Tag Archives: Latin American Music

Afro-Cuban music and its spread through Latin American music

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You most likely would have heard a piece with the name of Danzon. Just this popularity alone shows how influential Cuba has been in shaping the musical culture of the Americas. Originating in 1791 during a Haitian slave revolt inside Cuba. The Danzon dance has spread across the world and across classes, causing connections between cultures. These danzones also influenced the salsa dance, which is another important artifact of the Central American musical scene (García). Other styles like Son, which is a fundamental style of Latin American music style, partially originated from Cuba (Manuel). While spreading from Cuba danzones were performed by Charangas Francescas or French orchestras. This style eventually spread to port cities in Mexico as well as Mexico City, where Danzon halls were created and still live on today, continuing the tradition.

An important factor of Caribbean music is Afro-Cuban musicians. These musicians helped develop both the Danzon and Son styles. Their knowledge of African musical traditions as well as incorporating it with Cuban styles. The two different waves of African forced migration in the 16th and free immigration in the 19th century after Cuba gained independence from Spain, allows for a rich culture to develop within Cuba. Afro-Cuban rhythms such as the clave, rumba, and conga have become integral parts of various Caribbean and Latin American music styles, including salsa, samba, and bossa nova. These two groups were both enslaved at one point (James B. Minahan) and found connection, which resulted in these stiles forming.

In the 1940s and 50s, two powerhouses of Afro-Cuban styles were created. The Mombo and the Cha-Cha-Cha (Smith). Both of these styles built off of the history of previous styles, such as the Mombo being taken from the faster sections of a Danzon these art styles are quintessentially Cuban (Henken). These styles quickly spread outside of Cuba and into the rest of the Americas, which leads to today’s current experience of Cuban American music. The Mambo especially grew within America thanks to Dámaso Pérez Prado, with hits such as Mambo No. 5 (Blanco). Many other Afro-Cuban and Cuban artists have since cemented themselves within North and Central American popular music and will continue to into the future.

 

Citations:

Blanco, Ray. “Cubans in the U.S. Music Industry.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1326842. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

García, Peter J. “Danzón.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329602. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Henken, Ted A. “Mambo.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329769. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Manuel, Peter. “Cuban Music.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1367105. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Minahan, James B. “Afro-Cubans.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1333613. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Smith, Hope Munro. “Caribbean Music.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329970. Accessed 20 Sept. 2023.

Latin American Music and the Argentinian Tango

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There seems to be a major misconception to what the first large wave of Latin American music was in the United States. Many seem to believe that the first large wave was in 1930 with the large wave of immigration from both Cuba and Mexico, this isn’t entirely incorrect. That was a large wave of immigration that brought along music, but the first large foray into Latin music was in 1910. A duo of husband and wife brought over the Argentinian Tango from France.1 Quite the interesting road map… Vernon and Irene Castle were the two that brought the Tango over from France in 1913, confusing right?

“Advertisement: Tango (Tango).” 1977.Vogue, Aug 01, 47. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/advertisement-tango/docview/904335846/se-2.

When the two performed this on Broadway, it was a smash hit and took off immediately.  While it took off in the United States, there was a different version centralized in Buenos Aries, Argentina. The Tango scene in Buenos Aries would seem much different from the United States. The Argentinian Tango is characterized by an emphasis on improvisation and the music that accompanies it. If the dance is not accompanied by Argentinian Tango music, it would not fit the bill.

There is a slight problem with the Tango in the United States, they lack any connection to Argentinian composers or performers. Developments that are seen in Argentina, aren’t seen in the United States. This isn’t all bad, there are some good things that came from this problem. Tango is being used on Broadway more frequently, and there are some *fusions* starting to happen, particularly in the jazz scene. Some of the earliest examples include classics like “A Night in Tunisia” played by Dizzy Gillespie. There are also some new tunes written specifically around Tango, “Tango Land” by Henry C Lodge2 is a perfect example. Listen for the syncopation, it’s a defining characteristic of the Tango.3

Around the 1950’s there was a huge stylistic shift in the jazz community, emphasizing fusion. The Mambo, Rumba, and other Latin influences. This was the golden period for Latin American music. Astor Piazzolla, an Argentine composer, was also taking the world stage at this point. Many took notice of his tango and jazz fusion in a Western classical lens, causing a large upset. The upset aside, the French government awarded him with a grant to come and study with the best, Natalie Boulanger.

The tango was taking the world’s attention, and it wasn’t going to let go. It influenced many different genres, and even took Broadway by storm. Its influence cannot be denied in the sects of jazz, symphonic rep, opera, dance, and many more.

Citation:

“Advertisement: Tango (Tango).” 1977.Vogue, Aug 01, 47. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/advertisement-tango/docview/904335846/se-2.

