Salsa history web links

style
Reggaeton & Bachata

We list & review over 380 Salsa dvd video

style
Cuban - NY - LA

Salsa History Web links & Bibliography

http://www.soncubano.com/dicc.htm

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=C292

http://www.laventure.net/tourist/mambo.htm

http://silvia.bmc.uu.se/~lisa/MAMBO.html

http://www.eijkhout.net/rad/dance_specific/salsa.html

http://www.chez.com/abri/a/lex.htm Dictionary of Salsa

http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/mambo.htm

http://members.aol.com/perezprado/index.htm

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1033/queeni.html

http://www.negia.net/~webbook/web/weblern2/Albertos/salsa.htm

http://jazzatlincolncenter.org/jazz/note/cuba.html

http://aachen.heimat.de/salsa/whatis.htm

http://members.aol.com/musicsalsa/salsa.htm This is one very large Salsa link site. A must visit.

"Brief History of Cuba (April 7, 1996)." 25 February 1999. http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/histcuba.html.

"Cienfuegos and Villa Clara Provinces." 24 February 1999. http://library.advanced.org/18355/cienfuegos_and_villa_clara_pro.html.

"Cuba Danzon." 7 April 1999. http://afrocubaweb.com/FestivalDanzon.htm#announce.

Duante Management. "Celia Cruz, The Queen of Latin Music." 28 April 1999. http://www.ejn.it/mus/cruz.htm.

Dürr, Petra. "Afro-Cuban Rhythms and Dances." 22 April 1999. http://www.latin-dance.de/Music/p-dances-petra.html.

Fernando, Sylvia."Grupo AFROCUBA de Matanzas" (August 13,1996). 24 February 1999. http://metalab.unc.edu/mao/musicians/afrocubamore.html.

"Ibbu-Okun (River & Sea)." 28 April 1999. http://metalab.unc.edu/mao/musicians/ibbu_okun.html.

"Latin Percussion: Bongo Drums." 17 March 1999. http://www.mhs.mendocino.k12.ca.us/MenComNet/Business/Retail/Larknet/LatinPercussion.

Pertout, Alex. "Clave Concepts; Afro Cuban Rhythms." 16 March 1999. http://www.netspace.net.au/~pertout/lclaveac.htm.

Pertout, Alex. "Congas." 16 March 1999. http://www.netspace.net.au/~pertout/congas.htm.

Pertout, Alex. "Guaguanco: Afro Cuban Rumba." 16 March 1999. http://www.netspace.net.au/~pertout/lguaguanco.htm.

"Queen of the Guiro." 31 March, 1999. http://www.sonic.net/~roadman/bloodnotes/sw10-98/guido/.

Salloum, Trevor and Eric Stuer. "Bongo Drums: History." 17 March 1999. http://rhythmweb.com/bongo/history.htm.

Shekere. "Percussion Instruments." Latin Rhythms -- Instruments." 31 March 1999. http://www.cam.org/~raybiss/rhythms/instrum.html#bata.

"The Principal Church in Sancti Spíritus, Las Villas." CUBA, Portrait of a Nation: Photo Collection. 19 February 1999. http://www.cubanet.org/fotoindex.html.

Bibliography

Important some of these books are only available in Cuba or Europe. It also will take me a while to finish a detailed list. I am working on this list when I have spare time. Once this list is big enough I will put it on a separate page so it is easier to print out

If you want the most up to date detailed history on Cuba musical style & dance I suggest you buy any book by;
Rebeca Mauleón. I have not read this book but my family in Cuba says it is the best recent English book on Cuban music.
Other books & links will be added.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961470194/salsainstruction
Book and CD Package (Sher Music 52800), Released 1999;
Los Instrumentos De LA Musica Afrocubana, 1952 (2 Volume Set by Fernando Ortiz
Note: Very expensive books $99.00 but one of the best. Only in Spanish.
DR. OLAVO ALÉN RODRÍGUEZ
From AfroCuban Music To Salsa (BOOK & CD PACKAGE Piranha)
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/17490.60
Is son the father of salsa? How many rumba styles are there? Did the French brought danzón to Cuba? How lively is the AfroCuban musical tradition? Your mind may yet wonder...Well, relax! The book "From AfroCuban Music to Salsa", combining the accuracy of the ethnomusicologist with the passion of the music educator, will provide you with all the answers. Dr. Olavo Alén Rodriguez has succeeded in presenting the complexity of Cuban popular music in a rich synthesis of inspiring work. A CD is included to highlight the text, with 26 musical jewels chosen from the immense Cuban patrimony, as recorded and preserved by the CIDMUC archive in Havana. With a preface by Alessio Surian. - 180 pages - CD total playing time: 76:38
Cultura Afrocubana por Jorge Castellanos & Isabel Castellanos. Miami, Fla., U.S.A.: Ediciones Universal, 1988. Colección Ebano y canela 1. El negro en Cuba, 1492-1844 -- 2. El negro en Cuba, 1845-1959 -- 3. Las religiones y las lenguas -- 4.. Letras, música, arte.
Note: The book is only a small booklet about the size of a Cd. Just a bit wider.
Cuba: I Am Time - 4 CD Set
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/16072.10
A four CD set with a 112 page book on the history of Cuban music.
The separate cds are entitled CUBAN INVOCATIONS, CANTAR EN CUBA, BAILAR CON CUBA and CUBANO JAZZ.
Note: The above package is recommended.
El Libro De La Salsa: Cronica De La Música Del Caribe Urbano
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/17551.50
This is the much sought-after "bible" of salsa music. Published in Venezuela, this in-depth 340 page book chronicles the evolution and rise of salsa.
Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubanismo And Artistic Revolution In Havana, 1920-1940
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/17640.50
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0822956454/
1. Afrocubans and National Culture 2. Minstrelsy in Havana: Music and Dance of the Teatro Vernáculo 3. Comparsas and Carnival in the New Republic: Four Decades of Cultural Controversy 4. Echale Salsita: Sones and Musical Revolution
5. Nationalizing Blackness: The Vogue of Afrocubanismo 6. The Rumba Craze: Afrocuban Arts as International Popular Culture
7. The Minorista Vanguard: Modernism and Afrocubanismo.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811825663/
Musica : Salsa, Rhumba, Merengue, and More
Musica! charts the vast territory of this lively Latin heritage, which began in Cuba and spread throughout the Caribbean and into North and South America. Illustrated with contemporary and vintage photos, Musica! features a gallery of legendary musical performers, plus sections on the musical styles and dances including the rumba, mambo, cha-cha, and merengue. A discography and bibliography complete this comprehensive story of Latin America's extraordinary rhythmic tradition.
Note: Large collection of good photo's.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195121015/
The Latin Tinge : The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States by John Storm Roberts
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0941677354/
Salsa : The Rhythm of Latin Music (Performance in World Music Series, No. 3) by Charley Gerard, Larry W. Smith (Editor), Marty Sheller, Lawrence Aynesmith (Editor)
Latin Beat Magazine
Sadie, Stanley : The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, London, 1980
Westrup & Harrison : The New College Encyclopedia of Music, NY, 1960

