Rumba Rhythms, Salsa Sound

MUSIC MILESTONES AMERICAN MS, RUMBA RHYTH ND BOSSA NOVA, A THE SALSA SOUND MATT DOEDEN This Page Left Blank Intentionally MUSIC MILESTONES AMERICAN MS, RUMBA RHYTH ND BOSSA NOVA, A HE SALSA SOUND T MATT DOEDEN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BOOKS MINNEAPOLIS NOTE TO READERS: some songs and music videos by artists discussed in this book contain language and images that readers may consider offensive. Copyright © 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Twenty-First Century Books A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Doeden, Matt. American Latin music : rumba rhythms, bossa nova, and the salsa sound / by Matt Doeden. p. cm. — (American music milestones) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–7613–4505–3 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Popular music—United States—Latin American influences. 2. Dance music—Latin America—History and criticism. 3. Music— Latin America—History and criticism. 4. Musicians—Latin America. 5. Salsa (Music)—History and criticism. I. Title. ML3477.D64 2013 781.64089’68073—dc23 2012002074 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – CG – 7/15/12 Building the Latin Sound www 5 Latin Fusions www 21 Sensations www 33 www The Latin Explosion 43 Glossary w 56 Source Notes w 61 Timeline w 57 Selected Bibliography w 61 Mini Bios w 58 Further Reading, w Websites, Latin Must-Haves 59 and Films w 62 w Major Awards 60 Index w 63 BUILDING THE Pitbull L E F T, Rodrigo y Gabriela R IG H T, and Shakira FAR RIGHT are some of the big gest names in modern Latin music. PITBULL’S GRAVELLY VOICE, SHAKIRA’S SULTRY SINGING, AND THE TWIN GUITAR GROOVES OF RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ARE JUST A FEW OF THE SOUNDS OF MODERN LATIN MUSIC. Latin music has been a part of the Although Spanish is the most States. Musicians in the United United States music scene for more common language in Latin music, States have changed and combined than a century. The Latin world Portuguese-language speakers different Latin styles to create includes the Spanish-speaking na- have played a major role in the mu- unique new sounds. Latin music has tions of Central America and the sic’s history. Latin music also has an influenced and been influenced by Caribbean as well as the Spanish- undeniable connection to dancing. almost every major form of music in and Portuguese-speaking nations of Fast or slow, there’s just something the United States. South America. Latin music is a rich about Latin rhythms that inspires blend of cultures. people to get up and move. Spanish, Portuguese, and Afri- Modern Latin music includes a can sounds form the core of Latin wide range of styles. Each of these music. Latin music also draws from styles traces back to a different other European music traditions and region or time period. Over time, from Native American peoples. these styles all moved to the United BUILDINGCHAPTER the LATIN NAME SOUND HERE 5 Son is the ultimate fusion of (often just an empty jug) to the mix. SON-RISE Spanish and African sounds. This Together they had all the elements No Latin American country has style of music grew out of Cuban of the modern son sound. had a bigger influence on music in folk songs and thrived on the island. The son sound took over Cuba. the United States than the island Son has a distinct Spanish flavor. People usually played the music in of Cuba. Beginning in the 1500s, Many son songs feature the Spanish a group of six called a sexteto . The European settlers brought peoples guitar. But its distinct African beat sexteto featured two vocalists. from western Africa to work as makes the son uniquely Cuban. One was a high-voiced tenor who slaves in Cuba. Slavery ended on The son style exploded in played claves. The other was a low- the island in the 1880s, but many 1868. That year, Cubans won voiced baritone who played mara- descendants of slaves remained independence from Spain, which cas. They were backed by a bass, in Cuba. Their African heritage had controlled the island since the a bongo drum, a tres (a six-stringed remains a major part of Cuba’s 1500s. After the war, victorious guitarlike instrument), and a guiro culture. Cuban music has a distinct Cuban soldiers streamed into the (a hollowed-out gourd with ridges African flavor, with strong rhythms capital city of Havana. Many of against which the player drags a and powerful beats. And because them brought along musical instru- stick). Cuba was settled mainly by the ments such as guitars, maracas, and Spanish, Cuban music is usually bongo drums. Others added the Local musicians in modern-day sung in Spanish. thump of a simple homemade bass Cuba keep the son style alive. 