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English Welcome to Latinfestival in Trondheim 2009! About Salsa On Cuba it was for the longest claimed that Salsa does not exist; it is ‘son’. In New York a Puerto Rican journalist tells whoever wants to listen that he started using the word salsa to define the Cuban-rhythms-based music that was created by the sons of Puerto Rican immigrants. Salsa is anyway the commercial name on the music of the immigrants in El Barrio de New York. The development started in the beginning of the 1970’s and is the continuance of ‘boogaloo’ that in the 1960’s mixed Latin music and rhythm’n’blues. Salsa is the groove of the Caribbean Islands. It is an Afro-Latin-American synthesis that makes up one of the most complex forms of music in the world. It holds African poly rhythm, hypnotizing piano and a precise directed line of horn blowers. It is colored by a rich array of international influence; son, rhumba and guaracha from Cuba, bomba and plena from Puerto Rico, merengue from the Dominican Republic, bambuco and cumbia form Colombia, a dash of jazz, rock, soul and enlivened by improvisation. Salsa is a long love-filled parade between a man and a woman; where they meet, swing, sway, waver, pivot, vibrate, purr, and get uplifted on dance and decibels until the night ends. Son is often called the father of salsa. It invaded Havana in the 1920’s. The Afro-Cuban rhythms had until then been limited to the barracks of the slaves and the poor slums down-town. Then they exploded in ‘Las academias de baile’ –dancing halls, and later on Radio Nacional that flooded the Caribbean with the rhythms of bands like Septeto Nacional, Septeto Habanero and Trio Matamoros. At the same time socio-economical problems and an extended racism forced a great amount of Latinos to emigrate to New York where they settled down in a quarter called El Barrio (also called Spanish Harlem). Among the Cubans who traveled to New York in the early 1930’s there are two brothers-in-law; Mario Bauza and ‘Machito’, who definitely put their mark on the musical map. They start to play with American jazz musicians like Dizzie Gillespie and mix jazz and Cuban rhythms. This work leads to the creation of a style that first was called cubop, later more known as Latin Jazz. Tito Puente is later called one of the main figures within this genre. An other important forerunner to the salsa genre is mambo, a style that was developed by Cuban musicians in the late 1940’s and stems from danzon and cha cha cha. Some claim that Israel ‘Cachao’ Lopez is the man who invented this rhythm, but Perez Prado who worked with among others Beny More in Mexico City is usually the one who is accredited for having established the structure of mambo. In the 1950’s this music style was made known by Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez who were based in New York. When the blockade of Cuba is introduced in 1961 the music becomes an escape, something that gathers and an identity creating factor among ‘los Latinos’ in New York. The blockade means the contact with and influence from Cuba is reduced strongly, and Puerto Ricans like Ismael Rivera, Charlie Palmieri, Cheo Feliciano, Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe plus Dominicans like Johnny Pacheco and Jose Alberto ‘el canario’ are central names when salsa is established as a music style of its own in the 1970’s. But emigrated Cubans continue to influence, and without the contributions from among others Macito, Mongo Santamaria, Alfredo Rodriguez, La Lupe, Celia Cruz and Alfredo de la Fe the American Salsa had not been what it is today. Since then this music is spread widely and has developed different styles in different countries. Cuba and Puerto Rico have naturally a central position. In addition to New York Miami and Los Angeles are the most important places for salsa in the USA. Venezuela and Colombia are among the countries where salsa’s position is very strong, and has been the cradle of an array of known artists. Salsa has also become very popular in Japan, and the Japanese band Orquestra de la Luz is met with enthusiasm the world over. (Main source: the inlay cover of the CD ‘Salsa! La fievre latina”) - Joar Svanemyr - http://www.salsacubana.no
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