Most are available only in Spanish & only available in Cuba. Some are Centuries old

Abad, Fray Iñigo : Historia de la Isla de Puerto Rico, 1782 (yes 1782)
Abadie, Maurice : Afrique Centrale La Colonie du Niger, Paris, 1927
Acosta, Leonardo: Del tambor al sintetizador, Cuba, 1983
                            : Música y descolonización, Cuba, 1982
Afrocuba : una antología de escritos cubanos sobre raza, política y cultura / Pedro Pérez Sarduy, Jean Stubbs, compiladores. San Juan : Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998
(Also available in English as: AfroCuba : an anthology of Cuban writing on race, politics and culture, by Pedro Perez Sarduy and Jean Stubbs. NY, USA Afro-Cuban religious experience : cultural reflections in narrative / Eugenio Matibag. Publisher: Gainesville, Fla. : University Press of Florida, c1996.
Aguado, Simon : Entremés del platillo, Madrid, 1599
Alén, Olavo: La música de las sociedades de tumba francesa en Cuba, Cuba, 1986
Amira, John & Steven Cornelius : The music of Santeria, 1992
Antolitia, Gloria : Dos siglos de música, Cuba 1984
Aretz, Isabel : América Latina en su música, México, Siglo veintiuno, México, 1977.
Aróstegui, Natalia Bolivar : Los orishas en Cuba, Cuba 1990
Ayala, Dr. Cristobal Diaz : Música Cubana- Del Areyto a la Nueva Trova, Puerto Rico, 1981
"Del Areito al Nueva Trova" or his latest, "Cuando Salí de La Habana."He also has an interresting one about the history of Pregon in Latin American music, called something like "Si te quieres por un pico divertir...El pregon en La Musica Latinoamericana".
Bastide, Roger : Las Américas negras, las civilizaciones africanas en el Nuevo Mundo, 1969.
Beltrán, Gonzalo Aguirre : La población negra de México, Tierra Firme, Mexico
Billiet, Huib : De klank van de hauten druppel; muziek op Cuba, 1988.
Bolivar, Aróstegui, Natalia : Los orichas en Cuba, 1990
Bramly, Serge : Macumba, New York, 1979
Brouwer, Leo : La música, lo cubano y la innovación, Cuba, 1989
Cabrera, Lydia : El monte, 1989.
Carpentier, Alejo : La Música en Cuba, Cuba, 1989
Casanova, Oliva, Ana Victoria : Problemática organológica cubana, 1988
Casedemunt, Tomas : Son de Cuba
Chase Gilbert : The music of Spain, New York, 1959
Collazo, Bobby : La última noche que pasé contigo, 1987.
Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar / Fernando Ortiz ; prólogo y cronología, Julio Le Reverend. Caracas : Biblioteca Ayacucho, [1978]
Contreras, Félix : Porque tienen filin, Cuba, 1989
Diaz Ayala, Cristóbal : Cuba canta y baila 1989-1925, 1994.
Diaz Ayala, Cristóbal : Música cubana, 1981.
De León, Carmela : Sindo Garay memórias de un trovador, Cuba, 1990
Depestre Catony, Leonardo : Homenaje a la música popular cubana, Cuba, 1989
Fernández, Maria Antonia : Bailes populares cubanos, 1976
Feijóo, Samuel : El son cubano poesia general, Cuba, 1986
Flores, Juan : Cortijo's Revenge "Centro", Center for Cuban Studies, 1991
Furé, Rogelio Martinez : Folklore Another Revolutionary Stuggle "Canto Libre", Center for Cuban Studies, 1974
Gadles Mikowsky, Solomón : Ignacio Cervantes y la danza en Cuba, Cuba, 1988
Galán, Natalio : Cuba y sus sones, Spain, 1983
Grenet, Emilio : Música popular cubana, 1939.
                        : Música popular cubana, Cuba, 1939
Howard, Joseph : Drums in the Americas, 1967
Instrumentos de la Música Folclórico-Popular de Cuba ( Centro de Investigación y Desarrrollo de la Música Cubana, '97 [or CIDMUC].
Jaramillo O, Luis Felipe : Música tropical y salsa en Colombia, 1992.
Lapique Becali, Zoila : Música colonial cubana, Tomo 1, Cuba, 1979
Leonardo Padura Fuente : Los Rostros de la Salsa
León, Argeliers : Del canto y el tiempo, Cuba, 1984
                        : Música folklórica cubana, Cuba, 1964
Linares, Maria Teresa : La música y el pueblo, Cuba, 1974
                                    : Introducción a Cuba la música popular, Cuba, 1970
Martinez, Orlando : Ernesto Lecuona, Cuba, 1989
Mayra A Martinez's : Cubanos en la Musica
Morales, Guillermo Abadia : Compendio General de Folklore Colombiano, Colombia, 1983
Nketia, JH, Kwabena : The music of Africa, NY, 1974
Orovio, Helio : Diccionario de la música cubana, Cuba, 1981
Orozco, Roman : CubaSanta
Ortiz, Fernando : la africania de la música folklórica cubana, Cuba, 1965
                        : La música afrocubana, Cuba, 1974
                        : Los bailes y el teatro de los negros en el folklore de Cuba, Cuba, 1951
                        :Los negros esclavos, Cuba, 1987
                        : Nuevo catauro de cubanismos, Cuba, 1985
Pérez Fernández, Rolando : La música afromestiza mexicana, México, 1990
Pérez Rodriguez, Nancy : El carnaval Santiaguero, Tomo 1 & 2, Cuba, 1988
Pérez Sanjurjo, Elena : Historia de la música, 1986
Radames, Giro : Panorama de la Musica Popular Cubano
Rondón, César Miguel : El libro de la salsa, Caracus, Venezuela, 1980
Salazar, Rafael : La Salsa : Voz del Tiempo
Simón Jara Gámez,Aurelio Rodriguez Yeyo, and Antonio Zedillo Castillo."De Cuba con amor...El danzón en México"
ISBN 968-6963-54-5,Grupo Azabache/Conaculta
It covers the danzón in Mexico and the danzón in Cuba-this second part has commentary by Yeyo on key figures in the development,evolution and practice of the danzon in Cuba-José Urfe,Aniceto Díaz,Antonio Maria Romeu,Barbarito Diez,Frank Emilio,Arcaño,etc,etc
Steward, Sue : Musica
Thompson , Robert Farris : Flash of the Spirit
Valdés, Olga Fernández : A pura guitarra y tambor, Cuba, 1984
Velez, Maria Teresa : Drumming for the Gods
Vinueza, Maria Elena : Presencia Arará en la música folklórica de Matanzas, Cuba, 1988
Wippler, Migene González : Santería : NY, 1975

I am putting the following here as these points are for serious music lovers. They are points for you to investigate.

