experimentation, with singer-songwriters like Ruben Blades using incisive lyrics about everything
from imperialism to disarmament and environmentalism [21]. Vocalists are expected to be able to
improvise during verses and instrumental solos. References to Afro-Catholic religions, such as
Santeria, are also a major part of salsa's lyrics throughout Latin America, even among those artists
who are not themselves practitioners of any Afro-Catholic religion [22].
Rhythm
A pair of claves, commonly used to play the clave rhythm.Salsa music is traditionally based on a
4/4 time signature, and is mostly phrased in groups of two bars (eight beats), such as recurring
rhythmic patterns and main phrases of the chorus. Typically, the overall rhythmic patterns played on
the percussion instruments are rather complicated, with several different patterns played
simultaneously. The clave rhythm is an important foundation of salsa; all salsa music and dance is
governed by the clave rhythm. The most common clave rhythm in salsa is the so called son clave,
which is eight beats long and can be played either in 2-3 or 3-2 style. The 2-3 version contains two
clave strikes in the first half of the eight beats and three in the second, while the 3-2 has the halves
reversed [23].
Instrumentalists do not generally play out the exact clave rhythm, except when using the percussion
instrument also known as claves. In most other cases, the clave rhythm simply functions as a basis
for the instrumentalists and singers to use as a common rhythmic ground for their own musical
phrases. The instrumentalists emphasize the differences of the two halves of the eight beat clave
rhythm; for example, in an eight beat long phrase used in a 2-3 clave context, the first half of the
phrase is given more straight notes that are played directly on beat, while the second half instead
contains notes with longer durations and with a more off-beat feeling. This emphasizes that the first
four beats of the 2-3 son clave contain two "short" strikes that are directly on beat, while the last
four beats contain three "long" clave strikes with the second strike placed off-beat between beats
two and three. Salsa songs commonly start with one clave and then switch to the reverse partway
through the song, without restarting the clave rhythm; instead, the rhythm is shifted four beats using
breaks and stop-time.
Some percussion instruments have standardized patterns that reoccur in most salsa music with
only minor variations. For example, this is a common 2-3 clave based on a rhythmic pattern called
the cáscara, which is played on the shells of the timbales during the verses and less energetic
parts of a song:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
*.*.**.**.**.*.* (* = cáscara strikes)
During the chorus and solo parts, the timbalero often switches to the following rhythm, which is
normally played on a cowbell mounted on the timbales set:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
+.*.+++*.++*+.+* (+/* = weak/accented cowbell strikes)
The timbales pattern above is often backed up by a handheld cowbell, mainly played during the
chorus as well but by another person, that uses a simpler rhythm also based on the 2-3 clave:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (beats)
+.*.+.**+.**+.** (+/* = low/high-pitched cowbell strikes)
History
In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Cuban music within Cuba was evolving into new styles derived
primarily from son and rumba, while the Cubans in New York, living among many Latinos from
Puerto Rico and elsewhere, began playing their own distinctive styles, influenced most importantly
by African American music [24]. Their music included son and guarachas, as well as tango, bolero
and danza, with prominent influences from jazz [25]. While the New York scene continued evolving,
Cuban popular music, especially mambo, became very famous across the United States. This was
followed by a series of other genres of Cuban music, which especially affected the Latin scene in
New York. The result, by the mid-1970s, was what is now known as salsa music.
Salsa evolved steadily through the later 1970s and into the '80s and '90s. New instruments were
adopted and new national styles, like the music of Brazil, were adapted to salsa. New subgenres
appeared, such as the sweet love songs called salsa romantica, while salsa became a major part
of the music scene in Venezuela, Mexico and as far away as Japan. Diverse influences, including
most prominently hip hop music, came to shape the evolving genre. By the turn of the century,
salsa was one of the major fields of popular music in the world, and salsa stars were international
celebrities.
