Salsa Music

Salsa Music
Salsa music is a particular style of Latin music with a basic 1-2-3, 1-2 rhythm. It began in the early 1900’s in Cuba, was finally completed in the United States sometime between 1930 and 1960, and flourished in the 1970’s across the Western hemisphere.

Origin
The name ‘Salsa,’ interestingly enough, came from the salsa sauce most people identify salsa with. Latin American salsa was used to add some flavor and spice to their food. Although the exact instance of the first individual to use this term is unknown, musicians yelled out ‘Salsa!’ to introduce their energetic music and to liven the audience.

Although most people ultimately agree previously formed Cuban music were the foundation of Salsa, the exact origin is heavily debated. Some beliefs are derived from the fact that West African slaves were transported to Cuba, and with them they brought their native rhythms and beats, which the Cuban’s adopted into their own music and eventually brought them to the New World. Between 1930 and 1960 musicians from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia and West Africa came to New York and collaborated their musical styles to create salsa.

Another belief is that salsa was almost entirely originated and created by Puerto Rican Americans living in New York in the 1960s. The idea was that the Nuyoricans(Born and raised New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent) took different types of Cuban and Puerto Rican music including the Afro-Cuban son, rumba, mambo, guaracha, and bomba, and combined them all together, thus creating the new sound of salsa.

In addition to these beliefs of origin, during the 1940’s and 50’s, Cuban musicians greatly influenced music in New York. Cubans incorporated the melodic riffs and metal instruments from Jazz into their Salsa music. However, soon after Fidel Castro become dictator, the U.S. cut all relations with Cuba, so Cuban musicians were prohibited from traveling to the U.S. and the U.S. stopped giving Cuban music any air play time. This is when Puerto Ricans in New York took the Cubans place in the development of salsa. New York salsa has a noticeably Puerto Rican sound that became known as “classic salsa.” It tends to follow the jazz structure by integrating long instrumental breaks. Leading musicians playing Nuyorican Salsa include: Celia Cruz, Willie Colon, Eddie Palmeiri, The Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Jimmy Bosch.

The music eventually went back to different Latin American countries and evolved distinctly in each location. This separation and evolution gave birth to different styles of salsa, such as Cuban salsa, Puerto Rican salsa, Colombian salsa, etc.

Types
Salsa can be classified into two main categories. Salsa dura (hard salsa) and salsa romantica (romantic salsa). Following these two, there are salsa merengues, chirisalsas, balada salsas, etc.

One of the most contemporary Cuban styles of salsa is called Timba. TImba, a heavily Afro-Cuban influenced form, can be classified by a rapid tempo that follow a traditional rumba structure. Timba beings slow, then breaks into a classic salsa rhythm mid-section, then it levels off into a particular vocal pattern. It also includes different rhythms that fuse reggae, rap and hip hop into the salsa.

Another form of music that can be included in the name ‘Salsa’ is Colombian Cumbia, which resembles a reggae tone with its slow rhythm, and Vallenato, which mainly involves an accordion base. ‘Hot salsa’ sound came out of Colombian Salsa Dura, which has an intensely fast rhythm and a large brass sound.

West African salsa, Mbalax, strays away from the Latin based sound. This style takes traditional West African percussion instruments and fuses them with electric guitar solos and saxophone lines. This technique requires the music to be heard holistically, rather than listening to each instrument separately.

Dance
With the different styles of music, comes different styles of dancing salsa. New York salsa dance style is heavily Puerto Rican influenced, where fast flash footwork dominates. Also, during the late 70’s and early 80’s, there was a huge disco craze in New York. When salsa started to flourish in Manhattan clubs, ex-Hustle dancers incorporated their disco moves into the salsa. Currently, the New York salsa style is known as Mambo or Salsa On 2, which is a mixture of Puerto Rican salsa and Latin Hustle.

Cuban dancers took their moves from Afro-Cuban rumba. This style, known as ‘Casino,’ requires a change from a close embrace to a rhythmic movement of the middle body, shudders, and buttock trembles. The name ‘Casino’ originated from the casinos the Cubans use to attend in Old Havana. Huge gambling addicts brought in famous bands to casinos, therefore, they became the spot for everyone to dance. While North American style salsa is considered ‘linear,’ Cuban salsa style is recognized as ‘circular.’ The man is constantly twirling the woman around in a circular pattern, showing her off and eyeing her up and down while dancing. Rueda is another form of Cuban Salsa that stemmed from Casino categorized by a frequent exchange of dancing partners in a group.

Colombian salsa incorporates more close contact. The bodies of the dancers are practically touching from head to toe the entire dance, moving in tight spins. Also, since the music is so fast, the dancer’s footwork is also extremely fast and small.

Instruments
Depending on the country, each style of salsa uses different instruments. However, most all styles heavily rely on percussion, such as the clave, maracas, conga, bongo, tambora, bata, and cowbell. Colombian salsa includes more bass, guitar, violin, piano, accordion, flute, trumpet and saxophone. As of recently, some electronics have been incorporated into the sounds of salsa music. 

Success in Salsa
Eddie Palmieri was one of the first influential salsa musicians who was a part of the scene and expansion of salsa internationally. He went on to win a Grammy award for his album “The Sun of Latin Music” in 1974.

Salsa has evolved and developed newer, more modern sounds as the years have progressed. One of the most well-known salsa artists across the globe is Marc Anthony, a fellow Nuyorican. “He is the top selling tropical artist of all time.”  His albums “Amar Sin Mentiras” and “Valio la Pena,” both released in 2004, have reached number 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums Chart.

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