Influence of Jazz on Cuban music.
Many of the American books talk about the influence of American Jazz on Cuban music 1900 to 1920, 1930's.
While Jazz has had a profound effect on Cuban music these influences are about a 100 years out.
In the 1830's to 1840's many of the seminal figures in the creation of American Jazz like Louis Moreau Gottschalk traveled to Cuba & wrote music with an Afro Cuban influence. By the 1890's in New Orleans's there was a early precedent music called Habanera being played Later other figures like WC Handy visited Cuba & incorporated Cuban music into Ragtime & Jazz. One of the key points which many histories do not mention is the impact of the freeing of the Cuban slaves had on New Orleans's music. Slaves from Cuban flooded into New Orleans's. I know I will get into trouble with this statement but American Jazz was created by Afro-American's not Hispanic's. This was the common belief of my dance teachers. One of the reason's very little is written about this is racial. When I was growing up it was common to alter events for racial reason's.
Also no mention is made of the profound influence of Chinese music & dance has had on Cuban music. Even some the dance steps of the latest Cuban style Timba has a Chinese origin.
You also need to check the structure of the music changes over time. AABB, ABAB, etc.
How the change in the instrumental line up changes the sound.

"Discussion or Opinions on the history of Salsa"

by Aristides Raul Garcia (aka Ari, aka Intruso)
Let's take a closer look at this original dance and the Palladium. Mike Bello in his "essay": "Mambo, Cuba created it, New York perfected it", takes the Mambo on a non- stop supersonic flight from Cuba to NYC. He, like every other "dance on 2" expert, decides to ignore the fact that the transculturalisation of Afro Cuban music in the Caribbean Basin was in motion long before the Mambo made it to New York. Lets take a brief look at Mexico in relationship to this transculturalisation. For artists coming from the Spanish Caribbean, long before New York became a center of Latin music, Mexico was the Latin Hollywood. The goal of just about every band, singer, or musician from the area was to perform and be recorded there. In turn, many Mexicans took to this music whole heartedly. One of the most famous singers of Sones, Boleros, etc. was the Mexican known as Tona la Negra, whose popularity was superseded, perhaps, only by Celia Cruz. She was, and still is, a legend. Agustin Lara, composer, arranger, and singer (also Mexican) was in high demand all over the Caribbean in the late 40’s and all throughout the 50’s. One of his most famous compositions is "La Clave y el Bongo alegran el Corazon". He was writing poems and music to the Claves before Manhattan knew how to eat with them. Before New York knew about the Mambo, Mario Moreno (Cantinflas) - also Mexican, was dancing it both seriously and comically. In reality by the time the Mambo made it to NYC, it was considered "zapato viejo" even in Cuba.

The Cuban Perez Prado, to whom some people attribute the creation of the Mambo, was well established for years in Mexico before the Mambo arrived in Manhattan. He was the darling of the upper classes, and the chic, not only in Mexico, but all over Latin America. In an interview, Tito Puente told Marla Friedler that he was the first one to put dancers on the stage; Perez Prado was doing that in Mexico almost 50 years ago!!!, probably with Mexican dancers. Many Mexicans took to the Son, the Danzon, the Mambo, etc. In fact, even today the Danzon is taught in the Ballrooms of Mexico. The movie simply titled "Danzon" gives a good picture of this phenomena.

I mention the Mexican ruling class and the chic, because to talk about Latin Music without referring to economic classes, demographics, race, age groups, and even political beliefs, is to be myopic. For example, Salsa music owes its origin to two Cuban music and dances: the Danzon which was the music of the rich and powerful, and the working class Son. The Danzon finds its origin in the French Contre Danse, which derives its name from the English Country Dance, which had become the dance of the French royal court and of the colonialists in Haiti. When the slaves rebelled and threw them out, many of these colonialists moved, not back to France, but to Santiago de Cuba. The Cuban rulers (Cuba was a Spanish colony at the time, and slavery was still flourishing there) took well to this "new" dance, and adopted it with enthusiasm. Eventually it evolved into the Danzon. Funny, that in a "proletarian" state as Cuba the National Dance is the dance of the ruling class; the Danzon. The Son, according to the Cuban musicologist Alejo Carpentier (and others) is from its beginnings working class. According to them it was brought to

Cuba by a "free black Dominican woman". Its history doesn't seem to interest many people today, perhaps because its transculturalisation was due to the efforts of an obscure individual as opposed to a social cataclysm, such as the slave trade, or the Haitian revolution. I mention this business about social classes, demographics, and race because to understand the popularity of Mambo in NYC, all these things have to be considered.

A few months ago, Mike Bello wrote a message on this board to "ANGRY, ENOJADA". In it he makes a statement which probably is the belief of many; this is what he told her, "also, realize that salsa began and was developed by, for the most part, Puerto Ricans in New York. They used the Afro Cuban styles as a foundation and took off with them. So, naturally, New Yorkers have a longer history with salsa and mambo. Everywhere else, including South America, it was picked up much later and they developed their own styles. The same has happened in the west coast (L.A.)."

In reality, the Puerto Ricans who went for the Mambo were by and large born and raised, or raised, in the US. We are talking about the mid-50’s. They had to be the sons and daughters of the first waves of Puerto Rican immigrants to the US, before the great exodus of the 50’s, also known as Operation Bootstrap. Until that exodus from the Island, most Puerto Ricans in the US were of urban background, while those migrating during Operation Bootstrap were almost entirely of a rural background.

To talk about Puerto Ricans doing the Mambo is not as easy as it may seem. The fact is that in the mid 50’s you had a diversity of clubs catering to the different musical tastes of Puerto Ricans. Catering to the Mambo oriented there was, practically, only one; the Palladium. At the other end of the spectrum, you had the Club Caborrojeno, and the Happy Hills Casino (to mention two) providing more typical Puerto Rican music, what many call (in a derogative manner) "Jibaro" music. The fact is that El Jibarito de Lares, Ramito, Cesar Concepcion, and a little bit later (late 50’s) Cortijo y su Combo were outselling the Mambo bands in NY. Yomo Toro had been a legend in that circuit (also derogatively known as the "cuchifrito circuit’) long before he played with the Fania All Stars. For Puerto Ricans not born in the US but of an urban background, Mambo was also not the thing; for them it was the music of Bobby Capo, Mirta Silva, Daniel Santos (the last two, both Puerto Ricans, were at points in their careers lead singers for the Cuban Musical legend, La Sonora Matancera, in fact Celia Cruz was a replacement for Mirta Silva), Arsenio Rodriguez, etc., etc., etc.

Mambo’s popularity and longevity has been blown out of proportion, for commercial reasons. It has been taken out of context since the book and the movie, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love", and gave high hopes, to some dinosaurs, of a Mambo comeback. The Mambo’s Golden Age lasted at the most 5 years - from 1955 to circa 1960. That is really nothing compared with the decades after decades of dancing to Latin Music. The Fania All Stars (nobody was talking about Mambo during their time) were on a roll for almost 10 years. The Mambo was only one of the musical expressions attracting NY born Latinos, yes mainly NY Puerto Ricans, or NuYorkricans. For those Latinos, the musical innovations of people like Chano Pozo, Mario Bauza, and Chico O’Farril, to mention a few, provided an outlet to express their biculturality.

