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MY MUSIC, MY PLACE: THE GOLDEN ERA OF JIBARO MUSIC AND PUERTO RICAN IDENTITY IN NEW YORK CITY By DELIO FIGUEROA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2015 © 2015 Delio Figueroa To my grandparents, who taught me that one’s culture is always with you no matter how far you are from home. To all the Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States of America in search of a better life and kept their culture alive through folk traditions and music; and to all the contemporary community of Jíbaro musicians around the globe. ¡Bravo! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed if not for the guidance, support, and patience of my family, mentors, friends, and acquaintances. First and foremost, I would like to thank my mother and father, María de los Angeles and Delio, who always believed in me and encouraged my talent, and to my sister Bárbara for always making me laugh. I also want to thank Julia Roncoroni for all her help and patience. This project would not have been successful if not for the generosity and support from the Delores Auzene Dissertation Award, and the help of Richard Philips and Paul Losch at the Latin American and Caribbean Collection at University of Florida. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my professors and advisors at the School of Music who have guided and helped me shape this dissertation as well as my academic career as ethnomusicologist and music educator. A special thanks goes to the chairs of my committee: Dr. Larry Crook and Dr. Welson Tremura, who were faced with the daunting task of revising this document. An immense amount of gratitude is reserved for Dr. Lillian Guerra whose advice and commitment have been instrumental in the forging of this study and to my development as a scholar and pedagogue. Another great amount of gratitude goes to Dr. Efraín Barradas who through his teaching made me realize that I’m not the only Puerto Rican/Latino immigrant in the USA and for always finding time in his busy agenda to meet up and discuss the progress of my work. I would like to thanks Dr. Silvio do Santos for his encouragements and for serving as a model in the development of my philosophical/musical self. Thanks to everyone who believed in me. Last but not least to all the Jíbaro and Popular musicians in New York, Florida, and Puerto Rico who still keep this musical tradition alive, especially Gilberto de Paz, 4 Joaquín Mouliert, Luz Celenia Tirado, Tony Mapeyé (José Antonio Rivera Colón), and Mike Amadeo in the Bronx. Finally, I would like to thank Professor Luis M. Alvarez, for his invaluable words of wisdom, and Lillian Pérez Marchand for her charisma, kindness, good sense of humor, and all the insight about how the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña worked regarding Jíbaro music and Puerto Rican folkloric arts. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 13 Background ............................................................................................................. 13 Purpose of this Study .............................................................................................. 18 Importance of the Present Study ............................................................................ 20 Methodology: Field an Archival Research ............................................................... 20 Plan of the Dissertation ........................................................................................... 30 2 JÍBARO MUSIC ...................................................................................................... 32 Background ............................................................................................................. 32 Golden Era of Jíbaro Music (1950s-1960s) ............................................................ 36 Defining Jibaro Music.............................................................................................. 40 Use and Social Functions ....................................................................................... 42 Music and Poetry .................................................................................................... 47 Instrumentation of the Jíbaro Ensemble ................................................................. 55 The Puerto Rican Cuatro: A Portable Piece of Home ............................................. 64 3 PROGRESS, NOSTALGIA, AND THE PROCESS OF POPULARIZING JIBARO MUSIC .................................................................................................................... 77 “Echar pa’ lante” and “Buscando ambiente” ............................................................ 77 The Diaspora (… and the Nostalgia) ...................................................................... 78 Commodification and Revivalism ............................................................................ 84 The State Intervenes in Jíbaro Music...................................................................... 86 Standardization of Jíbaro music .............................................................................. 89 Summary ................................................................................................................ 91 4 MUSIC AND LYRICAL ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 94 “Les voy a dar con los pies” – Baltazar Carrero by Baltazar Carrero from the 78rpm single Alegre ............................................................................................. 94 “Un Jíbaro en apuro” – Odílio González by Dámaso Castro from the album “Canto a Borinquén” BMC-BLP1508 ................................................................. 100 6 Summary .............................................................................................................. 108 5 PUERTO RICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY IN NEW YORK CITY: CREATING A THIRD SPACE ...................................................................................................... 110 Spaces to be Puerto Rican in New York ............................................................... 110 Nationalism and Jibaro Music ............................................................................... 114 Nationalism ........................................................................................................... 118 “No cambio a mi Puerto Rico” – Ramito by Flor Morales Ramos from the album “Puerto Rico es un diamante” ............................................................................ 121 Live performances of Jíbaro Music ....................................................................... 130 Jíbaro Recordings ................................................................................................. 137 Jíbaro Records as Material Culture ...................................................................... 141 The Velloneras ...................................................................................................... 147 6 CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS .............................................................. 150 The Jíbaro as Arquetype of Nation ....................................................................... 150 Finding Answers ................................................................................................... 151 Spaces to be Puerto Rican ................................................................................... 154 Further Observations ............................................................................................ 159 Final Thought: Additional Areas for Research ...................................................... 160 APPENDIX A VISUAL SYMBOLS OF PUERTO RICAN CULTURE ........................................... 162 B LAW DESIGNATING THE CUATRO, AS A NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OF PUERTO RICO AND SYSMBOLS OF PUERTO RICAN CULTURE: ............................................................................................................ 163 C CORE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF PLENA MUSIC......................................... 165 D FREQUENTLY RECORDED SEIS DURING THE GOLDEN ERA OF JÍBARO MUSIC .................................................................................................................. 166 E GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................... 167 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 171 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 180 7 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Jíbaro Core Music Instruments ........................................................................... 58 2-2 Jíbaro Secondary Music Instruments ................................................................. 58 2-3 Jíbaro