LATIN MUSIC

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LATIN MUSIC

• THE HYSTORY
• THE COLONIAL ERA
• NEW YORK CITY BEGINNINGS
• LATIN MUSIC GOES MAINSTREAM
• SALSA INSTRUMENT
• MAMBO
• TANGO

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• The history of the Latin popular music known
  worldwide as salsa began centuries ago in the
  islands of the Spanish Caribbean, in a context of
  slavery and colonialism. Yet, it is strongly tied
  to twentieth-century New York City and the growth
  of a Latino community there. Its distinctive
  polyrhythm, vocal and instrumental
  call-and-response identify the Afro-Caribbean
  roots of Latin music.

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• The history of Latin music and dance dates
• back to the 18th century. However, in Cuba it
• had a transformation in the 19th century which
• made it unique and even if there were
• contributions from other parts of the Caribbean,
• Cuba is seen as its birth place. At the middle
  of
• the 19th century Cuba was the cultural centre
• of the Hispanic world and the most prosperous
• of the Spanish colonies.

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• Several events contributed to the development of
  a uniquely Hispanic style of music - the British
  occupation of Cuba (1762-63). The traditional
  habit of the West Africans to sell their enemies
  into slavery the 1812 slave uprising, the
  abolition of slavery in Cuba in 1886 and finally
  the USA's military occupation of Cuba from 1898
  to 1904.

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• After the outbreak of World War I, musicians
  from Puerto Rico started to be cast in USA bands
  and to spresd their music.
• The interwar decades saw continued economic
  hardship in the Caribbean and the rise of
  employment opportunities in New York City. Latino
  communities in New York supported dozens of
  Spanish-language theatres, dance- halls,
  nightclubs, social clubs, and music stores, all
  which fostered the development of a dynamic New
  York Latin music scene.

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•   Following the Cuban revolution, the United
  States ended diplomatic relations with Cuba in
  1961. This action cut off the flow of music and
  musicians that had inspired the New York scene
  for decades. Four years later, immigration policy
  changes opened the door to migrations from
  previously excluded countries.
• These two events altered the course of Latin
  music and by the late 1960s, rhythms such as the
  Dominican merengue, Colombia cumbia, and Puerto
  Rican plena and jibaro styles had become part of
  the New York music scene. 

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•    By the early 1970s music once identified by
  specific forms and styles was referred to as
  salsa. The name may have been new, but the sound
  of salsa is rooted in the rich mix of cultures,
  races and rhythms that is New York Latin music.  

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SALSA INSTRUMENTS

• Salsa bands bring together African, Caribbean and
  Nuyorrican rhythms and melodies to create a
  dynamic "transnational" music. Here are some of
  the instruments featured in this tour.

Trumpet Player in New York, ca 1985
Trombonist from New York, ca 1985
Piano player on Cuban television, ca 1950
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Conga drums
Agogo
Bata drums
Cuatro, Puerto Rico's national instrument
Bongo drums
Chekere
Guitar
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MAMBO

• Of African and European parentage, the mambo is
  the result of a long cross-cultural journey.
  Mambo, conga and bongo were originally Bantu
  names for musical instruments that were used in
  rituals and gradually became secular. Mambo means
  "conversation with the gods" and in Cuba
  designates a sacred song of the Congos, Cubans of
  Bantu origin.

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The Temple Of Mambo

• By the mid-1950's mambo mania had reached fever
  pitch. In New York the mambo was played in a
  sophisticated way. The Palladium Ballroom, the
  famous Broadway dance-hall, soon proclaimed
  itself the "temple of mambo," for the city's best
  dancers gave mambo demonstrations there and made
  a reputation for their expressive use of arms,
  legs, head and hands.

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TANGO

• During the "belle epoque" (1890s), the working
  class of the "Boca" of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
  invented a new rhythm, the tango. Tan-go was the
  name given to the drums of the African slaves,
  and the music was influenced by both the Cuban
  habanera and the local milonga. The choreography
  originally devised in the brothels to mimick the
  obscene and violent relationship between the
  prostitute, her pimp and a male rival eventually
  turned into a dance and a style of music of a
  pessimistic mood, permeated by a fatalistic sense
  of an unavoidable destiny. It was a music of
  sorrow accompanied by the melancholic sound of
  the bandoneon.

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THE END
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REALIZED BY

• Abbà Susanna
• Bellini Annalisa