Those great Cuban musicians came to the United States to learn Jazz. The best example of them is the late Mario Bauza who became a Jazz master as a musician, composer, and arranger. One could disagree with his contention that he was the "inventor of Latin Jazz", but he was certainly a pioneer of the gender. In any case, New York born Latinos could relate to this fusion of Afro Cuban rhythms and Jazz; they could culturally identify with both idioms. The Mambo in NY was able to take elements of Jazz, and became, perhaps, the first ever Latin Pop Musical expression with cross-over possibilities; it was also taken up by other New Yorkers, mainly by the up and coming Jewish middle class, but also by Italians, Irish, and Afro Americans.

One of the main characteristics of the New York Mambo was its lyrical simplicity, and many times its total lack of any lyrics. That is one of the reasons why it was never popular in Latin America. The main thing for Mambo lovers in NY was the instrumentation, the solos, the virtuosity of the musicians and arrangers. Some of those Mambos are classic pieces, in every sense of the word. It was a time of experimentation without the taboo's which usually accompany village life. This was New York, and the sky was the limit, they went for it. Speaking of demographics, race, and economics, the end of the Mambo Era coincides with the flight of the white ethnic middle class from Manhattan to suburbia. In reality, during the dying days of the Mambo rage, if you wanted to dance Mambo you were better off going to the Catskill Mountains, which had become an almost all Jewish "enclave" and resort area.

Back to the Palladium. In his essay "Is it Mambo or Salsa? Only the Clave Knows" Mike Bello claims to have been at the Palladium. He is not really lying; he is telling a half truth, and that is the problem in dealing with this "slippery cat", they don’t really lie; they just tell you the part of the truth that fits their purpose. Of course Mike Bello probably went to the Palladium which opened in the 80’s on East 14th Street as a normal North American Disco, and as time went by introduced Salsa Nights (not Mambo nights, by the way) on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, I really don’t remember. But Mr. Bello was never at the Palladium of Mambo fame; the one I'm going to describe. Not even Eddie Torres has ever claimed to have been there. And anyone trying to tell you that in those days the drinking laws were more relaxed, or that the bouncers at the doors would turn a blind eye if one was under age, is simply lying or living a fantasy; they were very strict, and in the early 60’s the Palladium had to be very careful, because the Police Department was keeping an eye on the joint looking for any excuse to close it down. The Palladium was for a very specific group of people.

The average Latino was not going there. It was show time at the Palladium; battle of the bands, battle of the dancers, and eventually battle of the bouncers. It had very little to offer to the average Pedro y Juana. They were, and still are, reluctant to spend their hard earned pesos to stand on the sideline listening to virtuoso solos, which seem to go on for ever, or watching super dancers take over the dance floor. They appreciate both things, but only to a certain point; what they really want to do, above all, is to dance themselves. So they were simply going to other clubs, and left the Palladium to the "hip crowd". The problem with that was that when the middle class fled to suburbia in the early 60’s, slowly the crowds at the Palladium started to get smaller. Then the famous and the curio seekers also started to disappear. There were nights at the Palladium when the only people present were the mafiosi (and their bouncers), the musicians and their friends, and the great dancers all looking at each other wondering what was going on. Good bands were not so willing to play there anymore. The Mafia running the joint grew restless and aggressive.

Today’s newcomer to Salsa is aware of Tito Puente, EL REY DEL MAMBO, there was another Tito who also was one of the big legends from the Palladium. His name was Tito Rodriguez. Legend has it that T. Rodriguez started to play more uptown then downtown; that he also had his eyes set on the Latin American market; that he saw the Mambo thing coming to an end. He felt comfortable playing anywhere. He was confronted at the Palladium about his lack of desire to continue to play there; confronted by the Mafia running the joint, legend has it that he told them off. What is not a legend is that they beat him up right there and then, in the Holiest of places of today’s Mambo Bible stompers; in the Mambo shrine: the Palladium. Very quickly after that, the Palladium went from Le Grand Fricase of Latin Music, to Fracas after Fracas, to El Gran Fracaso. Oh, they tried to revive it. They finally realized that what was making people jump was that new sound of Cortijo y su Combo with Ismael Rivera on vocals. Yeah, they tried to get people back at the Palladium with that Jibaro sounding Combo; they tried to attract the Charanga and Pachanga crowd. They really tried everything. It was too late. Tito Rodriguez had said after the incident that he would never again set foot in the Palladium and his fans (which were many) followed suit. It was bye bye Palladium. The Mambo became poor and homeless. It was really the end of it. It has never made a comeback. It became a museum piece to be found only in the dance studios of the Ballroom teachers.

Was everyone dancing on the "2" at the Palladium? If you look at film footage from those glorious days, and you really know how to count to the music, you see that people were dancing on different counts, mainly on what today is called the 2, and on the 3. You don’t have to take my word for it. Mr. Luis Flores, aka Luis Maquina or La Maquina was interviewed by Marla Friedler. He is one of the celebrated great dancers from the Palladium days. She asked him: "Did you dance on the 2?" His answer: "don’t talk that shit to me, the 2, the 1. I danced on the clave." Something like that. Go ahead and go to the features section of Salsaweb. Look it up. What he meant by that could be a lot of things. For the time being I leave it there.

So far, we know the following: Mambo was "developed" in Cuba in the 40’s before arriving in New York it was in Mexico. Here we have to add that by no means was Mambo ever the sweeping rage, neither in Cuba, nor in Mexico, nor in New York. Mambo always had to share the stage with other music. If you buy the CD’s Dancemania vol 1&2, you will see that in those days even Mr. Puente didn’t call everything Mambo. In the old days it was customary to call a song by its name. In these two CD’s you have Son Montunos, Mambos, ChaChaCha’s, Boleros, Guajiras, Son-ChaChaCha, Bolero-Son, etc. It is important to note this, because almost all the numbers in these compilations were recorded during the heyday of the Mambo. Today, Mr Puente says that it is all Mambo to him. I suits him well.

What about Cuba? What was going on there in the 50’s? By all accounts, they were not dancing Mambo. In fact they were developing what we know today as the Casino style together with its Rueda part. Were the Cubans dancing to the Ran Kan Kan or to Mambo Diablo? No. Some of them were swinging to the music of Benny More, some to the new Charangas, some to the music of Arsenio Rodriguez, some others to the Sonora Matancera, some were still crazy about the ChaChaCha, some were into the old Son and some to the Danzon; like I said before, region, race, economics, and (before I forget) age group, sometimes determines what or how people are going to dance. What I can guarantee you is that there was no Mambo on "2"club…never will be. Only fools and horses go for that.

One may think that the Cubans were sending someone every week to learn to dance at the Palladium, rush back to Cuba and teach the whole Island the new style. Cuban chauvinists say it was the opposite. They claim that the New York Style is a bastardisation of the Casino style. Everybody can play the same game. I mentioned before that at the Palladium not everyone danced on the same count. New York has always been like that. Depending on what club you go to, what night of the week, what band is playing, the clubs location, etc. - you will encounter different crowds. Sometimes there is a band that attracts people from different dancing styles to the same location.