Origins
Salsa's roots can be traced back to the African ancestors that were brought to the Caribbean by
the Spanish as slaves. In Africa it is very common to find people playing music with instruments
like the conga and la pandereta, instruments commonly used in salsa. Salsa's most direct
antecedent is Cuban son, which itself is a combination of African and European influences. Large
son bands were very popular in Cuba beginning in the 1930s; these were largely septetos and
sextetos, and they quickly spread to the United States [26]. In the 1940s Cuban dance bands grew
much larger, becoming mambo and charanga orchestras led by bandleaders like Arsenio
Rodriguez and Felix Chappotin. In New York City in the '40s, at the center for mambo in the United
States, the Palladium Dancehall, and in Mexico City, where a burgeoning film industry attracted
Latin musicians, Cuban-style big bands were formed by Cubans and Puerto Ricans like Machito,
Perez Prado, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez [27]. New York began developing its own
Cuban-derived sound, spurred by large-scale Latino immigration, the rise of local record labels
due to the early 1940s musicians strike and the spread of the jukebox industry, and the craze for
big band dance music [28].
Mambo was very jazz-influenced, and it was the mambo big bands that kept alive the large jazz
band tradition while the mainstream current of jazz was moving on to the smaller bands of the
bebop era. Throughout the 1950s Latin dance music, such as mambo, rumba and chachachá, was
mainstream popular music in the United States and Europe. The '50s also saw a decline in
popularity for mambo big bands, followed by the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which greatly inhibited
contact between New York and Cuba. The result was a scene more dominated by Puerto Ricans
than Cubans.
1960s
The Latin music scene of early 1960s New York was dominated by bands led by musicians such
as Ray Barretto and Eddie Palmieri, whose style was influenced by imported Cuban fads such as
pachanga and charanga; after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, however, Cuban-American
contact declined precipitously, and Puerto Ricans became a larger part of the New York Latin
music scene. During this time a hybrid Nuyorican cultural identity emerged, primarily Puerto Rican
but influenced by many Latin cultures as well as the close contact with African Americans [29].
The growth of modern salsa, however, is said to have begun in the streets of New York in the late
1960s. By this time Latin pop was no longer a major force in American music, having lost ground
to doo wop, R&B and rock and roll; there were a few youth fads for Latin dances, such as the soul
and mambo fusion boogaloo, but Latin music ceased to be a major part of American popular
music [30]. Few Latin record labels had any significant distribution, the two exceptions being Tico
and Alegre. The same period, however, saw white youth joining a counterculture heavily
associated with political activism, while black youth formed radical organizations like the Black
Panthers. Inspired by these movements, Latinos in New York formed the Young Lords, rejected
assimilation and "made the barrio a cauldron of militant assertiveness and artistic creativity". The
musical aspect of this social change was based on the Cuban son, which had long been the
favored musical form for urbanites in both Puerto Rico and New York [31].
The Manhattan-based recording company, Fania Records, introduced many of the first-generation
salsa singers and musicians to the world. Founded by Dominican flautist and band-leader Johnny
Pacheco and impresario Jerry Masucci, Fania's illustrious career began with Willie Colón and
Héctor Lavoe's El Malo in 1967. This was followed by a series of updated son montuno and plena
tunes that evolved into modern salsa by 1973. Pacheco put together a team that included
percussionist Louie Ramirez, bassist Bobby Valentin and arranger Larry Harlow. The Fania team
released a string of successful singles, mostly son and plena, performing live after forming the
Fania All Stars in 1971; just two years later, the All Stars sold out Yankee Stadium [30].
1970s
From New York salsa quickly expanded to Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Colombia,
Mexico, Venezuela, and other Latin countries. The number of salsa bands, both in New York and
elsewhere, increased dramatically, as did salsa-oriented radio stations and record labels [32].
Popular performers like Eddie Palmieri and Celia Cruz adapted to the salsa format, joined by
more authentically traditional singers like Willie Colon and Ruben Blades [33]. Colón and Blades
worked together for much of the 1970s and '80s, becoming some of the most critically and
popularly acclaimed salsa performers in the world. Their lyricism set them apart from others;
Blades became a "mouthpiece for oppressed Latin America", while Colón composed "potent",
"socio-political vignettes". Their 1978 album Siembra was, at that time, the best-selling Latin
album in history [34].
