One of my primary motivations for traveling to Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean is to experience the music. Every trip is an opportunity to listen to music or collect more music, and in some cases I make trips specifically to meet local musicians.
My impression is that nowadays when someone who is not from the region thinks of Latin music, the first image that comes to mind is that of Shakira. While Shakira is very popular, the music itself is so multifaceted that it would be a shame to limit it to Shakira or any one artist or music form. This would also be true in the Caribbean, which is not limited to reggae or calypso.
Here I will make an attempt to classify the various types of Latin American and Caribbean music, mindful that people who study this music have different opinions about how to classify it. I hope to take a few of these styles and develop more detailed explanations based on my own experience as a collector and researcher. Virtually all of the styles have websites of their own to describe them, as well as Wikipedia articles.
Salsa band of the Policía Nacional performing in Bogotá
Latin Popular Dance Music
This has to be one of Latin America's best exports. One of the best-known examples is salsa, the dance music which was a fusion of different Latin dance styles starting in the 1960s in New York. The term salsa was coined because the mixture of music was compared to a sauce made from different ingredients. There has been a constant rivalry between salsa and merengue, which originated in the Dominican Republic. There are other types of Latin popular dance music such as the cumbia from Colombia, northern Mexico, and Central America. A popular style that has developed recently is the reggaeton, a fusion of reggae and rap in Latin style.
In the American Southwest and northern Mexico, there are similar styles of music called Tex-Mex, conjunto, or norteño. They are derived from the polka, which found its way into the region into the late 19th century and developed into a local style.
Calypso, Steel Band and Soca
This music, known for its witty social commentary, started primarily on the island of Trinidad in the beginning of the 20th century and is associated with the Trinidad carnival, as is steel band music. The steel drums were originally made from oil drums that were left on the island by oil companies. Calypso led to soca ("soul calypso") with a more rapid tempo for dancing, and rapso, which combines soca with rap.
Reggae Music
Reggae surfaced at the end of the 1960s as a development from an earlier Jamaican music style called ska. I had heard from one Jamaican that the name reggae came from "regular music." The late Bob Marley was and still is its best-known artist. Rap eventually fused with reggae, and styles such as dance hall that were more meant for dancing than for political commentary also developed.
Latin Popular Ballads
Latin ballads are generally of two types: first, the boleros or slow songs played on guitars, and the ballads that are more like pop music. The boleros had been a part of Latin music for many years, but the form really got underway in modern times with the Trío Los Panchos, who began their career in the 1940s. There are a seemingly infinite number of variations on the bolero, as well as many musicians who play boleros, and the songs have become standards in Latin America.
The pop ballads seemed to really get underway in the 1960s. The pop style reminds me of a modern-day version of Frank Sinatra and other American crooners, in addition to influence from rock n' roll, but the Latin singers have definitely put their own stamp on this music form. Many artists distinguished themselves, such as Julio Iglesias, Raphael and Rocío Dúrcal from Spain; Sandro, Leo Dan and Leonardo Favio from Argentina; and Juan Gabriel, Marco Antonio Muñiz and later Luis Miguel from Mexico; and Ricardo Montaner from Venezuela.
Latin Jazz
Latin music influenced jazz just as jazz influenced Latin music. Dizzy Gillespie in particular incorporated Cuban rhythms into his repertoire. However, the best known of the jazz-influenced Latin styles is probably bossa nova, the Brazilian fusion of samba and jazz that started in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and then evolved into many different offshoots over the next several decades. Some of the best-known names of this type of music were Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto and Luiz Bonfá. There is also Latin jazz that really took root in New York with musicians such as Tito Puente.
Latin Rock
Rock n' roll inspired a large number of Latin musicians. It had been happening throughout the decades but the most popular Latin rock artists really surfaced in the past 10 years or so, with names such as Colombian singer Juanes. Heavy metal has also acquired some popularity in Latin America, with artists such as Brazilian group Sepultura.
The jukebox brand name "Rock-Ola" made its way into the Spanish language as "rocola" as a generic name for all jukeboxes
Mariachis
Mexican mariachi music evolved from a regional folk style from the state of Jalisco into a more international and popular style in the 1930s, especially with the addition of trumpets to the guitars and violins. Its popularity spread in particular through Mexican cinema with artists such as Tito Guízar, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Luis Aguilar, José Alfredo Jiménez, Pedro Vargas, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Javier Solís, Antonio Aguilar, and Vicente Fernández.
Tango
Tango, as both a dance and music form, started in the poor neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina toward the end of the nineteenth century. It achieved international fame in Europe starting in the early 20th century and, like mariachis, was promoted in film with tango singers such as Carlos Gardel and Libertad Lamarque. Even after the films became fewer, the music and dance continued to evolve. There is a ballroom version which may or may not have a relation to the tango as danced in Argentina.
The "tuna" is a traditional ensemble usually based in a university
Roots Music or Folk Music
This music is the basis for all the others. It could also be called "music of the people" because it typically consists of styles that developed locally as people made their own music, often as a unique combination of several different styles or influences from surrounding cultures. Some folk styles develop into a pop or dance music version of themselves, such as the Colombian cumbia, or the punta from the Garífuna or Black Carib culture (predominantly in Honduras and Belize).
Garifuna singers and dancers
Copyright 2012 by Michael Esposito. All rights reserved. Todos los derechos reservados. E-mail: meesposito@gmail.com This site updated October 9, 2011/Este sitio fue ampliado el 28 de abril de 2012 Santa Fe Travel: a division of L & M Travel - Michael Esposito: IC Travel Specialist of L & M Travel - CST# 2043262-40 L & M Travel IC Agent