In general they fall into two categories, by modern definition, "two dancers" and "three dancers". You don’t have to take my word for it. I refer you again to the features section of this magazine and read a report from Marla Friedler (again!) of one of her trips to NYC. She says: "In New York nobody dances on the "One"; they dance on the "Two", or the "Three". She goes on to call "Two Dancers" "trained dancers" and "Three Dancers" "untrained dancers". Yeah, someone taking dance lessons is a "trained dancer"; the people dancing for many years without lessons (dancing to just about anything being played), listening to the music all their lives, people who dance not just in the nightclubs, but also whenever a social occasion (birthday parties, baptismals, dia de santo, having a party for the hell of it, etc.) brings family and friends together; yeah, those are "untrained dancers"… I think she has it upside down. In any case, I prefer to call "untrained dancers", to any count, "cultural dancers"; they dance because it is in their culture.

There is a third group of New York dancers, I grant you that it is a dying breed, but it is still there. It is what I can only call "cultural Two dancers". These are remnants of past explosions in the music’s popularity when people simply learn to dance on the dance floor; in their homes with their friends; watching others; stepping on each others feet; going for it. The last such explosion took place in the early 70’s. There was a club called the Cheetah were the New York Latin youth was introduced by the thousands to Salsa by the Fania All Stars. People just got into it and learned to dance, without going to lessons. Many people learned to dance like that, some of them on the "2", some on the "3", and others (fewer) both ways. In any case, in New York, if you really want to mingle you have to make some adjustments. Somebody has to. It is usually the man who has to adjust to the lady. Or you tell the lady that you really would like to dance with her, but that you dance different and find it difficult, or impossible, to adjust. She will probably give it a try at adjusting to the leading man's ways.

That is the way it is in New York. Once you dance outside the few places where the dance studio crowd hangs out, you are on your own; you enter the real world of social interaction; no more "lets practice the CBL with the triple combo with side kick and double time shuffle". Or the "the double underarm sniff con tres vueltas en un pie" It is "Social Basics Level One". Was Mambo "the original dance"? Is there anything preceding the Mambo that we can associate Salsa with?

Did people in Latin America, or to be more specific, from the Afro/Spanish Caribbean, dance anything similar to Salsa? Man, the list is so long that I really don’t know where to start. There was of course the Son, the Danzon, the Guaracha, the Son Montuno, the ChaChaCha, the Guarapachanga, the Charanga, the Bolero, the Cumbia, there was also an array of 6/8 rhythms and dances such as the Mangulina, the Colombian Merengue, the Joropo. I mention these 6/8 dances because they were executed much the same way as Salsa. One of the more popular groups throughout the Caribbean Basin was, without questions, La Sonora Matancera. They catered mainly to the musical tastes of the people of the Caribbean Basin. Their menu was incredibly varied, and their lead singers, as well as other musicians, while coming mainly from Cuba, were also from other parts of the Caribbean; as I mentioned before, from Puerto Rico, from the Dominican Republic (Alberto Beltran), from Venezuela (Bienvenido Granda). Their style and even their concept (the name Sonora refers to a musical ensemble playing Son based music) was emulated by others in the Caribbean. The "taste" for Salsa among Latinos predates the Mambo.

Then you had the groups that played mainly Son Montunos. The main one was that of Arsenio Rodriguez. I will stay with this one for here you will find what many Cubans say today’s Salsa is; I disagree with them. To believe that today’s Salsa is Son, or Son Montuno, or Mambo will be to deny that the Music evolves. To deny the evolution of Latin music, one has to do a lot of oversimplifications; it is equal to killing a living thing, and Salsa is a living organism. In any case, the contributions of Arsenio Rodriguez, to the evolution of Latin Music are many; he took the small Son format and expanded it; he expanded the rhythm section to include "Congas", and Pailas (similar to the Timbales); he started to write music which was more urban in nature, and today’s Conjuntos are an inheritance of his creativity; en fin, he was setting the standards for Latin popular dance music. All you have to do is buy some of his music, or records others have made in tribute to his work; listen to them. After you have done that go and buy some Mambo records; listen to them. After that, compare them to your collection of today’s

Salsa and decide for yourself what sounds more like today’s Salsa. I can't resist the temptation to tell you that, as far as I know, you won’t find a Mambo in Arsenio’s repertoire. Ah, the "Congas" and the Tumbao. It is one of the dogmas of the Church of The Land of the Holy Two: "dancing on the 2 is also the proper way to "execute" the dance because this step pattern compliments the "slap" of the Tumbao rhythmic pattern which falls on the 2, it is the accent of the Tumbao". This is a real gem, for it reveals why some Cubans call "dancing on the "2" New York Style", dancing upside down (feeling wise). Anyway, lets take a closer look into this. The Tumbao, in proper Spanish Tumbado, is a rhythmic pattern which derives its name from the percussion instrument on which it is played: the Tumbadora drums, better known, outside of Cuba, as Conga drums. In Cuba, there is not one single drum called Conga. There is a Carnaval music and dance called the Conga. The rhythmic patterns for this Carnaval music are played on drums similar to the Tumbadoras. Outside visitors to Cuba during the Carnaval festivities simply started to call any drum resembling a Tumbadora "a Conga drum", or a "Conga". Later, the Cohen brothers (Latin Percussion) decided to market the drums using the more appealing, simpler, and exotic name of Congas. They were extremely successful and the rest is history: in Cuba Tumbadoras, and outside of Cuba Congas.

The drums of the Tumbadora family (there are 3, Tumbadora, Tres Golpes, and Quinto) are truly an Afro Cuban invention in Cuba, not in Africa. The root of their name is to be found not in the African language of their forefathers, but in the Spanish language. These drums were created to play a truly Afro Cuban music: the Rumbas. So, what is in a name? Most of the time a nice story; sometimes the truth about something. The name Tumbadora is given to these drums quite simple because they go, "tum", or "tum-tum", or "tum-tum-tum", ad naseum. The English translation is "toom", etc. These sounds are also called "open tones". So, what is a Tumbao? By definition a rhythmic pattern played on the Tumbadora(s); the main characteristic of a Tumbao would be having one or more TUMs, or open tones, in its pattern.

There are Tumbaos for many different rhythms. In Salsa, you can’t escape those TumTums. They are all pervasive even when the Tumbao is played with only one drum. Today’s Salsa’s Tumbao is played with at least 2 drums. The open tones of Salsa Tumbao played with one drum fall on the 4 and on the beat between the 4 and the 1. There it gives a constant accent to the music and it also helps to develop what I call the "overlapping feeling of Salsa, or Latin Music" from one frame to the next. If anybody wants to look for a constant clear accent in Salsa, or whatever you prefer to call it, it is there, on that TumTum; it is constant, and loud and clear; no need for special "ear-trainning tapes". But the ‘dosmatics" want you to believe that the accent is on the 2. For this purpose they make use of something no one can hear, the "slap" of the Tumbao, which, when it is there, falls on the 2. In Spanish the name for this "slap" is "golpe seco". By the laws of physics, it is the type of sound that doesn’t travel far and in the face of competition it simply gets drowned out. It is neither high pitched nor with a heavy bass. In any event by the law of addition and subtraction, if you take the "slap" out of the Tumbao, you still have a Tumbao. If you take the TumTum out and leave the slap, you are playing nothing and the other musicians in the band will look in your direction with a question mark painted on their faces. The "slap" is really insignificant to the Tumbao.