The 1970s saw a number of musical innovations among salsa musicians. The bandleader Willie
Colón introduced the cuatro, a rural Puerto Rican guitar, as well as Brazilian music. Larry Harlow,
the arranger for Fania Records, modernized salsa by adding an electric piano. By the 1980s
Fania Records' longtime leadership of salsa was weakened by the arrival of the labels TH-Rodven
and RMM. Salsa began spreading throughout Latin America in the 1970s, especially to Colombia,
where a new generation of performers began to combine salsa with elements of cumbia and
vallenato; this fusion tradition can be traced back to the 1960s work of Peregoya y su Combo
Vacano. However, it was Joe Arroyo and La Verdad, his band, that popularized Colombian salsa
beginning in the 1980s [35].
1980s
The 1980s was a time of diversification, as popular salsa evolved into sweet and smooth salsa
romantica, with lyrics dwelling on love and romance, and its more explicit cousin, salsa erotica.
Salsa romantica can be traced back to Noches Calientes, a 1984 album by singer José Alberto
with producer Louie Ramirez. A wave of romantica singers, mostly Puerto Rican, found wide
audiences with a new style characterized by romantic lyrics, an emphasis on the melody over
rhythm, and use of percussion breaks and chord changes [36]. However, salsa lost popularity
among many Latino youth, who were drawn to American rock in large numbers, while the
popularization of Dominican merengue further sapped the audience among Latinos in both New
York and Puerto Rico [37]. The '80s also saw salsa expand to Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Europe
and Japan, and diversify into many new styles.
In the 1980s some performers experimented with combining elements of salsa with hip hop music,
while the producer and pianist Sergio George helped to revive salsa's commercial success. He
created a sound based on prominent trombones and rootsy, mambo-inspired style. He worked
with the Japanese salsa band Orquesta de la Luz, and developed a studio orchestra that included
Victor Manuelle, Celia Cruz, José Alberto, La India, Tito Puente and Marc Anthony. The Colombian
singer Joe Arroyo first rose to fame in the 1970s, but became a renowned exponent of Colombian
salsa in the 1980s. Arroyo worked for many years with the Colombian arranger Fruko and his band
Los Tesos [38].
1990s to the present
Vallenato fusionist Carlos Vives in concertIn the 1990s Cuban salsa became more prominent,
especially a distinct subgenre called timba. Using the complex songo rhythm, bands like NG La
Banda and Los Van Van developed timba, along with related styles like songo-salsa, which
featured swift Spanish rapping. The use of rapping in popular songo-salsa was innovated by
Sergio George, beginning with his work with the trio Dark Latin Groove, who "breathed the fire of
songo rhythms and the energy of rap and soul into salsa" [39].
Salsa remained a major part of Colombian music through the 1990s, producing popular bands like
Sonora Carruseles, while the singer Carlos Vives created his own style that fuses salsa with
vallenato and rock. Vives' popularization of vallenato-salsa led to the accordion-led vallenato style
being used by mainstream pop stars like Gloria Estefan. The city of Cali, in Colombia, has come
to call itself the "salsa capital of the world", having produced such groups as Orquesta Guayacan
and Grupo Niche [40].
Salsa has registered a steady growth and now dominates the airwaves in many countries in Latin
America. In addition, several Latino artists, including Rey Ruiz, Marc Anthony, and most famously,
the Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, have had success as crossovers, penetrating the
Anglo-American pop market with Latin-tinged hits, usually sung in English [41].
The most recent innovations in the genre include hybrids like merenhouse and salsa-merengue,
alongside salsa gorda. Since the mid-1990s African artists have also been very active through the
super-group Africando, where African and New York musicians mix with leading African singers
such as Bambino Diabate, Ricardo Lemvo, Ismael Lo and Salif Keita. Salsa is only one of many
Latin genres to have traveled back and influenced West African music [41].
References
Jones, Alan and Jussi Kantonen (1999). Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco, A Cappella
Books. ISBN 1556524110.
Manuel, Peter (1988). Popular Music Traditions of the Non-Western World, 46-50, New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195053341.
Manuel, Peter (1995). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae,
Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1566393388.
Morales (2003). The Latin Beat, Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306810182.
Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA, The Rough Guide. ISBN 185828421X.
Roberts, John Storm (1972). Black Music of Two Worlds, New York: Praeger. cited in Manuel, pg.