6 A LOOK AT LATIN INSTRUMENTS Latin music includes a wide variety of instruments. Here’s a quick look at some of the instruments that aren’t well known to U.S. audiences. bajo sexto: a claves: a pair maracas: Mexican bass of short, thick gourd-shaped guitar that sticks. Claves instruments features six make a sharp filled with pairs of strings, clicking sound beans or seeds. a total of when struck Maracas are twelve strings together. usually played in pairs. A player shakes them to bandoneón: conga drum: make a rattling sound. an accordion- a tall, single- like instrument headed drum tamborim: a played by from Cuba. The small drum pumping its conga drum is with a closed midsection also called the bottom side. A while pressing tumbadora. player strikes the buttons on its handles a tamborim guiro: a with a pair of bongo drums: gourd-shaped drumsticks to create a high, sharp a pair of open- percussion sound. bottomed instrument. A drums. Bongos player rubs tres: a guitar- are connected a stick along like instrument to each other the ridges of a from Cuba. The at the side. guiro to make a rattling sound. tres includes The larger drum is called the hembra three pairs of (female). The smaller drum is the two strings. macho (male). BUILDINGCHAPTER the LATIN NAME SOUND HERE 7 storytelling. Love stories were par- throughout Cuba. Soon it could be CUBAN ticularly common. heard in Mexico, Central America, Pepe Sánchez had little formal and the United States. Bolero SOUNDS music training. He composed bolero inspired similar styles, including the songs in his head without ever writing slow, beautiful bolero mamba; the HEAD them down. For this reason, much stirring bolero-son; and the bolero- of his original bolero music is lost. cha (known for its cha-cha-cha NORTH But Sánchez’s fellow musicians were rhythm). Son may have been king in Cuba, moved by his powerful songs. They One of the biggest stateside suc- but another Cuban sound was first wrote down some of the music, and cesses was Cuba’s Trío Matamoros. to reach the United States. The the modern Cuban bolero tradition Guitarist Miguel Matamoros, guitar- gentle bolero style was created springs from these musical treasures. ist and vocalist Rafeal Cueto, and by José “Pepe” Sánchez in the late By the start of the twentieth maraca player Siro Rodríguez made 1800s. Bolero songs centered on century, the bolero style had spread up the group. Miguel Matamoros Cuba’s Trío Matamoros brought son music to the United States in the 1930s. 8 SYNCOPATION One of the trademark sounds of Latin music is syncopation. Syncopation is the stressing of a beat that is not normally stressed, or the skipping of a strong beat. Syncopation interrupts the smooth flow of the rhythm in a piece of music. The changeable rhythms of Latin music are part of its lively, danceable appeal and an element of any good Latin dance song. Forms of music such as jazz also use syncopation. was a brilliant songwriter. Many of the trio’s hits of the 1920s and the 1930s blended son and bolero. These hits include “Son de la Loma” (“They Come from the Hill”), “El Que Siembra Su Maíz” (“He Who Sows His Corn”), and “Lágrimas Negras” (“Black Tears”). The bolero-son style captured the attention of the music world. Trío Mat- amoros toured in Latin America, the United States, and Europe. They often performed at clubs in New York City in the 1930s and the 1940s. Their success helped pave the way for other son artists in the United States. CUBA CONTINUES TO SHINE Rita Montaner was born in Cuba in 1900. She was a noted pianist by the time she was fifteen. By the early 1920s, she was well known in Cuba and across much of Latin America as a pianist and a vocalist. Montaner began recording songs for the U.S. company Columbia Rita Montaner, pictured here in the 1940s, sang memorable crossover songs such as “El Manicero” (“The Peanut Vendor,” 1928). BUILDINGCHAPTER the LATIN NAME SOUND HERE 9 GLOSSARY ballad: a slow song that tells a story. Ballads often have rumba: an upbeat form of Cuban dance music famous for its sorrowful or romantic lyrics. call-and-response vocal pattern bilingual: able to speak two languages. In music, an album salsa: a style of Latin music that originated in the United States.

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