It is on the accented 4 of the music that we are to find the reason why people who learn to dance in the dance studios of New York dance on "the 2". If one has to look for an "original music and dance" to which today’s music and dance can be associated with, then Mambo is not it. One has to go beyond that. I think the place to start with is with the old Son, which was danced in two different ways depending on where the dancers came from: one group, mainly the Cubans ( I'm taking liberties here, because Cuban "Guajiros"; peasants-farmers, didn’t dance the same way as, say, urban blacks, and I refer you to the book "Cuban Counterpoint: Sugar Cane and Tobacco" by the Cuban Musicologist Fernando Ortiz) started with a step on the accented 4, with a pause or a riding motion on the one, stepping on the 2 and finishing with another step on the 3, to begin stepping again on the accented 4. The other group (and they came from many places) danced almost the same way, except that instead of beginning to dance on the 4, they started on the 1, with a pause or riding motion on the two, etc. I think Mr. Flores, aka La Maquina, belonged to one of these two groups. For both groups, the first step was the protocol step, in other words the leader didn’t start immediately with a 3-step gallop, or trot, in one direction or the other with the assumption that the person at the other end of the line "knew" what was coming. It also had to do with the idea of easing into a dance in accordance to the structure of the music.

When the Son Montuno came along the old ways of dancing didn’t change, even though the music was beginning to evolve, with the Tumbao, into having more of an overlapping feeling than the Son did. The accented 4 in the Son was done with only one golpe (TUM) on the Bongo drum. There were no Congas nor Timbales in the old Son. In any event, when the Mambo arrived in Manhattan the first people to dance it were those Latinos dancing to other music the way I just described above. By the simplistic definition of the dance studios, the first group would today be called "Two Dancers", and the second "Three Dancers". In any case, the Mambo caught on and this "new" dance had to be taught to a new public. Who was going to teach non-Latinos and even second generation Latinos how to do the Mambo? By all accounts, at that time there were no Latino Dance teachers in NYC. So Westerners teaching Ballroom dances were called to service. Since everything Cuban was "in", or perhaps for practical reasons, they took the "Cuban" step sequence I described above to teach the newcomers. To them it was, and still is, inconceivable that a dance could have a step sequence beginning in one frame and ending in the next, such as the step sequence for the Son. Much more inconceivable for them to have the accent of the music to be on the 4. For the western dance teacher, at least in those days the 3 step dance sequence had to fit into the 1234 "box".

In a way they were lucky, because once two of those old fashion "Cuban" dancers got over the "protocol" step, to the well trained eye of the Ballroom teacher, who was totally unfamiliar with the feeling of Latin music, those dancers looked like they were dancing 234 etc. And so, they started to teach the Mambo on the 2. Their "luck" also turned out to be their misfortune, for ever since then they have had to come up with all kinds of senseless explanations for this non-existent accent on the 2, as well as dirty tricks to make their students "feel" the accent. They should have changed the Tumbao, switch the slap and the TumTum around. Luckily, that was beyond their powers. The rubbish placed around the "House of the Two", to protect it, is threatening to fall on top of it. According to dancers of The New York 2, you do a step on the one, and "break"on the 2. I don’t know of any 2 dancer in New York stepping on the 1.

From the Message Boards by Observer (jb)

I've been following the discussion about the origin of salsa with Musico, New Yorker, etc. I agree with a lot that's been mentioned. I agree with the classification that many give to salsa. Salsa is not one particular rhythm, but a fusion of Afro Caribbean rhythms (most of which are Afro Cuban) with other modern elements such as jazz, r&b, funk, etc. These styles can be alternated and interchanged at the musicians' will. Many salsa songs may start out with a "bolero" beat, then turn into "guaracha". Or, who hasn't heard a tune that starts out as a "guaguanco'", then turns into a standard "salsa". And what about the sections of plena or bomba. It doesn't really matter in which country the rhythms developed (same mix of European/African elements). A common factor is still Africa (cuban styles, bomba/plena de Borinquen, afroamerican jazz/r&b,etc.) True, the term salsa was a word that arose later to describe a fusion of rhythms that already existed (with additions and modifications). Nuyoricans did the world a musical favor by preserving and updating the afro-cuban rhythms. They preserved and promoted salsa, and look where salsa is today. But, this is because the Cubans were forced out of the picture in '62. Before then, they were in the picture. Still, a lot of people try to say that Nuyoricans & Puertoricans made the music better. I agree, but this doesn't mean that Cubans were incapable of improving their own music. The core of salsa is the Afro Cuban "son". Many styles such as guajira & guaracha developed from the son. As far as I know, mambo is a fusion of "danzon", "son", and big band jazz. The styles progressed from one to another. When the Nuyoricans & Puertoricans (on the island) began to preserve those rhythms, remember that the rhythms were still in an early developing stage. Why should it surprise anyone that they improved the rhythms? That should be obvious. This all happened over a period of decades, not overnight. With almost 40 years, the rhythms should be better. That's what happens over time. Plus, I've heard many traditional Cuban guarachas and sones that resemble modern day Salsa closely. True, there is an improvement, but it's not a huge dramatic difference. It has to do with additions and modifications, not a complete change in the basic structure of the son/guaracha. And what about modern Cuban music. Aside from the traditional rhythms that are still played, the Cuban's experimentation has led to some seriously progressive music that's over the heads of many traditionalists. It shows that they're capable of updating their own rhythms, and they have. Los Van Van, Adalberto Alvarez, Isaac Delgado, Bamboleo ... they all show that the Cubans haven't exactly been sitting still. Individually, Mambo, Pachanga, Danzon, Rumba, and Bomba may not be "Salsa", but they definitely are some of the styles that make up Salsa. "Salsa" may have started in NY, but it was strongly based on rhythms that have been around for a long time. We should appreciate the positive contributions that many cultures have made to the music. I, for one, am grateful. And no one should question the great contribution that the Puertoricans from NY and from the island have made to the development of "Salsa".

I am adding the following here as it will get a strong response from readers. I believe you have the right to read all points of view.

