Salsa music
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. It combines elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican music. There have been many controversies about its origin. Most songs thought to be salsa are mainly based on son montuno and son cubano, with parts of cha-cha-chá, bolero, rumba, mambo, jazz, R&B, bomba, and plena.
The first salsa band is Cheo Marquetti y su Conjunto - Los Salseros which was formed in 1955 in Cuba. The first album to mention Salsa on its cover was titled “Salsa” which was released by La Sonora Habanera in 1957. Some well known pioneers of salsa were Arsenio Rodríguez, Conjunto Chappottín, Roberto Faz, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, Machito and Héctor Lavoe.
Background
During 1965-1975 in New York, musicians of Cuban and Puerto Rican origin combined to produce this Cuban-style music. The music got the label of 'salsa'. No-one really knows how this happened, but everyone recognised how good it was to have a label for it. Over time, salsa bands worked in other influences. For example, in the late 60s Willie Colón developed numbers that made use of Brazilian rhythms. N.Y. radio programmes offered 'salsarengue' as a further combination.
The question of whether or not salsa is anything more than Cuban music has been argued over for more than thirty years. Initially, not much difference could be heard. Later it became clear that salsa in New York was a bit different from popular music in Cuba. Also, Miami, Venezuela, Colombia and other places all had their own ideas. It now seems clear that salsa has receded from the great position it achieved in the late 1970s, at any rate in New York. The reasons for this are also much disputed. It is difficult for any music which uses a foreign language to succeed in the biggest English-speaking market-place.
References
- ↑ Catapano 2011. "Although a great number of New York's stars and sidemen in the 1970s were Cuban and Puerto Rican, the basic musical elements of salsa were derived mainly from Cuba."
- ↑ Morales 2003, p. 33. Morales writes that "While many Afro-Cuban music purists continue to claim that salsa is a mere variation on Cuba's musical heritage, the hybridizing experience the music went through in New York from the 1920s on incorporated influences from many different branches of the Latin American tradition, and later from jazz, R&B, and even rock." Morales' claim is confirmed by Unterberger's and Steward's analysis.
- ↑ "Salsa y sabor de Cheo Marquetti y Su Conjunto los Salseros, 33 1/3 RPM con cdandlp". Archived from the original on 2025-02-25. Retrieved 2026-02-24.
- ↑ Boggs 1992, pp. 187-193
- ↑ Hutchinson 2004, p. 116. Hutchinson says salsa music and dance "both originated with Cuban rhythms that were brought to New York and adopted, adapted, reformulated, and made new by the Puerto Ricans living there."
- ↑ Roberts, John Storm 1979. The Latin tinge: the impact of Latin American music on the United States. Oxford.
- ↑ Steward, Sue 1991. Salsa: musical heartbeat of Latin America. Thames & Hudson, London.
- ↑ Calvo Ospina, Hernando 1995. Salsa! Havana heat, Bronx beat. Latin American Bureau.
- ↑ Rondon, César Miguel 2008. The book of salsa: a chronicle of urban music from the Caribbean to New York City. University of North Carolina Press.