Argentine Tango. Directed by Suzanne Reid and Norah Dale Allen. Spirit of Dance, 1996. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C2628254

Denniston, Christine. 2003. “Couple Dancing and the Beginning of Tango.” Www.history-of-Tango.com. 2003. http://www.history-of-tango.com/couple-dancing.html.

Kozhevnikova, Evgeniya. (2019). “The Boundaries of Modern Jazz Composition: Interaction between Tango and Jazz Music” master’s Theses. 4727.

León, Javier F. “South American Music in the United States.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329969.

Muñoz, Cristina K. “Tango.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2-abc-clio-com.ezproxy.stolaf.edu/Search/Display/1329987.

1León, Javier F. “South American Music in the United States.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1329969.

2Kozhevnikova, Evgeniya. (2019). “The Boundaries of Modern Jazz Composition: Interaction between Tango and Jazz Music” master’s Theses. 4727.

3Denniston, Christine. 2003. “Couple Dancing and the Beginning of Tango.” Www.history-of-Tango.com. 2003. http://www.history-of-tango.com/couple-dancing.html.

Seeing Sound: What Photography Reveals About Musicking

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Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, more commonly known by the moniker Machito, spent his childhood in 1910’s Havana, Cuba.1 He grew up singing and played the maracas from adolescence, and after moving to New York in the 1930’s, Machito became a revolutionary figure on the American music scene. He recorded more than 75 albums over the course of his 50 year career, with his band The Afro-Cubans (founded 1940). Together, the group made major contributions to the development of salsa and mambo and essentially originated what we think of today as Latin Jazz, also known as bebop. “Tanga,” one of the band’s most famous Latin-jazz works (and works, period) exemplifies their style; it’s characterized by “strong multi-tempo percussion [. . .] with jazz wind instruments.”

Machito and the Afro-Cubans became beloved by the American public during their career, as is well documented by historical newspapers that note their popularity when describing their performances.2 But articles don’t capture a sound, the uniqueness of each performance of a particular piece, the mood of a club when an artist is performing; for these things, we turn to recordings, videos, and, I argue, photographs. For example, look below at this photograph of Machito and his sister Graciela Perèz Gutièrrez, who also performed with The Afro-Cubans and performed as lead singer for a time in the forties when her brother was called to military service.

Machito

Machito and Graciela, Glen Island Casino, New York, NY, c.a. July 19473

The photo was taken at the Glen Island Casino, and one could probably venture a guess about what type of atmosphere the performance had based off of the venue alone. But what does a simple venue name tell us about the act of musicking itself? Not much. This photograph, by contrast, can communicate something about the actual art being created, despite the temporal difference; we can see the body mechanics involved in playing, the facial expression, the contrast between the lit stage and the dark room. Even the intimacy of the shot itself, positioned so close to Graciela, suggests a specific sort of small-venue atmosphere, a closeness between performer and audience that must have had an effect upon how the music was experienced. The position of the camera also suggests something about how Machito and the Afro-Cubans were perceived by their audience: as I said, it’s intimate, and that suggests a comfort, even an affection, on the part of the photographer. We can read in newspapers that Machito was beloved by the public, but a photograph like this lets us experience that through the eyes of someone who was there.

What I’m getting at is that a photograph can put a viewer in a temporal moment with a performer, intimately involved in their act of musicking, just as listening to a recording transports a person, so to speak. A photograph gives a musicologist a better sense of the place in which music existed, a personal in, that could be valuable when studying music as a spatial, temporal thing. And in a world where musical performances are often thoroughly documented as pictures, it’s worth asking ourselves what unique value photographs may have to us and future musicologists for deepening our immersion in the music we study.

1 Méndez-Méndez , Serafín. “Machito.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2022. Accessed October 3, 2022. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1326403.

2 Easily located in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News database. For example, this edition specifically notes his popularity, and this one’s praise of his musical ability is outright flattery

3 “Machito.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2022. Image. Accessed October 3, 2022. https://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/2234214. The photograph is also documented by the Library of Congress, and their webpage has somewhat more information about its origins.

The Latin American Blues

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What does the salsa have in common with the blues? Well according to Tito Puente, it too is just a broad categorization of a minority’s music:

The word salsa combines all kinds of music into one, like the mambo, the cha-cha, the merengue, all music with Caribbean origins. When they call it salsa, you don’t actually define what rhythm is. That’s why I don’t particularly care for the word. However, sometimes they call me the “King of Salsa,” so I’ll go along with it, I won’t dispute it, as long as they don’t call me the “Queen of Salsa.”1

This quote reminded me of the discussions we’ve had about the idea of “the blues,” and how throughout the term’s history it has been a broad and vague way of categorizing African American music. Likewise, Puente writes that the term “salsa” refers to an amalgamation of many musics of Caribbean origin, and that it obfuscates the different styles’ unique rhythmic identities. This leads to an at best vague conception of what salsa is among those who are not intimately familiar with it, and a lack of understanding and appreciation for the differences it encompasses — including differences in rhythm, which is an integral part and differentiator of these styles of music.