By someone called "pandecreus". I am unable to contact her.
I meet many people with this view but not many are worded this strong

If black cuban music is called 'latin', is black american music called 'anglo-saxon'?
Hello. I'm a black musicologist (and amateur afro-cuban acoustic bass player) living in France, and i have decided to write because there is too much revisionism about afro-cuban musics, those who really made significant contributions to the music, and what it is all about. This text aims to fight against the ignorance, racism and falsifications that have polluted the history of afro-cuban musics, and upon which many people who "write" on the music have built their illusions. In the U.S.A, more often than not, revisionism about cuban music can be explained by the rivalry between musicians, the dictates of music business, the superficiality of most fans, the ignorance of those who spread or broadcast the music, the lack of knowledge of those who "write" on black musics, the ignorance of the sufferings endured by blacks in Cuba and how they struggled to save their musical traditions, and the fact that the history of afro-cuban musics is often "written" by white people. All these elements lead people to give to things aspects that they don't really have, or to conceal information or episodes that are really important for the comprehension of the music. Another element is the deep ignorance of african musics and traditional instruments by those who "write" on cuban musics. It is the case of those who pretend that the "claves" (the small wooden sticks) perhaps originated in the Havana seaport. You should know that the "claves" still exist in many west and central african countries where they are played two by two with the same rythmic function as in Cuba. All afro-cuban music is articulated around the "clave", and those rythmic patterns come directly from Africa where they are sometimes played on sticks or on the same metallic cowbell that you find in Cuba (campana, ekon) or in Brazil. In Africa and in Cuba, the "clave" played on cowbell has a religious fonction and a magical power, that of dismissing bad spirits during the outgoings of the masks. Along with the "claves" in 3/2 or in 2/3, you have the rumbas "claves", the abakwa "claves" in 12/8 of the Efi and Efo rythms. All these "claves" come directly from Africa. The "maracas" does not come from the native-carribean as it is sometimes said. When you go to Cuba or Haiti, there is no "indian" heritage in music, painting, cooking or whatever, simply because the "indians" had been already completely exterminated by the spaniards when the first african slaves arrived in those two islands. Some ideologist try to exaggerate insignificant influences or invent imaginary ones, while occultating the most important influence and foundation of afro-cuban musics (from Son to salsa): The african influence The "timbales" is a creation of black soldiers in cuban army. In west Africa for instance, you find "guiros" under the name of "karinyan". In Zimbabwe, "maracas" are called "hoscho". It is not by accident that black musicians in Cuba insist on the deep africanity of the soul, emotion and spirituality of their musics. The way afro-cubans feel, live, and express music comes from their african roots. They have also inherited from Africa its sensuality (don't forget that many dances of the slaves where forbidden by the spaniards because they where too erotic), the "call and response" principle, the nasal way of singing, the utilization of riffs, music as a social and religious function, a musical conception that does not separe or oppose "variations" and "repetition" (contrary to western culture), polyrythms and melody. From Africa also comes the love for "dirty" sounds and words that have many meanings. Though afro-cuban piano is harmonically influenced by Europe, the "montunos" are used in an african way in the sense that afro-cuban piano consists in moving rythmic figures on several times, creating rythmic ambiguities that carry interesting tensions. It is close to the way west african sophisticated "balafon" (xylophone) playing does. These examples show you how deep african influence is, and is the strongest in afro-cuban musics, including salsa. These musics are the expressions of the musical sensibility and sensuality of people of african origin (blacks and mulattos) of the poor neigborhoods of caracas, baranquilla, cali, havana, santiago de cuba, etc, people living in sometimes hostile environment. As pianist Danilo Perez reminded in his cd "the journey" : "the african people were chained to an unknown destiny, and a melancholia became embedded in their wails and chants as they sing out their pain." This is why there are many things in afro-cuban musics that only blacks can express, because only them feel it as a people who have endured slavery, racism, and as people of african origin. The great composer/arranger Mario Bauza (who is the Inventor of afro-cuban jazz, in 1943 in new-york, and who was the first arranger to orchestrate in 6/8), like most conscious black musicians, hated and rejected such stupid words as "latin music", "latin-jazz", etc, because they mean nothing and have been created by the white music business in new-york. In the french jazz magazine "jazz-hot" n°496, Mario Bauza and Rudy Calzado sais this: "...they try to play my music, afro-cuban jazz, and they call it "latin-jazz" "latin music" does not exist! the word "latin" embraces the whole spanish-speaking community in general. Spanish traditional country music exists. Afro-cuban musics reminds the fact these musics have their roots and foundation in Africa. Cuba has preserved the strongest african traditions.As we can see, "latin music" does not exist, and that word is an invention/agression of white writters who always want to impose the way they look black cultures. "latin music" does not exist because all the musics so-called "latin" were invented in one country only(Cuba), and within one community (blacks and mulattos). This community invented mambo, cha-cha-cha, guaracha, Son, guajira, rumba, Son-montuno, batanga, mozambique(by pello el afrokan), pilon, changui, songo, conga, descargas, etc.
Odilio Urfé, a honnest musicologist, insists on the fact that in 1831, the three quaters of musicians in Cuba were blacks, and music (popular music) was in the hands of black people. Black slaves were also forced to play european music for the spanish colonists. That is how those same blacks ended-up by introducing in their own musical cultures some spanish elements, creating the popular musics we enjoy today. We are now going to see that "salsa" is not a music which came out of nowhere, and how puerto-rican musicians and ideologists have falsified history by presenting "salsa" as their "creation". Let's see how afro-cuban musics spread all over the americas(especially in the U.S.A) and the rest of carribean. When slavery ended in Cuba between 1885 and 1890, it lead to the massive migrations of free black-cubans seeking jobs right to the then prosperous port of of New-orleans. There is no accident! Among the first jazz musicians, you find spanish names, which are those of black-cubans, such as lorenzo tio, luis tio, manuel barrio or paul dominguez. And in new-york, up to the late 50's, there was a two-way musical exchange between that town and Havana. Many black-cubans were enduring racism in Cuba, where jobs were for white musicians or blacks who looked like cab calloway. Racism pushed blacks to migrate to new-york, and they brought with them their musics (from alberto socarras to mongo santamaria) up to the 60's. Notice that right to
the mid-50's, afro-cubans represented the vast majority of carribean musicians in new-york. You see how afro-cuban music came to new-york, and we must insist on the fact that both the puerto-ricans and the african-americans learned to play cuban musics either by emulating the cubans or by learning directly from the afro-cubans. Tito rodriguez sang in the great Machito orchestra where he learned a lot. Tito puente played with Machito and Mongo Santamaria and took advantage of his african roots. Dizzy Gillespie learned with his friend Mario Bauza and with the great Chano Pozo. While the above mentioned afro-cubans were revolutionizing cuban music in new-york, other afro-cubans were also revolutionizing music in Cuba (peruchin, bebo valdes, cachao, beny moré, arsenio rodriguez, just to mention a few). Afro-cuban music was already totally developped in Cuba and in new-york when the U.S embargo arrived in 1960, and cubans had rooted their music in new-york. From the 60's to the 90's puerto-rican migration became very important and represented a big market for afro-cuban musics.
Theirs musicians started emerging, but they were not playing "bombas" or "plenas" as every one knows, but emulating completely afro-cubans creations (charanga and conjuncto formats), innovations (cachao, machito, beny moré, arsenio, mario bauza, etc...), and music. Because the puerto-ricans became a large market for this music, they gave it a commercial name, "salsa".
