Salsa
In 1928 when Ignacio Piñeiro
used the phrase "Echale salsita!" (pour out
sauce)
as the title of a new piece of music with
lyric,
he
 could not have imagined the impact of so popular
phrase would have means a century later. The phrase soon
was simplified to "Salsa". Many singers
and
musicians have made reference to it in their
songs, and towards Sixties, the Venezuelan Dj of
radio, Dario Phidias Escalona, used the phrase as a title for his program. But it was not until the
Seventies that this word would begin to be recognized
like the generic term that included to diverse dances
and Latin rhythms previously known as "they
are" - Guaracha, Danzón, Cha Cha Cha, Pachanga,
Rumba, Mambo and others. This simple word made of
afrolatina music a more saleable product, and the
demand took off. With the music inevitably the Dance
arrived.
The Latin countries of the Caribbean Cuba, Puerto
Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and some of Centre
and South America Mexico, Venezuela, and Columbia share many
cultural characteristics and a great
Latin-Caribbean pride. Nevertheless, the influence and
contribution of music afrocaribeña to the Salsa is
inocultable. While many of the original styles were
born in the Cuban countryside, the economic necessity
in several periods of its history generated great
migrations to the city, bringing the musical culture
from the field to the city. Like the tango in
Argentina and Uruguay, and coladera in Cabo Verde, the
Salsa and its predecessors became the reflection of
the life in the districts and poorer districts of the
cities. All were identified with it, in it, they
found an expression of themselves, or an opportunity
to forget the worldly preoccupations and to lose
themselves in the rhythm, music and the dance.
The war of independence of Cuba (1868-78) against the
Spanish colonial government practically destroyed the sugar industry
completely and it followed the
abolition of the slavery. The afrocubanos, seeing lost
the base of their economy, they looked for an
alternative in the city. With them the Guajira
arrived. The Guajira was considered vulgar in the
beginning, but with time it gained an important place
in the outstanding history of the Salsa.
Soon it came the Son (sound), a new style of
Afrolatina music, which would have a much deeper
effect in the future musica of Cuba. The sound combined afrocuban music with
latincuban music in a new style that satisfied the
public and who already enjoyed a great popularity in the time of World War I. The authorities, nevertheless
were not in agreement with the letters that often
dealed with the deprived customs of ordinary people,
and towards year 1917 it was prohibited.
But the popularity of
music and the dance assured its survival, and in 1920
the prohibition was revoked, now until the high class
were captivated with this rhythm. The sound continued
in its podium for more than twenty years, monopolizing
more hearing still after the World War II with the
arrival of television. Already at the time,
other influences began to have effect on the original
style of Cuban sound.
During the Thirties, Jazz began to influence the purity of Cuban music, and
after the war, the bands of Jazz played the Cuban
music more to their own style than to the true Cuban
style. Perez Prado, Cuban of birth, but working in
Mexico, combined both: the
feeling of Cuban sound and the tradition of Jazz.
The Danzón, another Cuban music, was influenced by
other styles and evolved into the hands of Perez Prado
to what at the moment we know as Mambo. In 1948, a
new composition of Enrique Jorrín called "Engañadora",
(female-diceiver) suggested a new rhythm and into the
hands of the dancers it became Cha Cha Cha. When in
1950 finally it was registered on disc, its sticky
rhythm assured a lasting popularity. In 1959, the
revolutionary troops of Fidel Castro entered in the
Havana. An era arrived at its end, and while many
musicians, singers, and composers chose to remain,
many others chose to leave, closing a chapter in
Cuba and opening a new one in New York and Miami.
In New York and Miami,
the music of Cuba inevitably was mixed with musical
variations of Puerto Rico and the American Jazz. New
styles of music were arising in varied types of groups, bands and orchestras. Trombones found a place
along with trumpets,
while the traditional Caribbean instruments
were relegated to the wind section, opening a new
dimension in the development of the Salsa. But in 1962
the Beatles recorded "Love Me Do". And they
changed everything. They became the new sensation, and
while their fans were growing, the Latin music
declined. Towards the beginning of the seventy the term
Salsa arose from hands of Fania Record, with the
objective to make recognizable a baggage
of musical styles and its musicians. Thus the Salsa
was born. Since then, the United States has not
monopolized in innovation. Puerto Rico continues being
one of the greater Salsa producers and also the
Colombian production has grown.
Today Salsa is our
world’s culture and Salsa music is coming from
everywhere.
Donzé
Bueno,
sources: la música y el pueblo Volym I,II,III
lo que se baila en Cuba, los ritmos y danzas latinas
and more...
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