TUNES FOR TUESDAY - Salsa Genome - Son Cubano

By -
Last week I briefly mentioned Salsa's music genome. Before moving on, and not wanting to leave this topic as another lose end, I wanted to explore it a little more in today's post. So, as we travel through history, let's make our mandatory stop in Cuba. Why? Well, remember that Salsa builds upon aging Cuban rhythms.

During the Spanish Colonization of the New World, Spanish immigrants brought to Cuba music and dances they had adopted from other places in Europe. Among these is the Contradanse, which had made its way to Spain from Versalles, and which arrived in the New World as la Contradanza. It is possible, however, that during the same period, French immigrants brought La Contradanse to Haiti, and that Haitian immigrants took care of moving it to La Habana. Either way, in Cuba, La Contradanza lost its collective nature and became a dance for couples as Cubans created their own version of La Contradanza by mixing the European music with the well established rhythms of African slaves.

The Africans had been able to retain many of their religious and social traditions by confounding the Padres. Where the Priests saw acceptance of the Catholic Saints, the African Slaves saw a way to assimilate their Orishas into the new faith. Thus, Africans from Cuba and Haiti blended their vocal traditions and contagious drum beats with the Contradanza to create at the end of the 19th Century the music that would give birth to the Son Cubano.

The Trovadores (traveling musicians, loners and usually guitar players), contributed to the creation and spread of the Son through cities such as Santiago de Cuba and La Habana. Think of the Son Cubano as the equivalent to the Blues in the United States: a basic rhythm, rooted in deep cultural traditions.

The Son became popular among Caribbean working classes because it was a simple, portable rhythm. It only required a guitar and some form of hand made percussion. When played at a slower tempo, it is called Son Montuno. Both rhythms made it to the US in the baggage of Americans who during the 1930s flocked to La Habana (yes, Havanna) evading Prohibition.

There are more recent examples of the Son, but since we are talking history, here's a song that became the first Cuban hit in New York as well as in Paris and other European cities around 1928. A classic:

El Manicero by Moises Simmons.

Simmons, born in Cuba, was the child of a Basque musician. El Manicero, The Peanut Vendor, was first performed by Rita Montaner, and is sometimes attributed to her. Here it is performed by those who introduced the song to the United States, The Don Azpiazu's Orchestra:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muisca Indigenous Names, from Hunza (Tunja)

By -
In response to this week’s posts on names, I have received several e-mails asking about the names of famous Colombians and their stories and about Indigenous names. I plan to spend the next three days sharing some of them. Also, I will continue to post more in the future and you will be able to find them all by clicking on the NAMES link the LABELS section to the right of the blog. Name: AQUIMÍN ( pronounced: ah key MEAN) or AQUIMINZAQUE (pronounced: ah key mean ZAH kay) When the Spanish arrived on the plains of Bogotá, 1536, they found a great nation. In fact, it was the third largest group of indigenous inhabitants in America. They called themselves the Muiscas , which meant ‘the people’. Their language was called Chibcha . The Muiscas were not a united group, but rather a collection of city states. The majority of the power was held by two main cities – what today are called Bogotá and Tunja (in Boyacá). These two cities were mortal enemies and each enlisted the loy
Read more

Popular Colombian Names

By -
Recently, I was asked to write a post on Colombian names, and popular Colombian names. I had a hard time finding a list, but eventually I did find one. According to I.N.E. - Instituto Nacional de Estadística, -- unfortunately, when I found this it doesn't say the year -- the most common Colombian boys names across all ages are: 1 JUAN CARLOS 2 CARLOS ALBERTO 3 ALEXANDER 4 ANDRES FELIPE 5 LUIS FERNANDO 6 DIEGO FERNANDO 7 JHON JAIRO 8 CARLOS ANDRES 9 ALEJANDRO 10 JUAN DAVID The girls are: 1 SANDRA MILENA 2 LUZ MARINA 3 CAROLINA 4 PAULA ANDREA 5 CLAUDIA PATRICIA 6 MARIA EUGENIA 7 PAOLA ANDREA 8 DANIELA 9 LILIANA 10 MARTHA CECILIA Just as here, names go through ebb and flow. Fourteen years ago when we were married, I attended several baby baptisms and met numerous friends of my husband. At the time, it seemed like everyone was naming their kid Juan CAMILO (boy) or Maria CAMILA (girl). I met dozens of them. Then, about 7 years later, I heard tons of SANTIAGO, JULIAN, SEBASTIAN and FE
Read more

La Madremonte

By -
Image
The myth of the Madremonte (Mother Mountain), and I do say myth though many campesinos in Colombia believe in her today, has it's roots in the indigenous cultures of Colombia and is known throughout much of Colombia including Antioquia, Caldas, Arauca, Caqueta, Amazonas, Guainia, and perhaps more departments. The Madremonte looks like a large woman. She has large, bony hands, large teeth and Betty Davis Eyes -- which on closer examination glow. Her body is covered in leaves and moss. Her hair is a tangled mess of plants and moss which often covers her face. She lives in the mountains and jungles, (in Antioquia and Caldas she lives in swamps where streams are born. People who claim to have seen her, usually report to have done so near thickets and bushes in jungle like areas. Others report having heard her bloodcurdling screams and groans on stormy nights. She rules the winds, the rains, and all the vegetation, and her role is to protect nature. She punishes those who invad
Read more