If this generalization and lack of understanding of minority cultures leads to anything, it’s stereotypes. The other parallel I saw in this quote was that to the double-sided coin of black-face minstrelsy. Puente writes that while he doesn’t “particularly care for the word [salsa],” he’ll “go along” with being called the “King of Salsa.” While against the vague misrepresentation of Caribbean music, he doesn’t complain that it is by this misrepresentation that he is risen up, much like it was through the stereotypes perpetuated by black-face minstrelsy that many African American performers got their start.

However, this compliance with stereotypes, while having benefits, also reinforces them. Louie Pérez writes about this, and how it serves as a motivator for him:

This is music made by Mexican-Americans, but if you looked that up in the dictionary, I don’t think you’d find our picture. We’re not the kind of music people would expect, which excites me. It’s nice to show that as Latinos, we can do a lot of things.2

Pérez’s showing that Latinos can “do a lot of things” sounds similar to what African American black-face performers encountered when they pushed the boundaries of what they could perform. As we discussed, their beginning to perform European art songs, for example, illustrates their expansion into an art form that not only wouldn’t have their picture in the dictionary, but would likely picture a decidedly European performer to represent a music that is decidedly European, sometimes to a racist extent.

Thus salsa might be called the Latin American blues, indicative of a broad, uninformed amalgamation of musics that are not fully understood or appreciated, indicative of the misrepresentation and pigeonholing that this categorization can cause, and indicative of the unfortunate commonalities between the oppression of different minorities in America.

1 “Tito Puente: Quote on Salsa Music.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2019. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1328036.

2 “Louie Pérez (Los Lobos): Quote on Not Fitting a Stereotype.” In The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2019. Accessed November 9, 2019. http://latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1508248.

“Tito Puente (Para Los Rumberos).” YouTube video, 5:01, posted by chulonga3, Jan 2, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKeVliVL24.

“Latin American Fiesta” and the Failure to Recognize the Latin American Perspective

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I found this LP in the Halvorson Music Library collection.  If you look closely, you might be surprised to see Aaron Copland listed as one of the featured composers on this album.  In class we talked about other instances of Copland drawing inspiration from the folk music of Latin America, but I didn’t expect his music to be set alongside the music of artists from Mexico, Brazil and Portugal, like it is in “Latin American Fiesta”. 

While I find essentialism problematic in its own right, I have a hard time accepting Copland’s music into the genre of Latin American music, seeing as he is not a Latin American composer. I find his inclusion on an album of Latin American music problematic due to his position as an outsider of the musical tradition he is emulating as well as his place of privilege in the world classical music.  I see this as an instance where the white perspective wasn’t necessary, but was nonetheless held to an equal, if not higher importance than the perspective of those within the musical culture the album was highlighting.

More of these instances can be found on the back of the album cover, where conductor Leonard Bernstein comments about the “Latin American spirit”.  His exoticising of the music of Latin America as a blend of Native American and African music invalidates the genre as it’s own unique musical culture:

The sweet, simple primitiveness of the Indian music mixes with the wild, syncopated, throbbing primitiveness of African music; and both of these, mixed with the fiery flash of Spanish music and the sentimental sweetness of Portuguese songs, make up the music we know as Latin American.

While the inclusion of Copland and Bernstien’s views on Latin American culture are indicative of the ways the white perspective was favored in classical music, pieces like Bachianas Brasileiras, or “Brazilian pieces in the manor of Bach”, show that composers within different musical cultures were also being held to the standard of European classical music, and were changing their sound to fit a narrow mold reinforced by the educated, white, European and masculine standards set for classical music at the time.

While it is easy to see albums like this and think about how far we’ve come in, the failure to recognize the Latin American perspective is a more current issue than many realize, especially at St. Olaf.  In the 1989 Manitou Messenger article Olaf missing Latin American view, student Julia Kirst speaks about the struggles of being the only international student from all of Latin America, as well as the positives of celebrating diverse experiences.  I believe that providing a platform for people to share diverse experiences is the first step, and while the intentions of “Latin American Fiesta” may have been to provide such a platform, such intentions were undermined by the voices and perspectives they chose to include on the album.

Works Cited:

Davrath, Netania, et al. Latin-American Fiesta. Columbia, 1963.

Kirst, Julia. “Olaf Missing Latin American View.” The Manitou Messenger, 3 Nov. 1989.