48
Salazar, Max (November 1991). "What Is This Thing Called Salsa?" Latin Beat Magazine.
Steward, Sue (2000). "Cubans, Nuyoricans and the Global Sound" Broughton, Simon and
Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.) World Music, Vol. 2: Latin &
North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, 488-506, London: Rough Guides. ISBN
1858286360.
Washburne, Cristopher (Fall 1995). Clave: The African Roots of Salsa, Kalinda!, newsletter for the
Center for Black Music Research.
Notes
1. ^ Morales, pg. 46
2. ^ Unterberger, pg. 50
3. ^ Morales, pg. 33 Morales claims that many Afro-Cuban purists continue to claim that salsa is a
mere variation on Cuba's musical heritage (but) the hybridizing experience the music went through
in New York from the 1920s on incorporated influences from many different branches of the Latin
American tradition, and later from jazz, R&B, and even rock. Morales' essential claim is confirmed
by Unterberger's and Steward's analysis.
4. ^ Morales, pg. 33
5. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 46
6. ^ a b c Steward, pg. 488
7. ^ Jones and Kantonen note the relation to swing; similarities to the African American use of soul
are by Singer and Friedman, cited in Manuel, pg. 46, to describe "Puerto Rican and Cuban
musical expression in New York". Manuel describes salsa as spicy, zesty, energetic, and
unmistakably Latino
8. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 74; Manuel does not cite a specific source for the Puente
claim, nor mention any specific individuals who object to the term on the basis of vagueness, a
misleading nature or marketing objections.
9. ^ Steward, pg. 494
10. ^ Salazar dates this song to 1933, however Morales, pgs. 56 - 59, mentions the same song
and dates it to 1932
11. ^ a b Morales, pg. 56-59
12. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 48; Manuel, in Caribbean Currents,
pg. 74, ascribes the term specifically to the name of a Venezuelan radio show and claims the word
was "promoted" by Fania Records
13. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 46
14. ^ Cruz is cited in Steward (with ellipsis), no specific source given; Manuel, pg. 46 notes that
"many Latin musicians" consider the term salsa to be "artificial"; the rest of this paragraph comes
from Morales, pgs. 55-56: If mambo was a constellation of rhythmic tendencies, then, as leading
salsa sonero (lead singer) Rubén Blades once said, salsa is a concept, not a particular rhythm.
15. ^ Morales, pg. 55
16. ^ Morales, pg. 60 Morales cites the Venezuelan scholar César Miguel Rondón, in El Libro de
la Salsa, as noting that Eddie Palmieri's arrangement of the trombone in a way that they always
sounded sour, with a peculiarly aggressive harshness.
17. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 74
18. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 83 Manuel claims that some 90 percent of salsa songs can
be basically categorized as modernized renditions of the Cuban son (or guaracha, which is now
practically identical).
19. ^ Unterberger, pg. 50
20. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 83
21. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 80
22. ^ Steward, pgs. 495 - 496 Steward mentions Celia Cruz as not being an adherent of an
Afro-Catholic religion, yet who refers to the goddess Yemaya in her performances.
23. ^ Clave: The African Roots of Salsa
24. ^ Morales, pg. 33
25. ^ Morales, pg. 34
26. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 47, notes that Cuban dance music had
achieved a presence in New York City as early as the 1930s, when it was imported by Puerto
Rican immigrants and a few enterprising Cuban groups
27. ^ Steward, pg. 488-489
28. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 47
29. ^ Steward, pg. 489 discusses Latin dance crazes in the Western world; Morales, pg. 57
discusses the development of mambo and the New York scene; Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg.
72 discusses the impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its effects
30. ^ a b Steward, pg. 489
31. ^ Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 73
32. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 48
33. ^ Roberts, pgs. 186 - 187, cited by Manuel, Caribbean Currents, pg. 48
34. ^ Steward, pgs. 489 - 492
35. ^ Steward, pgs. 488 - 506
36. ^ Steward, pg. 493
37. ^ Manuel, Popular Music of the Non-Western World, pg. 49
38. ^ Steward, pgs. 493 - 497
39. ^ Steward, pgs. 493 - 494
40. ^ Steward, pgs. 488 - 506
41. ^ a b Steward, pgs. 488 - 499
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