But 90% of the music called "salsa" is afro-cuban musics, a large number of rythms created in Cuba and adopted by the rest of the americas. But very rare are the puerto-ricans who have made a real contribution to cuban music. Those who spend their time dreaming eddie palmieri or sonora poncena as "legends who have made contributions to music" cannot prove it with facts. They cannot tell us what they have brought and which did not exist before them. Many puerto-rican revisionists and musicians live with dreams and illusions. In every form of art (music, theater,painting,film, etc...), real innovators/inventors/geniuses are very very rare. The society of superficiality, emptiness, ignorance in which we live (especially in the U.S.A where people don't have time) is responsible for revisionism. Every puerto-rican imitator or impostor is called "master", "great" "legend", "royalty" because they sell a lot of records or because the white music business always expose mainly white musicians to the spotlight. And people think that every thing that glitters is gold. Eddie palmieri has brought nothing to cuban piano. He has built his career copying the phrases,harmonic and melodic ideas of the great Masters (from peruchin to mc coy tyner,and pepesito reyes, jesus lopez, rené hernandez, lily martinez), not to mention eddie palmieri's limited technique. remember that it was a british band, the Rolling Stones who brought white-americans to discover the great blues musicians who were completely ignored in their own country. Same thing with Jimi Hendrix whose genuis had to be revealed to americans by a british producer. But contrary to the rolling stones who had a greatness in soul by showing the roots of their music and helping the career of blues musicians, puerto-rican musicians are always arrogant and vulgar revisionists, like sonora poncena. With the exeption of tito puente and ray barretto who said here in Europe that their music was afro-cuban, the arrogance of most puerto-rican "musicians" is often proportional to their mediocrity. Who still knows the importance of the great pianist Pepesito Reyes who is still alive in Cuba? How many geniuses have died forgotten? And when you see how everybody is called "legend" in america, how many "musicians" who are signed by major companies don't have something to say(their music says nothing), you feel something is rotten in a society where only money counts. Money-making was the obsession of the "fania" label with its mediocre "musicians (fania all-stars, ricardo ray, bobby cruz, eddie palmieri, larry harlow, ruben blades, willie colon, hector lavoe, etc..., to marc antony today), no to mention the "soap opera mentality" of those puerto-ricans, as called by cuban critic Luis Tamargo. None of these puerto-ricans is an innovator. Many of them don't always understand the subtleties of afro-cuban "claves" and "tumbaos", because as Patato Valdes pointed out: "the clave is not something you can give or bye. You have it or not." Authentic and tasty salsa is the one that has the flavor of the carribean, that comes out of the black ghettos of Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia, because their music makes sense, have black people's soulful intensity. Salsa had a huge success in Africa when it arrived there during the 50's and 60's. The africans identified to Salsa, felt direct connection to that music, and it influenced urban music in Africa. But salsa was not received the same way in spain, at that same period, and spanish people have the same problems as any other europeans to dance(and feel) salsa.
It's important to remind the greatests inventors/composers/innovators in the whole history of all afro-cuban musics: peruchin, pepesito reyes, beny moré, orestes lopez, lili martinez, Cachao lopez(the real inventor of the Mambo with his brother orestes, the deepest, sweetest and greatest bass player, the man who revolutionized cuban bass and brought liberty to cuban music), jesus lopez,bebo valdes, chucho valdes, el negro vivar, chocolate armenteros, Machito, mario bauza, felix chapotin, gustavo mas, chano pozo, patato valdes, candido camero, guillermo barretto, genereso guimenes (he invented the modern language of cuban trombone, and is the greatest soloist on that instrument), nino rivera,arsenio rodriguez, richard egues, antonio arcano, tata guines, francisco aguabella, mongo santamaria, cachaito lopez, chico o'farrill, frank emilio, yeyito, rené hernandez, emiliano salvador, gustavo tamayo, etc...
No puerto-rican can hold a candle to one of these giants and splendid musicians who had depth and a lot of humanity in their lives and music. Those are things that cannot be given in music schools. Many of these generous and great human beings died forgotten and in an extreme poverty, while imitators and impostors in new-york were making money by plundering their inventions and innovations. Cuba suffered from a 30-year embargo which enabled puerto-ricans to occupy the musical field. But most fania "artist" had no real experience,real knowledge and understanding of afro-cuban complex musics. Financially, it was very profitable for the fania records. But musically, the puerto-ricans over simplified and "murdered" cuban music because they had no deep cultural knowledge or heritage(there are a lot of things in afro-traditions that cannot be written but have to be felt in order to be expressed), and no real musical qualifications. This is also why many cuban musicians feel badly the injustice of the music business and scorn the mediocrity of puerto-rican "musicians", specially when you know that the level of the cubans is one of the highest in the world. In the documentary film "salsa opus" (not available in the U.S) realised in Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Porto-rico and new-york, there are 2 white critics who are lucid and remind something that is obvious to those who really know and love the authentic taste of afro-cuban music: "since salsa have been "whitened" in new-york, it has become insipid, asepticized, tasteless and without soul". Oscar d'léon is one of the rare salsa singers/musicians outside Cuba to be respected by Cubans(in Cuba), because his music has roots, depth, soul, intensity, feeling,creativity. Same thing with Joe Arroyo the master of colombian salsa. Since Oscar has moved to new-york, he is no more creative. When you think about money in your creation process, you are lost for Art. American society have turned art into business (but not the europeans). And the the music of the puerto-ricans is the expression of the human and spiritual emptiness of their environment, a mechanical music, with the exeptionof people like william cepeda, tito puente, jerry gonsalez, david sanchez and some few others. But neither the so-called "fania all-stars" nor sonora poncena are "legendary groups" as the advertisement and revisionism endlessly repeat everywhere. They have invented nothing new harmonicaly, rythmicaly, in articulation, phrasing or whatever. These 2 groups don't always have total control of time and tone. I enjoy the music of tito puente. But is it necessery to call him "the king"? The "king" of what and who? Do you ask yourself how conscious black musicians feel when they see the way whites talk about their music? Listen to Marcus Garvey (1887--1940): "history is written with prejudices, likes and dislikes; and there has never been a white historian who ever wrote with any true love and feeling for the black man". Each people is the best agent of its culture. Nobody can deny the fact that the best Flamenco musicians are gypsies from Spain. The best classical musicians are whites. And up to now the best musicians/innovators in all cuban musics are cubans. The younger generation of cuban musicians is the most virtuoso, creative, innovative in the world, but without loosing theirs roots and that particular afro-cuban soulful intensity: orlando maraca vallé, cubanismo, NG la banda, los van van, jesus alemany, jorge reyes (the most brilliant bass/acoustic bass player of his generation), paquito d'rivera, tony martinez, afro-cuban all-stars, mario maurejon, yosvany terry cabrera, omar sosa (one of the most brilliant pianist and creative composer of our time), alfredo rodriguez,julio padron, chucho valdes (master composer and the greatest living pianist), hilario duran, aguaje ramos(splendid trombone player), tony perez,etc...
Many of these wonderful musicians are not even known in the U.S.A where the ears of people have been polluted with the same nonsense during the past 30 years. To conclude, it's an illusion and history falsification to pretend that salsa originated or developped in new-york. History is sometimes ironical. As a matter of fact, it's the people who, from the slavery days to the 50's in Cuba, inflicted many atrocities upon blacks and tried to destroy their musical culture, it's those same people who are now trying to steal cuban music from the afro-cubans, without shame. Let's pay eternal homage and tribute to the afro-cuban people and their dignity.

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